Peasant reform

On February 19, 1861, Alexander II signed the "Regulations on the peasants emerging from serfdom" and the Manifesto announcing the abolition of serfdom in Russia. According to these documents, the peasants immediately received personal freedom, rural and volost peasant government bodies were introduced. The peasants were freed with land, but allotting them a sufficient amount of land was unprofitable for the landlord, since then the peasant farms would be completely independent of him. The reform established "higher" and "lower" allotment rates. Provided for a cut from the peasant allotment in favor of the landowner, if its pre-reform size exceeded the "highest" rate, and a cut, if he did not reach the "lower" rate. In practice, line segments have become the rule, while sidetracks have become the exception. The sections most often included the best, the most necessary land for the peasant (pastures, hayfields, watering places). Lack of land and overgrowth made it impossible for the peasant economy to develop successfully. The peasants did not have the money they needed to buy out the land. In order for the landowners to receive redemption sums at a time, the state provided the peasants with a loan in the amount of 80% of the value of the allotments. The remaining 20% ​​was paid by the peasant community to the landowner itself. For 49 years, the peasants had to repay the loan to the state in the form of redemption payments with an accrual of 6% per annum. The payment by the peasants to the landlord lasted for 20 years. It gave rise to a specific temporarily obligated state of the peasants, who had to pay quitrent and perform some duties until they fully redeem their allotment. That is, the peasant still paid the quitrent and worked out the corvee (albeit in a truncated form). Only in 1881 was a law passed on the elimination of the temporarily obligated position of the peasants.

The final stage of the peasant reform was the transfer of peasants to ransom. When receiving land, the peasants were obliged to pay its cost. The market price of the land transferred to the peasants actually amounted to 544 million rubles. However, the formula for calculating the cost of land developed by the government increased its price to 867 million rubles, that is, 1.5 times. Consequently, both the allotment of land and the redemption transaction were carried out exclusively in the interests of the nobility. (In fact, the peasants also paid for personal release.)

The peasant reform of 1861 was carried out primarily in the interests of the landowners. Many peasant farms were ruined. The response to the reform was a surge of peasant unrest and riots that swept across the country in the early 1960s.

Zemskaya and city reforms

By March 1863, after the preliminary work done by the commissions of N.A. Milyutin and P.A. Valtsev, "Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions" were prepared, approved by Alexander II on January 1, 1864. The established zemstvo institutions consisted of administrative (district and provincial zemstvo assemblies) and executive (uyezd and provincial zemstvo councils). Both were elected for three-year terms. All voters were divided into three curia - landowners, urban voters, elected from rural societies. If in the first two curiae the elections were direct, albeit limited by the property qualification, then in the third - multi-stage and priceless. Zemstvos were deprived of any political functions, they were exclusively engaged in economic issues of local importance. The zemstvos were in charge of organizing local communications, post offices, schools, hospitals, taking care of local trade and industry, etc. Zemstvos housed doctors, teachers, technicians, statisticians, insurance agents, technicians, statisticians, and other zemstvo officials who had professional training. The activity of the zemstvos, even within these very modest frameworks, was extremely useful and necessary. In addition, the zemstvos became centers of public activity for the liberal nobility.

According to the same principles as the zemstvo, urban reform, which received the force of law on June 16, 1870. In 509 cities of Russia, new self-government bodies were introduced - city dumas, elected for four years. City dumas elected executive bodies for the same period - councils. The competence of city self-government, like that of a zemstvo one, was limited to exclusively economic issues. They were involved in the improvement of the city, care for trade, provided educational and medical needs. City voters were divided into three curiae according to the property principle, the leading role belonged to the big bourgeoisie. Persons who did not have property in the city and did not pay city taxes (workers, intelligentsia, office workers) did not take part in the elections. Like the zemstvos, they were under the strict control of the government administration.

Judicial reform

In 1861, the State Chancellery was instructed to begin the development of the "Basic Provisions for the Transformation of the Judicial Branch in Russia." Major lawyers of the country were involved in the preparation of the judicial reform. A prominent role here was played by the well-known lawyer, State Secretary of the State Council S.I. Zarudny, under whose leadership, by 1862, the basic principles of the new judicial system and legal proceedings were developed. They received the approval of Alexander II, were published and sent out for review to judicial institutions, universities, well-known foreign lawyers, and formed the basis of judicial statutes. The developed draft judicial statutes provided for the lack of word of the court and its independence from the administrative authorities, the irremovability of judges and judicial investigators, the equality of all estates before the law, oral nature, adversarial nature and publicity of the trial with the participation of jurors and lawyers (attorneys at law). This was a significant step forward compared to the feudal-estate court, with its lack of publicity and clerical secrecy, lack of protection and bureaucratic red tape.

On November 20, 1864, Alexander II approved the judicial statutes. They introduced crown and magistrates' courts. The Crown Court had two instances: the first was the District Court, the second was the Trial Chamber, which united several judicial districts. Elected jurors established only the guilt or innocence of the defendant; the punishment was determined by the judges and two members of the court. The decisions taken by the district court with the participation of jurors were considered final, and without their participation could be appealed to the judicial chamber. The decisions of the district courts and the chambers of the courts could only be appealed in the event of a violation of the legal order of the proceedings. Appeals to these decisions were considered by the Senate, which was the highest cassation instance that had the right of cassation (revision and cancellation) of court decisions.

For the analysis of minor misdemeanors and civil cases with a claim up to 500 rubles in counties and cities, a magistrate's court was established with summary proceedings.

The judicial statutes of 1864 introduced the institution of attorneys at law - the legal profession, as well as the institution of judicial investigators - special officials of the judicial department, to whom the preliminary investigation of criminal cases withdrawn from the police was transferred. The presidents and members of district courts and chambers of the court, attorneys at law and judicial investigators were required to have a higher legal education, and the attorney at law and his assistant, in addition, had five years of experience in judicial practice. A person who had an educational qualification of at least average and who had served at least three years in the civil service could be elected as a judge of the peace.

Supervision over the legality of the actions of judicial institutions was carried out by the chief prosecutor of the Senate, prosecutors of the judicial chambers and district courts. They reported directly to the Minister of Justice. Although the judicial reform was the most consistent of the bourgeois reforms, however, it also retained many features of the estate-feudal political system, the subsequent instructions introduced an even greater deviation from the principles of the bourgeois court to the judicial reform. The spiritual court (consistory) for spiritual matters and military courts for the military were preserved. The highest tsarist dignitaries - members of the State Council, Senators, ministers, generals - were tried by a special Supreme Criminal Court. In 1866, judicial officials were actually made dependent on the governors: they were obliged to appear before the governor at the first call and "obey his legal requirements." In 1872, a Special Presence of the ruling Senate was created specifically to deal with political crimes. The 1872 law limited the publicity of court hearings and their coverage in the press. In 1889, the magistrate's court was liquidated (restored in 1912).

The judicial statutes of 1864 introduced notaries for the first time in Russia. In capitals, provincial and uyezd cities, notary offices were established with a staff of notaries who were in charge, "under the supervision of judicial places, the commission of acts and other actions on the notarial part on the basis of a special provision about them." was forced to go to the abolition of corporal punishment. The law issued on April 17, 1863 abolished public punishments on sentences of civil and military courts with whips, gauntlets, "cats", branding. However, this measure was inconsistent and had an estate character. Corporal punishment has not been completely abolished.

Financial reforms

The needs of the capitalist country and the disorder of finances during the Crimean War imperatively demanded the ordering of the entire financial affairs. Conducted in the 60s of the 19th century. a series of financial reforms was aimed at centralizing financial affairs and affected mainly the financial management apparatus. Decree of 1860. the State Bank was established, which replaced the previous lending institutions - the zemstvo and commercial banks, preserving the treasury and orders of public charity. The State Bank received the preemptive right to lend to trade and industrial establishments. The state budget was streamlined. Law of 1862 established a new procedure for the preparation of estimates by individual departments. The only responsible manager of all income and expenses was the Minister of Finance. From the same time, the list of income and expenses began to be published for general information.

In 1864 the state control was transformed. In all provinces, departments of state control were established - control chambers, independent of the governors and other departments. The control chambers checked the income and expenses of all local institutions on a monthly basis. Since 1868 the annual reports of the state controller, who stood at the head of state control, began to be published.

The system of leasing was abolished, in which most of the indirect tax went not to the treasury, but to the pockets of the tax farmers. However, all these measures did not change the general class orientation of the government's financial policy. The main burden of taxes and fees still lay on the taxable population. Per capita tax was kept for peasants, bourgeoisie, artisans. The privileged estates were freed from it. Poll tax, quitrent and redemption payments accounted for over 25% of government revenues, but the bulk of these revenues were indirect taxes. More than 50% of expenditures in the state budget went to the maintenance of the army and the administrative apparatus, up to 35% - to pay interest on public debts, grant subsidies, and so on. Expenditures on public education, medicine, charity were less than 1/10 of the state budget.

Military reform

The defeat in the Crimean War showed that the Russian regular army, based on recruitment, cannot withstand the more modern European ones. It was necessary to create an army with a trained supply of personnel, modern weapons and well-trained officers. The transformations in the military sphere are largely associated with the name of D.A. Milyutin, appointed to the post of Minister of War in 1861 year. The key element of the reform was the 1874 law. about the universal military service for men who have reached 20 years of age. The term of active service was set in the ground forces up to 6 years, in the navy - up to 7 years. The terms of active service were greatly reduced depending on the educational qualification. Persons with higher education served for only six months.

In the 60s. the rearmament of the army began: replacing smooth-bore weapons with rifled ones, introducing a system of steel artillery guns, improving the equestrian fleet. The accelerated development of the military steam fleet was of particular importance. For the training of officers, military gymnasiums, specialized cadet schools and academies were created - the General Staff, Artillery, Engineering, etc. The command and control system of the armed forces has been improved.

All this made it possible to reduce the size of the army in peacetime and at the same time to raise its combat capability.

Reforms in the field of public education and printing

Reforms of government, the court and the army logically required changes in the education system. In 1864, a new "Charter of the gymnasium" and "Regulations on public schools, which regulated primary and secondary education, were approved." The main thing was that in fact, an all-class education was introduced. Along with state schools, there were zemstvo, parish, Sunday and private schools. The gymnasiums were divided into classical and real ones. They accepted children of all classes able to pay tuition fees, mainly children of the nobility and the bourgeoisie. In the 70s. the beginning of higher education for women was laid.

In 1863, the new Statute returned autonomy to universities, which was abolished by Nicholas I in 1835. The independence of the solution of administrative-financial and scientific-pedagogical issues was restored in them.

In 1865, the "Provisional Regulations" on the press were introduced. They abolished preliminary censorship for a number of printed publications: books intended for the wealthy and educated part of society, as well as central periodicals. The new rules did not apply to the provincial press and mass literature for the people. Special spiritual censorship also persisted. Since the end of the 60s. the government began issuing decrees that largely negated the main provisions of education reform and censorship.

Conducted in the 60-70s of the 19th century, they brought with them cardinal changes that affected all the most important aspects of life, not only of the state, but also of society. In such a relatively short period of time, a number of reforms have been implemented in such areas as economics, education, culture, management, and military affairs. In this article, bourgeois reforms will be briefly reviewed and described on all counts.

Russian Emperor Alexander 2

In 1855, during the cannonade that thundered at the walls of besieged Sevastopol, Nicholas 1 suddenly dies. The title of the emperor passes to his eldest son. Later he will go down in the great history of Russia as Alexander II the Liberator.

The new emperor came to the throne as an already formed personality - at the age of 36. It must be said that up to this point he did not have his own specific political or economic program, since he was not an adherent of either liberals or reactionaries.

Prerequisites

Alexander Nikolaevich did not perceive and did not share ideas and worldviews that were far from life. He preferred to act, but at the same time he did not go ahead. He understood perfectly well that without compromises and some concessions on his part, it is impossible to effectively govern the state. Therefore, Alexander 2 was convinced of the need for transformations in the political circles that govern the state.

The new emperor sought to change the established order that had existed for centuries on the territory of Russia. And he began by returning the Decembrists from Siberia and allowing citizens to freely travel abroad. In addition, he put new people, smarter and more educated, in many very important government posts. Also, his brother Konstantin, a convinced liberal, appeared in the Cabinet of Ministers.

In the middle of the 19th century, the new government, as well as conservative circles, already clearly understood that the peasant question must be solved at all costs. Attempts by the authorities to somehow mitigate serfdom did not lead to anything, since a whole army of landowners opposed this.

Finally, the preconditions for bourgeois reforms in Russia regarding the peasant question have ripened completely. Serfdom has outlived itself economically. Landowners' farms, kept afloat only thanks to the labor of enslaved peasants, fell into decay. This greatly worried the authorities and the government, which allocated huge amounts of money to support the landlords and their farms.

Abolition of serfdom

The bourgeois reforms of the 60-70s could not but affect the bulk of the population of the Russian Empire - the peasantry. Many agreed that transformations in this area should be carried out first of all. For this, in 1857, the government created the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs.

To carry out this reform, Alexander II drew up a prescription. It spoke of the need to create a number of committees that would be engaged in the development of a project for the liberation of the peasants. Here are the main points of this prescription:

• all land should be retained by the landlords as their personal property;
• peasants could receive land plots from the landowner only for labor or quitrent;
• the peasants should be given permission to buy out their estate from the landowner.

On this basis, the Main Committee presented its draft reform and sent it to the Council of State for consideration. On February 19, 1861, the tsar approved the "Regulations on the peasants". Also, Metropolitan Philaret drew up a royal manifesto on this matter. And already on March 5, both documents were promulgated, and from that moment on, the bourgeois reforms of Alexander II concerning the peasant question were launched.

What conditions were set before them so that they could free themselves from serfdom? Of course they were not profitable for the peasants. The provisions of 1861 created the most favorable conditions in order to preserve the enslaving dependence of the main population of the country on the landowners. In addition, the bourgeois reforms of the 19th century forced the peasants to lease the landlords' land on obviously difficult conditions.

Zemskaya reform

It began on January 1, 1864. The bourgeois reforms of the 60-70s of the 19th century, concerning not only county, but also provincial zemstvo institutions, presupposed the creation of fundamentally new bodies of local self-government. Prior to this law, they were bureaucratic-bureaucratic and estate-based. This meant that the peasants were judged by the landowners, and the noble officials protected their rule at the state level.

Now, in accordance with the new "Regulations", zemstvo institutions were obliged to consist of representatives (elected vowels) of all estates without exception, but taking into account the property qualification, i.e. ownership of a business or land. The choice of vowels was carried out separately and involved 3 groups of voters: landowners, city dwellers and peasants.

As a result, the bourgeois reforms of Alexander II, which introduced the so-called all-estate zemstvo, again transferred the entire leading role of the bourgeoisie and landowners, and the problems that they could solve concerned only local and economic needs. In addition, all their activities were under the control of the leaders of the nobility and governors.

Urban reform

It was published on June 16, 1870. According to this provision, city dumas were created, which played the role of administrative bodies, as well as city councils in the form of executive bodies. Thus, the bourgeois reforms of 1860-1870 concerning both local zemstvo and city self-government were built on the same basis.

The new provisions did not allow them to go beyond the narrow framework of solving only economic issues. City councils, for example, were engaged in the improvement of the city, developed fire-prevention measures, equipped schools and hospitals, took care of trade, etc. The dependence of the city government not only on the governors, but also on the government was even greater than that of the zemstvos.

Judicial reform

New commercial and industrial activities, industrial relations, as well as city and rural councils needed updated courts. The bourgeois reforms of the 60s-70s of the 19th century could not but affect such important spheres of public relations.

The courts needed to be reformed in such a way that they would become free from any influence of the noble administration. In addition, they had to guarantee legal equality for all classes and protect the right to property. For this, Alexander 2 on November 20, 1864 signed an order on the introduction of judicial reform, supplemented by new statutes. They established the principle of omnipotence.

Within the framework of the new reform, 2 types of courts were created. The first is the district, whose duties included the proceedings in civil and criminal cases and the judicial chambers, which play the role of cassation instances. The second type was the magistrates' courts, considering only various minor offenses. The institute of attorneys at law or advocates was also created, which provided legal assistance to citizens.

Bourgeois reforms of the 60-70s also introduced the presence of military courts, which were intended to conduct political trials. But at the same time, special volost courts for peasants and special courts for clergymen remained. And this, it should be noted, violated the new principle of all-estate.

Military transformations

The bourgeois reforms of the 60-70s of the 19th century also affected the army. This need was caused, first of all, by the defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War and those foreign policy tasks that could be solved exclusively with the help of the army. At all times, she stood guard over the preservation of the unity of the state, and without her it was impossible to resolve issues related to interstate relations.

Also, the army is the most important organ of the tsarist autocracy, with the help of which it fought the unrest that flared up from time to time in many parts of the country. It must always be strong, politically stable, and most importantly combat-ready.

The bourgeois reforms of the 60-70s, concerning the transformation of the army, were the first to renew the War Ministry, and the whole state was also divided into military districts. Recruitment of soldiers has been canceled. Instead, they introduced general military service. It concerned men over the age of 20. The terms of military service were also changed. Instead of the previous 25, they set a 6-year term for soldiers and a 7-year term for employees in the navy.

Education reform

Alexander II understood that bourgeois reforms in Russia would not give the desired effect if there were no competent and well-trained specialists in the country. For this, they began to create new types of educational institutions. The gymnasiums were divided into classical ones with an 8-year term of study and real ones, later called schools. The latter trained specialists for various industries and trade. In addition, new universities were opened in different cities of the country. Higher education was also introduced for women.

Importance of reforms

The importance of bourgeois reforms can hardly be overestimated. After serfdom was abolished, capitalism in Russia was finally and irrevocably established. From a lagging agricultural country, it began to rapidly transform into an agrarian-industrial one.

Also, the abolition of serfdom led to the decomposition of the peasantry itself as a class. This process played an extremely important role in the formation of two new classes - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

The bourgeois reforms of the 60-70s of the 19th century were of tremendous importance for the Russian Empire and its further development. Thanks to them, the country turned into a bourgeois monarchy. But, despite the fact that the reforms were very important, they still turned out to be half-hearted and somewhat inconsistent.

History of the Ukrainian SSR in ten volumes. Volume Four Collective of Authors

6. BOURGEOIS REFORMS 60 - 70s

6. BOURGEOIS REFORMS 60 - 70s

After the abolition of serfdom, reforms were carried out in the areas of administration, courts, education, military affairs and finance. Their goal was to adapt the country to the new conditions of socio-economic development, while preserving the autocratic power of the tsar and the rule of the class of noble landowners.

Zemskaya reform. One of the government's measures aimed at improving the management system and strengthening its positions was the Zemsky Reform of 1864. It, as V. I. Lenin pointed out, "was one of those concessions that were repelled from the autocratic government by a wave of social excitement and revolutionary onslaught." NS. As a result of this reform, zemstvos were created in a number of Russian provinces - the so-called local self-government under the leadership of the nobility. In Ukraine, the reform spread to the southern and left-bank provinces, in which 6 provincial and over 60 district zemstvo boards were created. On the Right Bank, where most of the landowners belonged to people of Polish origin, some of whom took part in the national liberation movement, the Zemstvo reform was carried out only in 1911.

According to the law, the zemstvo consisted of uyezd and provincial zemstvo assemblies and their executive bodies - uyezd and provincial zemstvo councils. The county assemblies included vowels elected for a three-year term at meetings of voters separately for the curia: at the congress of landowners of the county, meetings of city proprietors and volost gatherings of peasants. In the first two curiae, a high property qualification was established: for landowners - the presence of estates in some counties ranging from 200 to 900 dessiatines, in others - from 800 dessiatines or more, for the urban bourgeoisie - the ownership of enterprises with an annual turnover of 6 thousand rubles. or real estate in small towns (with a population of up to 2 thousand people) from 500 rubles. and above, in cities with a population of over 10 thousand inhabitants - from 3 thousand rubles. and more. The vowels elected at the county zemstvo meetings formed the provincial assembly. Zemsky councils were elected at county and provincial assemblies for a period of 3 years. From 10 to 96 vowels were elected to district zemstvos, and from 15 to 100 vowels to provincial zemstvos.

The tsarist authorities, expressing the interests of the ruling classes, took all measures to ensure the election of representatives of these classes to the zemstvos.

As a result of the establishment of a system of unequal elections, the majority of the vowels elected to the zemstvo were noble landowners (on average in the country 74.2%), who occupied a dominant position in it and directed its activities in their class interests. The working peasantry, which in accordance with the "Regulations on Zemstvo Institutions" received the right to participate in their activities, in fact did not play any role in these institutions (its representatives accounted for 10.6% of the vowels). Even in those cases when the peasants received a victory in the elections, they could not take advantage of it due to their unpreparedness for work in the zemstvos and illiteracy. So, in particular, it happened in the Bobrinets district (this district existed from 1829 to 1865) of the Kherson province, where only peasants were elected due to the refusal of the nobles to run for the zemstvo council. But due to their illiteracy, they were forced to draw up an act stating that the councils could not conduct business. The tsarist authorities took advantage of this circumstance by calling new elections, and this time only representatives of the privileged classes were elected to the council.

Both uyezd and provincial zemstvo institutions did not enjoy independence and any kind of power. “... Zemstvo from the very beginning, - wrote V. I. Lenin, - was condemned to be the fifth wheel in the cart of Russian state administration, a wheel allowed by the bureaucracy only insofar as its omnipotence was not violated, and the role of deputies from the population was limited bare practice, simple technical execution of the range of tasks outlined by the same bureaucracy. "

The functions of the zemstvos were limited. They essentially boiled down to maintaining local roads in proper condition, providing the population with food in case of famine, organizing agronomic and medical assistance, building and maintaining schools, establishing postal services, distributing public funds, collecting and submitting statistical information to state bodies. All this, of course, had a positive meaning. Representing a social institution alien to the autocratic-bureaucratic system, which, although formally, was an elected representative of all estates, the zemstvos eventually became a stronghold of the bourgeois-liberal opposition to the autocracy.

Judicial reform. In 1864, the government carried out a judicial reform, which culminated in the establishment of a bourgeois judicial procedure. Previously, the court was class-based, closed and entirely dependent on the tsarist administration, in particular on the governor. Now, in accordance with the newly adopted judicial statutes, the basic principles of bourgeois law were introduced: the lack of word of the court, the adversarial nature of the parties, the openness of the proceedings, which took place in open sessions with the participation of the parties and was carried out by jurors, selected, as a rule, from the wealthy strata of the population. District courts were created (one per province), which constituted the first court instance. If their sentences were passed with the participation of a jury, they were considered final, while sentences passed without a jury could be appealed to the judicial chamber, which included several district courts. There were three judicial chambers in Ukraine - Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa. The cassation functions were performed by the Senate, which could return this or that case for reconsideration. To resolve minor cases, the institution of justices of the peace was introduced, elected for a three-year term at meetings of zemstvo and city vowels or appointed on behalf of the government. Their decisions could be reviewed by county congresses of justices of the peace. The network of the world's judicial sites was quite wide. Only on the Right-Bank Ukraine, there were 162 such sites.

All these and other measures stipulated by the judicial statutes of 1864 were a definite step forward on the path of transforming feudal estate law into bourgeois law, although in the field of legal proceedings the reform left significant vestiges of serfdom: estate representation in the court chamber, separate courts for the clergy and the military, preservation of the estate parish court for peasants, not connected with the general judicial system, which was given the right to sentence peasants to humiliating punishment with rods. The masses often refused to obey the orders of the hated judicial officials, did not recognize their decisions and even inflicted a just reprisal against them.

Despite its imperfection, the judicial reform was one of the most important transformations that contributed to the formation and strengthening of the bourgeois system in the country.

School and censorship reforms. The bourgeois reforms of the 60s and 70s could not bypass the schooling and censorship. Forced in connection with the development of capitalism and under the influence of technical progress to take the path of some expansion of the network of school and educational institutions, the tsarist government at the same time decided to subordinate educational institutions and press organs to its control. In accordance with the "Regulations on Primary Public Schools", approved on July 14, 1864, a unified system of primary education was introduced. The creation of primary schools was allowed both to state and public institutions and departments and to individuals, but the leadership and control of the educational process was entrusted to the county and provincial school councils, which consisted of tsarist officials, representatives of zemstvos and clergy.

Proceeding from the principle that the elementary school should educate the people of religious-monarchical morality, the "Regulations" provided, firstly, the appointment of a bishop by the chairman of the provincial school council and, secondly, the compulsory teaching at school of such subjects as "the law of God" and church singing. Of the general education subjects, only literacy and four arithmetic operations, information on geography, drawing, etc. were introduced. Consequently, the elementary school curriculum was very limited.

Changes in the field of secondary education were determined by the charter of November 19, 1864, in accordance with which classical and real male and female gymnasiums were created in the country. The right to study in them was given to all classes, but because of the high pay, only the children of the rich could use it. Only those who graduated from classical gymnasiums had the right to enter universities. Graduation from a real gymnasium gave the right to enter a higher technical school, and women did not give any rights at all, because its goal, as directly proclaimed in the charter, was to prepare an educated "wife and mother of the family."

Certain changes were made by the government and in the system of supervision over higher education. The new charter of June 18, 1863 renewed the academic autonomy of universities, created a council of professors, which was supposed to lead the entire life of an educational institution, including supervising students. By these measures, the tsarist government, making some concessions to the liberal professors, tried to involve them in the struggle against the student movement.

A reform in the field of censorship was carried out in 1865. In order to prevent the penetration of revolutionary ideas into the masses through the printed word, the tsarist government instituted particularly strict supervision of the press and, for this purpose, reorganized the censorship institutions. In accordance with the new censorship charter, they were transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which included the establishment of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs and the Central Committee for Foreign Censorship. Church censorship continued to operate. Small-sized publications intended for the general reader were subjected to especially strict supervision. In the case of violations of censorship requirements found in books, their publishers were brought to justice through the judicial authorities.

In case of violation of censorship requirements, periodicals were subject to administrative action in the form of a warning, a temporary suspension and, finally, a ban on publication. All provincial publications were subject to prior censorship.

So, the reforms of school and censorship, like all other reforms of the 60s and 70s, although they represented a step forward, were limited, and after they were carried out, vestiges of the old, serfdom remained, which hindered the further social and cultural progress of the Russian, Ukrainian and other peoples of the country.

Urban and financial reforms. Satisfying the interests of the growing bourgeoisie, the tsarist government decided to reorganize the system of urban self-government, adapting it to the needs of bourgeois development. In accordance with the law of June 16, 1870, the principle of election to city councils changed in all cities of the country. The determination of the right to participate in elections of public councilors to city councils was now based not on the estate qualification, but on the property qualification. The right to vote was only granted to property owners who paid taxes; others, who made up the majority of the urban population, and above all workers, artisans and small employees, did not have this right. In addition, voters were required to be Russian citizenship and the absence of arrears in city taxes, and the age limit was also set at least 25 years. Women were not allowed to participate in elections to city offices. To ensure the dominance of representatives of the big bourgeoisie in the thoughts, elections of vowels (from 30 to 72 in different cities of the country) were held in three curiae, each of which, regardless of the number of those who participated in the elections, elected a third of the total number of vowels. In accordance with this electoral system, several dozen representatives of the big bourgeoisie elected as many vowels as hundreds of middle and thousands of small capital owners.

The Duma elected for a four-year term an executive body - the city council headed by the chairman, who was approved in the provincial centers by the minister of internal affairs, in other cities - by the governor. City councils were engaged in the improvement of cities, industry, trade and other economic issues. They were directly subordinate to the governor and the minister of the interior.

The acute financial crisis that gripped the country in the 1950s and reflected the general decline of the entire feudal-serf system, necessitated the implementation of bourgeois reforms in the financial and credit system. The financial reforms carried out in 1860-1864 affected both the tax and credit systems, as well as the budget and state financial control. In particular, in 1860 the State Bank was created, whose activities had a positive impact on the development of capitalist industry and trade, contributed to the expansion of the network of private commercial joint-stock banks. Somewhat later, instead of the ransom system, excise taxation of alcohol was introduced, indirect taxes on consumer goods were increased, departmental taxes were liquidated and state treasuries were created, which concentrated in their hands all the profits and expenses of the state determined by the budget, a single state revision center was introduced with a very extensive peripheral network and broad financial control rights.

All these measures, naturally, contributed to the development of capitalism in all spheres of social production.

However, financial reforms, like other bourgeois reforms of the 60s and 70s, were limited and inconsistent. In particular, the so-called poll tax remained for a long time - extremely heavy and humiliating for the working masses. The reforms did little to improve the financial situation of the state, its budget was chronically deficit, which forced the tsarist government to issue loans, the debt on which steadily increased.

Military reform. The changes also affected the organization and structure of the country's armed forces. The entire territory of Russia in 1864 was divided into 10 military districts. The Ukrainian provinces became part of the Kiev (Kiev, Podolsk and Volyn provinces), Odessa (Kherson, Yekaterinoslav, Taurida and Bessarabian provinces) and Kharkov (Kharkov, Poltava, Chernigov, Voronezh, Kursk and Oryol provinces) districts. At the head of the district was the commander, who, through the headquarters and the military district council, supervised the troops and their economy.

Along with the districts, other bodies of local military administration were created. In each province and county, the administration of a military commander was established. The local administration subordinate to the chief commander of the military district acquired a certain importance after the establishment of a regular system of training reserves and the introduction of a law on military service.

On January 1, 1874, a new military charter was adopted, according to which universal military service was introduced in the country for males who reached 20 years of age. The charter provided for a reduction in the duration of military service in the ground forces to 6 years and in the navy to 7 years. Persons with a certain education were allowed to serve in the position of volunteers for a period of 6 months to 4 years. And although the conditions for military service became easier, but, as before, the entire burden of it fell on the shoulders of the working masses.

For a number of peoples and nationalities of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Far North, the law on conscription into the army did not apply. The clergy and certain privileged strata of society, some of the foreign colonists were exempted from military service.

Lenin gave a vivid description of the consequences of the military reform, who wrote that “in essence, we did not and do not have universal military service, because the privileges of noble birth and wealth create a lot of exceptions.

In essence, we did not have and there is nothing similar to the equality of citizens in military service. On the contrary, the barracks are thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the most outrageous lawlessness. "

In general, the reforms of the 60s and 70s, although they preserved numerous vestiges of serfdom, created the necessary conditions for a more rapid transition of the country from a feudal to a capitalist socio-economic formation. According to V. I. Lenin's definition, 1861 marked "the beginning of a new, bourgeois, Russia, growing out of the feudal era."

The reforms carried out by tsarism were supposed to adapt the existing socio-political system of the country to the needs of the growing capitalist economy. Emphasizing this, VI Lenin wrote: “If we take a general look at the change in the entire structure of the Russian state in 1861, then it must be admitted that this change was a step towards the transformation of the feudal monarchy into a bourgeois monarchy. This is true not only from an economic but also from a political point of view. It is enough to recall the nature of the reform in the field of court, administration, local self-government, etc. reforms that followed the peasant reform of 1861 - to be convinced of the correctness of this provision. "

Being, according to V.I.Lenin's definition, a by-product of the revolutionary struggle, the reform of 1861 was a definite facet, a historical turning point on the way of transforming the feudal-serf socio-economic formation into a capitalist one. As a result of its implementation, the old, feudal-feudal production relations, based on the monopoly ownership of the land by the feudal lords and incomplete ownership of the serf peasant under the routine state of technology, were changed, and the necessary conditions were created for the establishment of a new, capitalist basis. Feudal Russia, including Ukraine, became a capitalist country.