Трансформаційні перетворення в Російській імперії під час правління Павла І

Abstract

(ua) У статті аналізується роль імператора Російської імперії Павла Петровича Романова як цілеспрямованого реформатора, який попри хаотичний і не зовсім продуманий план перетворень, намагався в умовах самодержавної Росії здійснити модернізацію окремих сфер країни, використовуючи наявний у той час інструментарій і власне бачення нової моделі регулярної мілітаристської Росії. У результаті проведеного дослідження визначені основні риси трансформаційних перетворень Павла І, які мали на меті створення сильної, централізованої держави, що ґрунтувалася на дотриманні законності, порядку, суворій нормативній регламентації, персональній відповідальності чиновників, на засудженні придворної розкоші, корупції і загалом нагадувала армійську організацію. У статті показано, що в рішеннях і діях Павла, які охоплювали адміністративну, військову, економічну, соціальну, культурну сфери, можна вбачати продовження політики «просвітницького абсолютизму» і спробу відродити петровську концепцію державної системи, за якою всіх піддані незалежно від стану повинні служити державі заради досягнення «загального благу». (en) The period of the short reign of Paul I (1796–1801) is usually one of the most difficult in studying of history of the Russian Empire. The political course of Paul I, it would seem, lacks integrity and systematicity. Measures that were actively implemented in various spheres of life in Russian society were often not accepted by the tsar's entourage, and were chaotic and contradictory in nature. It was this extreme inconsistency in the domestic and foreign policy of Russia during the reign of Pavlo Petrovych Romanov that allowed a number of researchers to talk about the phenomenon of Paul I and ambiguously assess the personality of the emperor (assessments vary from describing Paul as a tyrant, a despot, mentally not quite adequate, to characterizing him as sensual, the noble, suffering «democratic king» who cared about the well-being of all his subjects). Historiography also interprets the reign of Paul I in different ways: a senseless breakdown of Catherine's orders, an unfortunate historical episode that had no significant consequences, a consistent continuation of the pronoble policy of his predecessors with elements of maneuvering, and so on. Views on the results of his activities also differ. Paul's rule is called «ignorant absolutism», «military-police dictatorship», continuation of absolute monarchy, etc. In the article, we attempt to show the role of Pavlo Petrovych as a purposeful reformer who, despite a chaotic and not entirely thought-out plan of transformation, tried to modernize certain spheres of the country in the conditions of autocratic Russia, primarily in the military, administrative, social, cultural, and partly economic spheres, using the existing at that time toolkit (due to excessive regulation, reliance on force methods, disrespect for the individual) and the actual vision of a new model of regular militaristic Russia. The reign of Paul I and his attempts to modernize the Russian Empire according to his own vision can be considered a continuation of the policy of «enlightened absolutism» taking into account the autocratic, militaristic, centralized nature of the Russian government. It was under Paul’s rule that the gradual improvement of the position of the peasants and ordinary soldiers began, a course was taken on the transformation of administrative management in the direction of building a strong vertical of executive power, the reorganization of the Senate as a body for resolving court cases, clarifying laws. Attempts were made to codify legislation. Under the rule of Paul I, a clear procedure for the transfer of the throne was established by the right of seniority, primogeniture and male line, which put the legal norm above the will of the autocrat. It was under Paul’s rule that a pragmatic approach to Russia's foreign policy course took its toll. At the same time, an attempt to revive the Petrine concept of the state system, according to which all subjects, regardless of status, should serve the state for the sake of achieving the «common good», ended in complete failure and led to a conspiracy by a group of officers and the assassination of the emperor.