The reign of Peter I is a turning point in the history of Russia. The new ruler carried out serious reforms that affected all spheres of public life in our country. His decrees regulated all the most important aspects of politics, economics, and culture.
Features of the Emperor’s domestic policy
Peter Alekseevich devoted much time to the device of the Russian Empire. The focus of his attention was the problem of creating a flexible administration and a bureaucratic apparatus that would cope with the increased demands of the tsar, who had launched extensive activities to transform Russia. Peter I took up the formation of new state bodies of power: under his leadership, the Senate, the Synod, and colleges on the Western European model were created. The king first of all cared for the new institutions to function efficiently and cope with their duties.
For this, the emperor studied literally all the details and the details of their work. During a trip abroad to European countries, he specifically watched the work of the English parliament, was interested in the political structure of foreign countries. He invited specialists, lawyers to create similar projects in Russia.
The meaning of the order of 1709
It is in this context that the famous decree of Peter 1 “Subordinate in the face of the rulers” should be considered. Despite the humorous nature of its content, the text of the document itself reflects the emperor’s vision of the principles of the administration and bureaucratic authorities. The fact is that Peter I first of all appreciated in his subjects diligence, integrity, efficiency of work. He valued autonomy and encouraged initiative. However, he did not like excessive enterprise and activity, seeking, first of all, diligence and obedience from his environment.
therefore the decree of Peter 1 “The subordinate in front of the leader must look dashing” called on officials, first of all, to subordinate and respect higher officials. At that stage, this was perhaps the most important thing. Peter I understood that the bulk of the population of Russia has no education, so it is too early to demand from ordinary scribes, employees, secretaries of competent initiative.
Content Controversy
The decree of Peter 1 “Subordinate to the rulers” was, as it were, the opposite of the famous Peter's principle that all enterprising and talented people, regardless of origin and nobility of the family, should seek to increase their activity and enterprise by service. In fact, a decree on superiors fettered the initiative of officials, impeded their independence and made it completely dependent on higher ranks.
However, one can find an explanation for such a apparent contradiction: the fact is that 1709 was the time of the height of the Northern War of Russia with Sweden, when all the attention of Peter Alekseevich was focused on military needs, therefore he was primarily concerned with how to better equip the army and fleet, not local bureaucracy.
The place of the source among other orders of Peter I on the rules of conduct
The decree of Peter "The slave must look dashing and silly" can only be adequately understood in the context of other similar orders of the emperor on secular decencies and principles of behavior of the noble and serving estates at receptions and work. The king was a very witty man, quite aptly and expressively expressed his thoughts on paper. So if you look at his other orders of a similar nature, then you can also find a lot of fun in them.
therefore the decree of Peter 1 “Subordinate to the rulers” is not one of a kind. He is among many other similar documents that Peter Alekseevich did not skimp on. These orders are interesting in that they not only show us the tsar as a person of exclusively business and practical character, but also reflect the realities of Russian reality in the first quarter of the 18th century, when the country only began to adapt to Western European legal and secular norms.
The meaning of the law
The decree of Peter 1 "The slave must have the appearance of dashing and silly", despite the somewhat comical nature of the text, it is a kind of indicative monument to the Russian life of the period in question. The fact is that, despite the original content, in essence, it repeats the norms of Russian reality of the 17th century, when management was based on the principles of parochialism. The subordinate had to obey his superiors unquestioningly, and any initiative was not only not encouraged, but, on the contrary, could be punished.
The decree of Peter 1 “Subordinate to the rulers” essentially meant that Russia still continued to live with the concepts of the last century. Peter I, perhaps without realizing it, repeated the main idea of a bygone era. Being a practical man, he proceeded from the realities of concrete reality and, as a smart ruler, realized that it was too early to demand local entrepreneurship and initiative, at least until the country got used to the new device and principles of governance.