The Military Reform of Paul 1

Reforms, the reign of Paul 1 (1796-1801) earned controversial estimates from historians. The reason lies in the confusion and contradictions in the psychological portrait of this emperor. By nature, a fairly capable person who received a good education, Paul I, becoming an emperor, behaved like a capricious boy, that, to spite my mother, it freezes my ears. Indeed, he lost his father early (Peter III) and had reason to suspect the mother of involvement in his death. With the mother of the relationship also did not work out right away - the son of Catherine II was taken immediately after birth, little Paul with his mother almost did not communicate. Catherine himself did not like him and feared as a possible competitor on the throne.

As a result, Emperor Paul 1 did his best to equip the state with exactly the opposite of what was available in Catherine's times. He managed to eliminate some of the "excesses" committed by the empress, but as a result he replaced them with his own, often even worse ones. The main reforms of Paul 1 will be presented to your attention in this article.

Ideas in a big way

Paul I obviously did not expect that his reign will last only 4 years (by the time of his accession to the throne he was 42 - the age for those times is solid, but you could still live and live). Therefore, he immediately took up a lot of projects, and some of them turned out to be realized.

The king attached the greatest importance to strengthening his own power and military power of the country (the concepts are not identical, but interrelated). Therefore, the most active in life was the military reform of Paul 1 (we will talk briefly about it in the article), whose ideology was rooted in the Prussian traditions (the order of which was obsolete by that time). But there were many useful innovations: the requirements for officers changed, the rights of soldiers expanded, new types of troops appeared, and the training of personnel in certain areas (in particular, military doctors) was improved.

Strengthening the power first of all was to be promoted by the new law on the succession of the throne, abolishing the practice established by Peter I of the independent adoption by the monarch of the decision on the candidacy of the heir. Also significantly reduced the number of noble privileges, the bureaucratic hierarchy was strengthened. To improve governance, the rights of governors were expanded, the number of gubernias was reduced, and the previously abolished colleges were restored.

Pavel was panically afraid of palace coups and revolutions and tried to fight "sedition" by introducing total censorship. Even musical scores were tested.

In this case, if Catherine II was the "mother" of the nobility, Paul I tried to position himself as a "father of the people." They were offered some changes in the situation of the peasants. True, the peasant "good" was understood by the emperor in an original way - for example, he believed that serfs were much better than free ones.

The ideal of Paul was the state of absolute regulations and discipline (against the backdrop of traditional Russian disorderliness, this ideal looked much more attractive than one might think). He drew this idea from the Germans (and did not see any contradiction in this, although the hateful mother, Catherine, was a pureblood German!).

Throne according to law

The reform of Paul's succession to the throne became one of his first decisions after his accession to the throne. The new law abolished the Petrine decree, according to which the ruling monarch was given the right to independently choose a successor. Now the oldest son must necessarily inherit; In the absence of such - the first brother or nephew of the monarch in the male line, by seniority; A woman could be admitted to the throne only with the complete absence of male candidates.

It is clear that Paul wanted in this way to avoid the situation in which he found himself - he believed that he should immediately inherit his father after his death, rather than wait for 34 years, while the rules of the mother. But fate sometimes likes to joke evil. After the death of Paul, the throne was passed in strict accordance with this law to his eldest son Alexander (by the way, Catherine loved her grandson, and he got on well with his grandmother). But only the legitimate heir before this "gave good" to strangle daddy ...

Against the Liberty of the Nobility

Reforms of the nobility of Paul 1 were aimed at curbing their willfulness. Companions of the mother (among them were cunning sycophants and embezzlers, but many were also very capable, well-deserved people), he harshly pursued, from any power they were immediately removed. But at the same time, "all the Catherine's innovations" about the liberty of the nobility "flew".

Paul abolished the decree, which makes the military service of the nobility unnecessary. Long-term leave was banned (maximum could be 30 days a year). Nobles could not even switch from military service to civilian clothes at their own request-at least the permission of the governor was required. It was forbidden to complain at once to the emperor - only through the same governors.

And this is not all - nobles were obliged to pay taxes, and in some cases allowed to apply to them corporal punishment!

Down with the aristocratic low-flown

At the same time, some really ugly manifestations of "liberties" were also eliminated by the decisions of Paul I. Now the nobleman could not simply be registered in the service - it had to be really carried. From the regiments all the noble "inexplicable" were registered, who were registered as non-commissioned officers from birth (who read the "Captain's daughter" know that Petrusha Grinev was registered as a sergeant in the Guards Regiment even before his birth, and by the beginning of the narrative he had "served time" for The officer's rank is not an exaggeration). Some senators of Catherine's times have never been in the Senate - Pavel stopped it.

New subjects

At the same time, Paul issued decrees that contemporaries perceived as significant concessions to the peasantry. A harbinger of the upcoming peasant reform was the demand of the new tsar, that the serfs should take the oath (the landlord used to do it for them earlier).

Further, in 1797, Paul issued a manifesto banning corvee labor on Sundays and days of church holidays.

Also, among the notable domestic political decisions in favor of the peasants include the abolition of the grain tax (it was replaced by a monetary fixed payment) and corporal punishment for the elderly (although peasants over 70 years did not come across too often). Also, the ban on filing complaints against the brutality of the landowners was lifted and restrictions were imposed on the sale of peasants without land.

Strange "prosperity"

But the contradictory nature of Paul was very clearly manifested in the peasant question. The tsar repeatedly declared that he believed the peasants to be the main estate in the state, but at the same time he, this estate ... actively gave property to estates. It was Pavel I who officially permitted peasants to buy non-nobles (merchants purchased serfs for work in factories) and did not pay attention to the fact that this permission contradicts the decree banning sales without land.

The Tsar generally believed that the landlord peasants were better than the "ownerless" state peasants. As a result, one of his first decrees (in December 1796), he extended the serfdom to the hitherto free lands of the Don and Novorossia Troops. For 4 years of his reign, Pavel made serfs 600 thousand state peasants. His mother managed to distribute 840 thousand, but for this it took 34 years, and it is considered a cruel serfress.

Some experts suggest that the decree of 1797 not only forbade corvee on Sunday, but also limited its duration to 3 days a week. Nothing of the kind - it says only that 6 days is enough for the peasant to work on both the landowner and himself.

There must be an order

In addition to the peasant question, Pavel's internal policy was interested in the problem of effective governance and "state security." As part of the administrative reform of Paul 1, the powers of the governors were increased (this was discussed above), while the number of gubernias (from 50 to 41) was reduced. Paul I restored some of the formerly abolished colleges. Provincial gentry assemblies lost some of their administrative powers (they moved to the governors). Simultaneously, the rights of self-government in some regions of the empire (in particular, in Ukraine) were restored. It was not a full-fledged autonomy, but nevertheless the opportunities of these regions to independently resolve the issues of their device have grown significantly.

бюрократия очень укрепилась (хотя он всегда говорил, что с нею борется). The reforms of Pavel's domestic policy led to the fact that the bureaucracy was very much strengthened (although he always said that he was fighting it). It was then that various departmental officers' uniforms appeared.

Paul's Internal Reforms 1

Paul was very afraid of conspiracies and revolutions, and the eradication of "sedition" was considered the most important task of domestic policy. True, immediately after coming to power, he pardoned a number of "troublemakers" (including Radishchev and Kosciuszko), but only to spite the mothers - their place in detention was quickly taken by other "Voltaireans".

It was Pavel who honored the creation of the institution of total censorship in the empire. In addition, the emperor was very sensitive to external manifestations of reverence and obedience. When he traveled, everyone had to bow (including notable ladies) and strip their heads. Sometimes Paul I showed indulgence to violators of this rule (Pushkin did mention how the tsar chided the nanny for him-nothing was done to her, only forced to remove the cap from a tiny boy). But there is also a case of sending into exile a decrepit noble old woman with rheumatism - she could not properly bow ...

Prussian charter

But most of all the Emperor Paul 1 was interested in military affairs, and here he had the most grandiose plans.

Even while heir to the throne, in his Gatchina castle Pavel coached his own guards, drilling it in the Prussian style. His ideal (as well as his father, by the way) was Friedrich II of Prussia, and the Tsarevich did not bother that the ideas of this (really outstanding) ruler were somewhat outdated by the time he ascended the throne. It was the rules established in the Prussian army of the times of Frederick, he decided to take as the basis for reforming the Russian army.

Down with Potemkin and Suvorov!

Some modern historians believe that the military reform of Paul 1 made the Russian army organized, disciplined and combat-ready. Therefore, they say, she was then able to defeat Napoleon. This is obviously not the case. The capable army was made just by the generals of the Catherine's epoch - Suvorov, Rumyantsev, Potemkin, and the Russian soldiers under their command beat even the troops of the same Friedrich. But this legacy Paul decisively threw back - he hated everyone who was promoted by his mother.

The training of soldiers was really conducted very diligently. But instead of Suvorov's training in taking natural and artificial obstacles and bayonet fighting, many hours of walking around the parade started with the performance of ceremonial rifle receptions (something like that can be seen right now at the passage of the Kremlin guard, but under the emperor Paul I this was forced to engage the whole army).

The soldier again dressed in corsets with tightened waists, uncomfortable narrow shoes and powdered wigs with letters. No one was interested in the fact that narrow uniforms caused fainting from lack of air, and the need to bring a hairstyle with powder did not leave time for sleep. Wreathed wigs (they were powdered with flour, and a dough made from dough) caused migraines and severe unsanitary conditions.

There were other "inventions". For example, Emperor Paul 1 demanded that in every regiment there should be a hundred ... halberders! De facto, this meant that a hundred unarmed men appeared on the regiment.

However, many experienced officers and generals fought with innovations in a secret order. Thus, during his Italian campaign, Suvorov demonstratively "did not notice" that his soldiers simply dropped all the unnecessary parts of the uniform, and the halberdiers started up their "weapons" ... for firewood.

Not everything is so bad

But it is necessary to maintain objectivity - the reform of the army of Paul 1 had positive consequences. In particular, he created new types of troops - communications (courier service) and engineering units (Pioneer Regiment). In the capital, a medical school was organized (now the Military Medical Academy). The Emperor also cared for the preparation of military maps, creating a depot.

The soldiers began settling in the barracks, and not at the lodging in private apartments - this facilitated the position of the burghers, and contributed to an increase in discipline. The service life of recruits was fixed exactly at 25 years (and not perpetually or until completely useless). The soldier got the right to leave (28 days a year) and to complain about unlawful actions of the authorities.

Uniforms were now released from the treasury, and not purchased by officers (as they say, the corruption scheme was suppressed). The officer became responsible for the life and provision of his soldiers (right up to the criminal prosecution). The fleet carried out technical re-equipment, and some offensive punishments (for example, pulling under the keel) were abolished.

Finally, an inconvenient uniform was supplemented with some comforts: Pavel was the first to introduce a winter uniform in the Russian army. Fur vests, thick cloaks, greatcoats appeared. In the winter, they were officially allowed to stand in their sheepskin coats and felt boots (this rule still applies), and the treasury also provided everything necessary.

Officer dissatisfaction

It is known that among the conspirators who killed the Emperor Paul I, there were many officers. They had both respectful and unreasonable reasons for discontent. The king was inclined to very much carp at the officers, especially at the parades - to please directly from the parade into exile, in what stood, was a matter of routine.

But many officers were annoyed by the monarch's exactingness - now they were not supposed to "light up" on secular parties, but to deal with soldiers. The officers were really strictly demanded for the position in their units, not looking at nobility and merit. However, the insignificant among the officers in the Pavlovian time is gone - the king ordered to dismiss all the officers-nedvoryan and forbade to continue to give non-nobility to the sergeants of the rank.

As a result, the dissatisfied with the popular popularity of the heir, Alexander. Of course, he was aware of the fact that his father, in any case, "persuade" to release the throne. Alexander I honestly paid off the conspirators - announcing his accession, he first said: "With me everything will be the same as with my grandmother."

Emperor Paul 1 does not belong to the number of great rulers who have earned great respect. He did not rule for long, and indeed his reign had a clear imprint of despotism. But this is no reason not to see the positive changes brought by this king into the state life. They too were, and yet the reforms of Paul 1 (briefly about them you learned from the article) played a role in the further development of the country.