An order form of government is a unique phenomenon in the history of Russian statehood. This system developed over two centuries and was important in strengthening Russian statehood. What caused the need for reform of the command system, why it has lost its significance - we read below.
The emergence of orders
The formation of the command system of management falls at the end of the 15th century. Inconsistency of actions of local authorities could not provide constant state control over vast and remote regions. Those institutions that were already formed at that time did not have clear functional responsibilities. In the period of scattered and infrequent relations between the various territories of the specific principalities, “orders” arose for a short time, otherwise called “yards” or “huts”. Their functions were imprisoned for the execution of a particular order of the supreme power. Typically, the princes entrusted one or another order - “order” - to their boyars for execution and control. The expression "to be in order" in those days meant to know directly the instructions of the prince and monitor its implementation.
Responsibilities of Orders
The fact that the functions of the early orders were very blurred is evidenced by the following facts:
- spontaneous occurrence of various orders with a short period of action;
- incoming documents were addressed to certain persons, and not, in fact, to the institution;
- the way to execute orders was based on the so-called “legal custom”, thus, there was no general legislative foundation necessary for clear and unequivocal execution of orders, which meant that the effectiveness of managing the country decreased.
These are the main reasons why the need for reform of the command system was caused.
First orders
The first institutions with more or less clearly defined state responsibilities arose in the middle of the 16th century. Order management system in Russia at the end of the XV-XVII century. can be classified according to functional, territorial or class grounds.
Classification of orders
The first category includes orders in charge of palace and financial affairs. This is primarily the Palace order, on which was the responsibility for managing the prince’s economy, he controlled those lands and people who were responsible for the life support of the prince’s palace. The order of the Big Treasury was in charge of collecting direct taxes and minting a coin, the Hunting order was in charge of the prince's reserves and hunting grounds, and so on.
The second category was in charge of military management and the provision of princely squads. Created orders Streletsky, Bronny, Pushkarsky, Foreign and others.
The third category of orders specialized primarily in judicial function. The local order dealt with property litigations, Kholopiy, the Robber (later - the Detective) was in charge of prisons and criminal police affairs, and the Zemsky order carried out police and judicial supervision of the population of Moscow.
The fourth group is local authorities. The number of regional and territorial orders grew along with the number of territories annexed to Russia. So, there are Quaternary orders - Ryazan, Vladimir, Dmitrov, and later - Siberian, Little Russia and others.
The fifth category united special governing bodies. For example, there was a Stone order in charge of the construction of stone buildings and structures, Yamskaya, responsible for mail. Over time, orders appeared Book Printing, Pharmaceutical, Ambassadorial and others.
The sixth group of orders was in charge of church affairs. These include the Monastic Order, the Patriarchal Court and others.
Relations between various orders were formed spontaneously; a clear distribution of responsibilities was not worked out. Some orders could not give instructions to others. To regulate these relations, associations of orders were formed, which could be divided into the main order and several prizes. So, the Ambassadorial order to the 70s of the 17th century began to exercise leadership over Little Russia and Novgorod. The termination of powers of one or another order was not final - over time, it could well be revived as an independent institution with a certain set of functions.
Order Financing
The order management system was funded largely unsystematically. For current affairs, financing was taken from a certain territory from which taxes were levied; for individual cases, funds could be transferred from other orders, or special taxes could be created. The regulation of cash flows was carried out by orders such as the Order of the Big Treasury, the Order of collecting requested money, etc. Another answer to the question of what caused the need for reform of the order system will be the extreme complexity of cash flows and the inconsistency of the actions of various orders.
Peter's reforms
Over time, the command system of management in Russia began to function "for itself", requiring more and more resources, and with less return. The reforms of Peter I replaced obsolete orders by collegia, which differed in certain functions, clear distinctions between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. All that necessitated the reform of the command system was to become a thing of the past along with the introduction of new management forms that came to Russia with the advent of the Tsar Reformer.