Liquidation of the office of secret and investigative affairs. Inquisition in Russian: The Secret Office of Peter I
Reign period Peter I was marked by many innovations, but not all of them had a beneficial effect on the king’s subjects. Secret Chancery became the first secret service for political investigation. Even those who did not want to drink to the dregs for the Tsar’s health fell under her “all-seeing eye.” And the methods of inquiry in the Secret Chancellery were used no more mercifully than in the Spanish Inquisition.
Initially, the Secret Chancellery was established by Peter I in February 1718 as a body designed to understand the treason of Tsarevich Alexei. After the death of his son, the tsar did not liquidate the secret service, but at first personally monitored its actions.
Soon, suspicion began to fall on all those who not only caused confusion in the policies of Peter I, but also simply refused to drink to the Tsar’s health. The Secret Chancellery was equipped with torture chambers. Among the favorite means of torture of the secret service were vices, the rack, squeezing the head, dousing ice water. As a rule, the suspect was tortured three times, even if he confessed after the first time. A threefold admission of guilt was required. For such methods of inquiry, the ministers of the Secret Chancellery were called inquisitors.
Peter I himself issued a decree encouraging denunciations of crimes and disorders committed. People had to report without fear or a shadow of embarrassment. Needless to say, the Secret Chancellery worked without respite, since facts were not initially required to open a case; a denunciation was enough.
The first head of the Secret Chancellery was Prince Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy. After him, Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov became the boss, who was called “the thunderstorm of the court,” because he didn’t care who he tortured. The last to head the Secret Chancellery was Stepan Ivanovich Sheshkovsky. Historians mention a mechanical chair that stood in Sheshkovsky’s office. When the suspect sat down there, the armrests snapped into place, the chair lowered into the hatch, leaving only his head above the floor. The perpetrators undressed the victim and flogged him with rods, not knowing who it was. However, Sheshkovsky never personally investigated representatives of the low class; for this he had assistants.
The Secret Chancellery controlled not only domestic but also foreign policy. It was necessary to identify the “deported” diplomats. By the time of the reign of Peter III, the secret service was involved in the affairs of Prussian spies. As you know, the tsar sympathized with Prussia and spoke negatively about the methods of work of the Secret Chancellery. Perhaps this indirectly influenced the tsar’s decision to disband this department, and in 1762 the Secret Chancellery disappeared. Many historians consider this a positive moment for the entire period of the reign of Peter III, however, as you know, the king suffered a very sad fate after this.
Peter III is not the only one
On April 14, 1801, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich in the Senate announced the liquidation of the Secret Expedition (a body of political investigation in 1762-1801). The investigation of political cases was transferred to institutions that were in charge of criminal proceedings. From this moment on, cases of a political nature were to be considered by local judicial institutions on the same grounds “as are observed in all criminal offenses.” The fate of the nobles was finally decided by the Senate, and for persons of “ordinary rank” court decisions the governor claimed. The Emperor also prohibited torture during interrogations.
From political investigation
It is obvious that even the most democratic state cannot do without special bodies, a kind of political police. There will always be a certain number of people who will attack political system, often at the suggestion external forces(the so-called “fifth column”).
The provincial reform of 1555 transferred “robbery cases” to regional elders. “Search” was then considered the main thing in legal proceedings, and much attention was paid to the search. In 1555, instead of the temporary Boyar Izba, which investigated robbery cases, a permanent institution was created - the Robber Izba (order). It was led by boyars D. Kurlyatev and I. Vorontsov, and then I. Bulgakov.
IN legislative acts In the 17th century, political crimes were already known, expressed in insulting the royal power and the desire to belittle it. Crimes against the church were close to this category. They were reacted to with no less speed and cruelty. At the same time, indications appeared that the affairs were conducted secretly, the interrogation was carried out “eye to eye”, or “one on one”. The cases were secret, they were not widely publicized. Cases often began with denunciations, which were mandatory. Denunciations (reports) had a special name “reports on the sovereign’s business or word.” The investigation was usually conducted by governors, who reported the results to Moscow, where these cases were carried out in the Discharge and other orders; there were no special bodies yet.
The first “special service” was the Order of Secret Affairs under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, he was engaged in the search for “dashing people.” In the Code of Alexei Mikhailovich there is a section dedicated to crimes of “word and deed”. The second chapter of the Code is devoted to these matters: “On the sovereign’s honor, and how to protect his sovereign’s health.” The 1st article of this chapter talks about the intention of an “evil deed” for the “state’s health”, that is, we are talking about an attempt on the life and health of the sovereign. In the 2nd article we are talking about the intention to “take possession of the state and become a sovereign.” The following articles deal with treason. The second chapter of the Code established the obligation of everyone to “notify” the authorities of any evil intent or conspiracy; failure to comply with this requirement was punishable by the death penalty “without any mercy.”
Before the reign of Peter Alekseevich, there were no special police bodies in Rus'; their work was carried out by military, financial and judicial institutions. Their activities were regulated Council Code, Decree books of the Robber, Zemsky, Serf orders, as well as individual decrees of the Tsar and the Boyar Duma.
In 1686, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz was established (in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow). It was a kind of office of Pyotr Alekseevich, created to manage the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. But at the same time it began to serve as an institution for fighting political opponents. In the end it became his main function. This institution began to be called the Preobrazhensky Order in 1695, from that time it received the function of protecting public order in Moscow and was responsible for the most significant court cases. Since 1702, it received the name of the gathering hut in Preobrazhenskoye and the general courtyard in Preobrazhenskoye. The Preobrazhensky Prikaz was under the direct control of the tsar and was managed by his confidant, Prince F. Yu. Romodanovsky (and after the death of F. Yu. Romodanovsky - by his son I. F. Romodanovsky).
Peter established the Secret Chancellery in 1718; it existed until 1726. The Secret Chancellery was created in St. Petersburg to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and performed the same functions as the Preobrazhensky Order. The immediate heads of the Secret Chancellery were Pyotr Tolstoy and Andrei Ushakov. Subsequently, both institutions merged into one. The Secret Chancellery was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The methods used by these authorities were very cruel, people were tortured, kept in stocks and iron for months. It was in the era of Peter that the words “Word and Deed” made any person tremble, be it a tramp or a royal courtier. No one was immune from the effects of these words. Any, most recent criminal will shout these words and arrest an innocent, often high-ranking and respected person. Neither rank, nor age, nor gender - nothing could save a person from torture, for whom “the sovereign’s word and deed” were said.
Under Peter Russian state The police also showed up. The beginning of the creation of the Russian police can be considered the year 1718, when a decree was issued establishing the post of Chief of Police in the capital. It must be said that, unlike Europe, a division arises in Russia - general police and political bodies were created. The police under Peter I received very broad powers: up to appearance people, their clothes, interference in raising children. It is interesting that if before Peter Alekseevich in Rus' it was forbidden to wear foreign clothes and cut your head in a foreign way, then under him the situation changed in reverse side. All classes, except the clergy and peasantry, were required to wear foreign clothes and shave their beards and mustaches.
Back in 1715, Peter opened the doors wide for political denunciation and voluntary investigation. He declared that anyone who is a true Christian and a faithful servant of the sovereign and the fatherland can, without a doubt, report important matters in writing or orally to the sovereign himself or to the guard in his palace. It was reported what denunciations would be accepted: 1) about malicious intent against the sovereign or treason; 2) embezzlement of the treasury; 3) about uprising, rebellion, etc.
Getting into the dungeons of the secret chancellery was very easy and trivial. For example, one Little Russian, passing through the city of Konotop, drank with a soldier in a tavern. The soldier offered to drink to the emperor's health. However, many simple people they knew kings, boyars, and heard about overseas kings, but the concept of “emperor” was new and alien to them. The Little Russian flared up: “Why do I need your emperor?!” There will be many of you like this! The devil knows who he is, your emperor! But I know my righteous sovereign and I don’t want to know anyone else!” The soldier rushed to report to his superiors. The tavern was cordoned off and everyone in it was arrested. First they were sent to Kyiv to the Little Russian Collegium, and then to St. Petersburg, to the Secret Chancellery. Thus, a high-profile case of “defamation of the emperor” was opened. The accused, Danil Belokonnik, was interrogated three times on the rack, and three times he gave the same testimony. He did not know that he was insulting the sovereign. I thought that the soldier was drinking to some boyar, who was called “emperor.” But the witnesses were confused in their testimony. At the time of the incident, they were drunk, no one really remembered anything, and their testimony was confused. On the rack they shouted whatever they wanted. Five died from “immoderate torture”, others were sent to hard labor, and only two were released after being tortured. The “criminal” himself was released, but before that he was beaten with batogs, “so that no person should be scolded with such obscene words.”
Many ended up in prison for drunkenness, saying all sorts of stupid things typical of a drunken person. Voronezh clerk Ivan Zavesin loved to drink and was accused of petty fraud. Once a clerk was under arrest for official misconduct in the Voronezh provincial chancellery. He asked to leave to visit a relative, but did not find him and went with the guard to the tavern. Having been well received, they entered the courthouse. There Zavesin asked the official: “Who is your sovereign?” He answered: “Our sovereign is Peter the Great...” He answered and blurted out: “Your sovereign is Peter the Great... and I am the slave of the sovereign Alexei Petrovich!” Zavesin woke up in the morning in the voivode's basement in shackles. He was taken to Moscow, to the Secret Chancellery. During interrogation, he said that being drunk makes you insane. They made inquiries and his words were confirmed. However, for the sake of order, he was still tortured, and then sentenced to 25 lashes of the whip.
At the beginning of the reign of Catherine I, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz received the name Preobrazhensky Chancellery, while retaining the same range of tasks. So it existed until 1729. It was supervised by the Supreme Privy Council. The Preobrazhensky Chancellery was liquidated after the resignation of Prince Romodanovsky. The most important matters were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Privy Council, less important - to the Senate.
It should be noted that since the reign of Peter II the social composition"political". Under Pyotr Alekseevich, these were mostly people from the lower classes and social groups: archers, Old Believers, rebels from peasants, Cossacks, just random people. Like women who are currently called “possessed” (cliques, holy fools) - in a fit they shouted all sorts of nonsense, which they used to start “political” affairs. After Peter I, a significant number of military men, people more or less close to the “elite,” were imprisoned. This is explained by the fact that there was a fierce struggle between various court factions.
They kept people in dungeons in very harsh conditions. According to some reports, the mortality rate reached 80%. The exile to distant Siberia was considered a “happy occasion.” According to contemporaries, the place of “preliminary detention” was a pit (dungeon), with virtually no access daylight. The convicts were not allowed to walk; they defecated directly on the earthen floor, which was cleaned once a year, before Easter. They were fed once a day, bread was thrown in the morning (no more than 2 pounds per prisoner). On major holidays they provided meat scraps. Sometimes they gave food from alms. The stronger and healthier took food from the weak, exhausted, and exhausted by torture, bringing them closer to the grave. We slept on straw, which was almost no different from other dirt, because it was changed every few months. There was no talk about official clothes, washing and washing. This was accompanied by regular torture.
Anna Ioannovna in 1731 established the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs under the leadership of A.I. Ushakov. This institution was responsible for conducting the investigation into the crime of the “first two points” of State crimes (which related to the “Word and deed of the sovereign”). The 1st point stated, “if anyone uses any kind of fabrications to think of an evil deed against the imperial health, or to vilify a person and honor with evil and harmful words,” and the 2nd said “about rebellion and treason.”
In the era of palace coups and struggles with political opponents under Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna, the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs became a very influential institution. All organs government controlled they had to immediately carry out her orders, and all suspects and witnesses were sent to her.
From the beginning of 1741, Courlanders, “Germans”, Biron’s proteges or simply foreigners who were unlucky passed through the dungeons of the Secret Chancellery. They were accused of all sorts of crimes, from treason to simple theft. For the crowd of foreigners we even had to invite translators. Two waves of foreigners passed through the dungeons. First, Minikh overthrew Biron, and his supporters and their circle fell into disgrace. Then Elizaveta Petrovna gained power and dealt with Anna Ioannovna’s associates, including Minikh.
Emperor Peter III abolished the Chancellery and at the same time banned the “Word and Deed of the Sovereign.” Only the Senate was to deal with political affairs. But under the Senate itself, a Secret Expedition was established, which was engaged in political investigation. Formally, the institution was headed by the Prosecutor General of the Senate, but almost all affairs were in charge of Chief Secretary S.I. Sheshkovsky. Catherine II decided to take care of such an important department herself and subordinated the Secret Expedition to the Prosecutor General, and its Moscow branch to Governor General P. S. Saltykov.
Emperor Alexander I canceled the secret expedition, but in 1802 the Ministry of Internal Affairs was created. In 1811, the Ministry of Police was separated from it. But it was not yet centralized; police chiefs and district police officers were subordinate to the governor. And the governors were controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on some issues, and by the Ministry of Police on others. In 1819 the ministries were united.
In addition, under Alexander Pavlovich in 1805, a Special Secret Committee for Political Investigation (High Police Committee) was established. In 1807 it was transformed into a Committee to consider cases of crimes that concerned the violation of the general peace. The committee only considered cases; the investigation was carried out by the general police.
The uprising of the “Decembrists” led to the fact that Nicholas I established on July 3, 1826 the III Department of His Majesty’s own Chancellery. This was the political police, which was directly subordinate to the king. The III Division was subordinated to the Separate Gendarmerie Corps, established in 1827. The empire was divided into 7 gendarmerie districts. The head of this structure was A.H. Benkendorf. Section III monitored the mood in society, its chief made reports to the Tsar. Of the approximately 300 thousand sentenced to exile or imprisonment from 1823 to 1861, only approximately 5% were “political”; most of them were Polish rebels.
In 1880, considering that Section III could not cope with the task assigned to it (the terrorist threat had sharply increased), it was abolished. The general management of the gendarme corps was entrusted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Police Department began to operate within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a Special Department was established to combat political crimes. At the same time, departments for maintaining order and public safety began to operate in Moscow and St. Petersburg (security departments, the so-called “secret police”). By the beginning of the 20th century, a network of security departments was created throughout the empire. The security departments tried to identify revolutionary organizations and stop the actions they were preparing: murders, robberies, anti-government propaganda, etc. The assets of the security departments were agents, spies and secret employees. The latter were introduced into revolutionary organizations, some were even in the leadership. Security departments also operated abroad, where there was a strong revolutionary emigration. However, this did not save Russian Empire. In December 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission was created, and the history of the Soviet special services began.
On March 6, 1762, Peter III abolished the Secret Chancellery - the first secret service in national history. It was called the “Russian Inquisition”; even those who refused to drink to the health of the monarch fell under its jurisdiction.
On your own blood
In January 1718, Tsar Peter I was waiting for the return of the prodigal son Alexei, who had fled to the Austrian possessions. Going from Naples to St. Petersburg, Alexey thanked his father for the promised “forgiveness.” But the sovereign could not put his empire at risk, even for the well-being of his own son. Even before the prince’s return to Russia, a Secret Office of Investigative Affairs was created specifically for Alexei’s case, which was supposed to conduct an investigation into his “treason.”
After the completion of Alexei’s case, which led to the death of the heir, the Secret Chancellery, unlike the “major’s offices,” was not liquidated, but became one of the most important state bodies subordinated personally to the monarch. On November 25, 1718, cabinet secretary Alexei Makarov notified Tolstoy and General I. I. Buturlin: “His Majesty has deigned to determine one day in the week for hearing the investigative cases of your office, namely, Monday, and for this purpose you deign to be known about it.” . Peter often personally attended meetings of the chancellery and was even present during torture.
If during interrogation it seemed to the investigators that the suspect was “locking himself in,” then the conversation was followed by torture. This effective method was used in St. Petersburg no less often than in the basements of the European Inquisition.
The office had a rule: “those who confess should be tortured three times.” This implied the need for a triple confession of guilt of the accused. For testimony to be considered reliable, it must be repeated in different time at least three times without changes. Before Elizabeth's decree of 1742, torture began without the presence of an investigator, that is, even before the start of questioning in the torture chamber. The executioner had time to "find" with the victim mutual language. His actions, of course, are not controlled by anyone.
Elizaveta Petrovna, like her father, constantly kept the affairs of the Secret Chancellery under complete control. Thanks to a report provided to her in 1755, we learn that the favorite methods of torture were: the rack, the vice, squeezing the head and pouring cold water(the most severe of tortures).
Inquisition "in Russian"
The Secret Chancellery performed, among other things, functions similar to the affairs of the European Inquisition. Catherine II in her memoirs even compared these two bodies of “justice”: “Alexander Shuvalov, not in himself, but in the position he held, was the threat of the entire court, the city and the entire empire, he was the head of the Inquisition Court, which was then called the Secret Chancellery "
It wasn't easy beautiful words. Back in 1711, Peter I created government corporation informers - the institute of fiscals (one or two people in each city). Church authorities were controlled by spiritual fiscals called “inquisitors.” Subsequently, this initiative formed the basis of the Secret Chancellery. It hasn't turned into a witch hunt, but religious crimes are mentioned in the cases. In Russia, just awakening from its medieval sleep, there were punishments for making a deal with the devil, especially with the aim of causing harm to the sovereign. Among the latest cases of the Secret Chancellery is the trial of a merchant who declared the then deceased Peter the Great the Antichrist, and threatened Elizabeth Petrovna with a fire. The impudent foul-mouthed man was from among the Old Believers. He got off lightly - he was whipped.
Eminence grise
General Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov became the real “gray eminence” of the Secret Chancellery. “He managed the Secret Chancellery under five monarchs,” notes historian Evgeniy Anisimov, “and knew how to negotiate with everyone! First he tortured Volynsky, and then Biron. Ushakov was a professional; he didn’t care who he tortured.” He came from among the impoverished Novgorod nobles and knew what “the struggle for a piece of bread” was. He led the case of Tsarevich Alexei, tilted the cup in favor of Catherine I when, after the death of Peter, the issue of inheritance was decided, opposed Elizabeth Petrovna, and then quickly entered into the favor of the ruler. When the passions of palace coups thundered in the country, he was as unsinkable as the “shadow” french revolution– Joseph Fouché, who during the bloody events in France managed to be on the side of the monarch, the revolutionaries and Napoleon who replaced them. What is significant is that both “gray cardinals” met their death not on the scaffold, like most of their victims, but at home, in bed.
Hysteria of denunciations
Peter called on his subjects to report all disorders and crimes. In October 1713, the tsar wrote threatening words “about those who disobey the decrees and those laid down by law and who are robbers of the people,” to denounce whom the subjects “without any fear would come and announce this to us ourselves.” The following year, Peter pointedly publicly invited unknown author an anonymous letter “about the great benefit to His Majesty and the entire state” to come to him for a reward of 300 rubles - a huge sum at that time. The process that led to real hysteria of denunciations was launched. Anna Ioannovna, following the example of her uncle, promised “mercy and reward” for a fair accusation. Elizaveta Petrovna gave the serfs freedom for the “right” denunciation of the landowners who were sheltering their peasants from the audit. The decree of 1739 set the example of a wife who denounced her husband, for which she received 100 souls from the confiscated estate.
Under these conditions, they reported everything to everyone, without resorting to any evidence, based only on rumors. This became the main tool for the work of the main office. One careless phrase at a party, and the fate of the unfortunate man was sealed. True, something cooled the ardor of the adventurers. Igor Kurukin, a researcher on the issue of the “secret office,” wrote: “If the accused denied and refused to testify, the unlucky informer could himself end up on his hind legs or spend from several months to several years in captivity.”
In the era of palace coups, when thoughts of overthrowing the government arose not only among officers, but also among persons of “vile rank,” hysteria reached its apogee. People started reporting on themselves! In “Russian Antiquity,” which published the affairs of the Secret Chancery, the case of soldier Vasily Treskin is described, who himself came to confess to the Secret Chancery, accusing himself of seditious thoughts: “that it’s not a big deal to offend the empress; and if he, Treskin, finds time to see the gracious empress, he could stab her with a sword.”
Spy games
After Peter’s successful policy, the Russian Empire was integrated into the system of international relations, and at the same time the interest of foreign diplomats in the activities of the St. Petersburg court increased. Secret agents of European states began to arrive in the Russian Empire. Cases of espionage also fell under the jurisdiction of the Secret Chancellery, but they did not succeed in this field. For example, under Shuvalov, the Secret Chancellery knew only about those “infiltrators” who were exposed on the fronts of the Seven Years’ War. The most famous among them was Major General of the Russian Army Count Gottlieb Kurt Heinrich Totleben, who was convicted of corresponding with the enemy and giving him copies of “secret orders” of the Russian command. But against this background, such famous “spies” as the French Gilbert Romm, who in 1779 handed over to his government the detailed state of the Russian army and secret maps, successfully carried out their business in the country; or Ivan Valets, a court politician who transmitted information about foreign policy Catherine.
The Last Pillar of Peter III
Upon ascending the throne, Peter III wanted to reform the Secret Chancellery. Unlike all his predecessors, he did not interfere in the affairs of the body. Obviously, his hostility to the institution played a role in connection with the affairs of the Prussian informers during the Seven Years' War, to whose ranks he belonged. The result of his reform was the abolition of the Secret Chancellery by the manifesto of March 6, 1762 due to “uncorrected morals among the people.” In other words, the body was accused of not solving the tasks assigned to it.
The abolition of the Secret Chancellery is often considered one of the positive results of Peter's reign. However, this careless move only led the emperor to his inglorious death. The temporary disorganization of the punitive department did not allow the participants in the conspiracy to be identified in advance and contributed to the spread of rumors defaming the emperor, which now there was no one to stop. As a result, on June 28, 1762, it was successfully carried out palace coup, as a result of which the emperor lost his throne and then his life.
Preobrazhensky Order and the Secret Chancellery
Base Preobrazhensky order dates back to the beginning of the reign of Peter I (established in the year in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow); At first he represented a branch of the special office of the sovereign, created to manage the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. Used by Peter as political body in a power struggle with Princess Sophia. The name “Preobrazhensky Order” has been in use since the year; Since that time, he has been in charge of maintaining public order in Moscow and the most significant court cases. However, in the decree of the year, instead of the “Preobrazhensky order,” the moving hut in Preobrazhenskoye and the general courtyard in Preobrazhenskoye are named. In addition to the affairs of managing the first guards regiments, the Preobrazhensky order was given the responsibility for managing the sale of tobacco, and in the year it was ordered to send to the order everyone who would speak for themselves "The Sovereign's Word and Deed"(that is, to accuse someone of a state crime). The Preobrazhensky Prikaz was under the direct jurisdiction of the tsar and was controlled by Prince F. Yu. Romodanovsky (until 1717; after the death of F. Yu. Romodanovsky - by his son I. F. Romodanovsky). Subsequently, the order received the exclusive right to conduct cases of political crimes or, as they were then called, "against the first two points." Since 1725, the secret chancellery also dealt with criminal cases, which were in charge of A.I. Ushakov. But with a small number of people (under his command there were no more than ten people, nicknamed forwarders of the secret chancellery), such a department was not able to cover all criminal cases. Under the then procedure for investigating these crimes, convicts convicted of any criminal offense could, if they wished, extend their process by saying "word and deed" and having made a denunciation; they were immediately taken into the Preobrazhensky Prikaz along with the accused, and very often the accused were people who had not committed any crime, but against whom the informers had a grudge. The main activity of the order is the prosecution of participants in anti-serfdom protests (about 70% of all cases) and opponents of the political reforms of Peter I.
Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs
Central government agency. After the dissolution of the Secret Chancellery in 1727, it resumed work as the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs in 1731. under the leadership of A.I. Ushakova. The competence of the chancellery included the investigation into the crime of the “first two points” of State crimes (they meant “The word and deed of the sovereign.” The first point determined “if anyone uses any fabrications to think about an evil deed or a person and honor on the imperial health with evil and harmful words vilify”, and the second spoke “about rebellion and treason”). The main weapons of the investigation were torture and interrogations with “bias.” Abolished by the manifesto of Emperor Peter III (1762), at the same time the “Word and Deed of the Sovereign” was prohibited.
Secret expedition
Special Office
Sources
- Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg: 1890-1907.
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See what the “Office of Secret Investigation Cases” is in other dictionaries:
Central government agency in Russia in 1731 62 for the investigation of political crimes; see Secret Chancery... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Center. state establishment in Russia in the 18th century. Created in Moscow (in the village of Preobrazhenskoye) in 1731 to investigate political crimes. character; took over the competence of the Secret Chancellery of Peter I, b. The minister of the swarm, A. I. Ushakov, headed the K. tr. until 1747. d... Soviet historical encyclopedia
Office of Secret Investigations- the highest control, investigative and supervisory institution of the empire, a prototype of the secret police. Functioned in 1731-1762. Subsequently transformed into the Secret Senate Expedition... Brief dictionary historical and legal terms
Office of Secret Investigators Encyclopedia of Law
SECRET SEARCH CASES OFFICE- the central government institution in Russia in the 18th century, the highest body of political investigation. Created in Moscow (in the village of Preobrazhenskoye) in 1731 to investigate crimes of a political nature; accepted the competence of the Secret Chancellery of Peter... ... Russian statehood in terms. 9th – early 20th century
Office of Secret Investigators- Cases in Russia in the 18th century. central government agency. Created in Moscow in 1731 to investigate crimes of a political nature; took over the competence of the Secret Chancellery of Peter I. K.t.r.d. abolished in 1762, functions transferred to the Secret... ... Large legal dictionary
Office- (Latin chancellaria; English chancellery/office) 1) the name of some government institutions in Russia (for example, the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs of the 18th century, K. His Imperial Majesty, etc.); 2) a structural unit of the organization in charge of official... Encyclopedia of Law
office- (from Late Latin cancellarius clerk) 1) department of an institution; department of the institution in charge of its official correspondence and preparation of current documentation; 2) some government agencies in Russia in the 18th and early 20th centuries. (Secret Chancery, etc.) ... Large legal dictionary
- (abbreviated as Own E.I.V. Office) personal office Russian emperors, over time modified into one of the central authorities. It was created under Peter I, reformed under Catherine II, abolished by Alexander I ... Wikipedia
An institution under the direct authority of the Sovereign. Under Peter I Own. The sovereign's office was called the cabinet. Under Peter II, the S. patrimonial office was subordinated to the cabinet (established by Catherine I for the management of property... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron
Having become the sovereign “mistress of Russia,” Anna Ivanovna used everything previously known for political investigation. organizational forms: permanent institutions, temporary commissions, and search orders for individual officials. But still she did not feel safe, even having discharged close people from Courland, the main role among whom was played by E.I. Biron. Already on March 4, 1730, there was an imperial decree on the abolition of the Supreme Privy Council and the restoration of the Senate “on the same basis and in such strength” as under Peter the Great. Senate becomes supreme supervisory authority in the matter of political investigation. On July 22, a Detective Order was established in the Moscow province to conduct “Tatin, robbery and murder” cases. This police order became the first formal law enforcement structure created by the empress.
On March 24, 1731, the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs was established, combining the functions of an operational and investigative apparatus for political crimes. The office also handled cases of foreign espionage in Russia. The office had the status of a collegium and was located in the general courtyard in Preobrazhenskoye. The staff of the office consisted of the Senate Secretary V. Kazarinov, several clerks, guards, two backpack masters, one sergeant, one corporal and 30 soldiers. 3,360 rubles were allocated for the needs of the office, the same amount as was allocated Preobrazhensky order .
A.I. was appointed head of the Office of Secret Investigation Cases. Ushakov, who managed to work in both Peter’s detective departments. Slavishly devoted to Empress Anna Ioanovna, Ushakov led the two most high-profile political trials during her reign - the “supreme leaders” Dolgorukovs and Golitsyns and the cabinet minister A.P. Volynsky, who tried to put an end to the Bironovism. When at the beginning of 1732 the court headed by the empress returned from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Ushakov also moved there with his office, called the “Marching Office of Secret Investigative Affairs.” In order not to leave the old capital unattended, an office was opened in it “from this office”, located on Lubyanka. A relative of the queen, Adjutant General S.A., was placed at the head of the Moscow office. Saltykov, who immediately launched a vigorous activity. In the first four years of its existence alone, the office he led examined 1,055 cases and arrested 4,046 people. Understanding the importance of political investigation for strengthening her power, hated by a significant part of the population, Anna Ioanovna gave the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs a status higher than any collegium of the empire, and subordinated it personally to herself, categorically prohibiting any other government bodies from interfering in its activities. Ushakov, who headed the Chancellery, was not obliged to report on his actions even to the Senate, but he regularly appeared with reports to the Empress herself.
After the death of Peter I and before the accession of his niece to the throne, the police service practically did not develop, since all the efforts of people close to the throne boiled down to attempts to retain power. On April 23, 1733, Anna Ivanovna signed a decree “On the establishment of police in cities,” according to which police departments were created in large cities of the empire. “Register of provinces: Novgorod, Kyiv, Voronezh, Astrakhan, the city of Arkhangelsk, Smolensk, Belgorod, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Tobolsk. Provincial: Pskov, Vologda, Kaluga, Tver, Pereslavl Ryazansky, Kolomna, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Simbirsk, Bryansk, Orel. Yes, in addition to those described above, in the cities of Shlisselburg and Ladoga.”
The departments were headed by police chiefs with the rank of captain - in the provincial ones and lieutenant - in provincial cities. The staff of the city administration consisted of a non-commissioned officer, a corporal, 8 (in provincial) or 6 (in district) lower ranks, as well as 2 clerks. The salary was paid from the funds of the garrisons. To assist the police, sotsky, fifty, ten and night guards were appointed from the townspeople. These transformations contributed to the development of Peter’s initiatives and closer interaction between the population and police services to maintain public order. The representatives allocated from the townspeople constituted that lower social stratum that allowed the police to truly be considered popular and maintain order with the help of the population itself. True, this has so far been relatively limited major cities. In small towns and rural areas, such structures did not exist until now, which made it difficult to identify and prevent “malicious acts” against the sovereign and his subjects in advance.
In the next round of the struggle for power at the top that unfolded after the death of Anna Ioanovna in 1740, the head of the political investigation deliberately did not take any part, being content, in the words of the historian, with “the role of an unprincipled executor of the will of any person in whose hands the this moment power was exerted." Having mercilessly dealt with Biron’s opponents under the former empress, Ushakov then conducted an investigation of this once all-powerful temporary worker, after he was overthrown by Field Marshal Minikh and Vice-Chancellor Osterman. When they themselves were soon overthrown, both of them were also interrogated by the head of the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs. Thanks to such conformism and slavish devotion to anyone in power, A.I. Ushakov retained his post during Elizaveta Petrovna, who reigned on the Russian throne since 1741. The daughter of Peter the Great left completely intact the organ of political investigation, which under her dealt with the supporters of the overthrown Brunswick dynasty, the leader of the Bashkir uprising of 1755 Batyrsh and led whole line other processes of “word and deed”. This area of government activity was not deprived of the attention of the new ruler, and, despite her tendency towards laziness noted by her contemporaries, Elizabeth periodically heard reports from Ushakov, and when he grew old, she sent her favorite brother L.I. to help him. Shuvalov, who ultimately replaced Ushakov in his post.
At the time of the accession of the new empress to the throne in 1741, the staff of the Chancellery of Secret Investigative Affairs consisted of 14 subordinates of Ushakov: secretary Nikolai Khrushchev, four clerks, five sub-clerks, three copyists and one “backpack master” - Fyodor Pushnikov. There were another 14 employees in the Moscow office. The scope of their work was constantly expanding. Counting those preserved in the archives by the beginning of the 19th century. the affairs of this department shows that 1,450 cases remained from the era of Bironovism, and 6,692 cases from the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. Apart from political cases about the “first two points”, this body state security He also considered cases of bribery and abuse of local authorities, court intrigues and quarrels. The Office of Secret Investigation and Counterintelligence functions were performed.
At the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, an event occurred that played a significant role in the history of detective work. The famous thief and robber Vanka Cain, voluntarily surrendering to the authorities, offered his services in searching for and apprehending criminals and fugitives. A special team of soldiers and police officials was assigned to check the tempting offer. The activities of the new unit turned out to be so effective that the Senate learned about its successes: Vanka was forgiven and identified as the informer of the Senate order. For several years, his team cleared Moscow of thieves and robbers - accordingly, the welfare of the former criminal grew. To the detriment of his service, he indulged in love of money and connivance; the result is natural: arrest, sentence, hard labor.
“The method of attracting former criminals to capture other criminals was appreciated and entered into the arsenals of the intelligence services. In France, early XIX V. one of the criminal police units was headed by former convict E.-F. Vidocq, who became one of the founders of criminology. In the late 1940s - early 1950s. similar tactics were used in the liquidation of underground fighting groups in Western Ukraine. Middle-level leaders of the UPA - OUN, earning forgiveness from the authorities, “surrendered” their former comrades and took personal part in the liquidation of especially dangerous militants.”(Anisimov. “Political investigation in the 18th century.”)
From the case of the chamberlain Alexander Turchaninov and his accomplices - ensign-preobrazhentser Pyotr Kvashnin and sergeant-Izmailovo Ivan Snovidov, arrested in 1742, it is clear that, indeed, there was a criminal “mob and conspiracy” with the aim of overthrowing and murdering Empress Elizabeth. The accomplices discussed how to “assemble a party,” with Kvashnin telling Turchaninov that he had already persuaded a group of guardsmen. Snovidov “said that his party had about sixty people taken care of.” They also had a specific plan of action: “Divide those gathered in two and come to the palace at night and, seizing the guard, enter Her chambers and. V. and His Imperial Highness to be killed, and the other half... to arrest the life company, and whoever of them resists will be stabbed to death.” Was clearly expressed and final goal coup: “Prince Ivan (the deposed Emperor Ivan Antonovich) should be returned and placed on the throne as before.”
These conversations cannot be considered ordinary drunken chatter - among the ten thousand guardsmen there were many dissatisfied with both the overthrow of Emperor Ivan Antonovich on November 25, 1741 and the rise to power of Elizabeth, and with the fact that the life companies - three hundred guardsmen who carried out this coup - received for their an easy “feat” of unprecedented privileges. Turchaninov, serving as a footman in the palace, knew all the entrances and exits from it and could become a guide to the Empress’s bedchamber. And this was very important - after all, it is known that on the night of November 9, 1740, Lieutenant Colonel K. G. Manstein, who entered the palace on the orders of B. X. Minich with soldiers to arrest Regent Biron, almost failed the whole business: in search of In the regent's bedchamber, he got lost in the dark palace passages. Only an accident allowed Turchaninov's conspiracy to be revealed.
Another conspirator, Second Lieutenant Joasaph Baturin, was an extremely active, fanatical and mentally unstable person. He was also distinguished by his penchant for adventurism and the ability to attract people with him. In the summer of 1749, Baturin drew up a coup plan, which provided for the arrest of Empress Elizabeth and the murder of her favorite A. G. Razumovsky (“chop him while hunting or look for him in another manner of death”). After this, Baturin intended to force the highest church hierarchs to hold a ceremony to proclaim Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich Emperor Peter III.
Baturin’s plans do not seem like the ravings of a crazy loner. He had accomplices in the guard and even in the lifeguard company. The investigation showed that he also negotiated with the workers of the Moscow cloth factories, who at that time were rebelling against the owners. Baturin and his accomplices hoped to receive money from Pyotr Fedorovich, distribute it to soldiers and workers, promising them, on behalf of the Grand Duke, to give them the salary he had withheld immediately after the coup. Baturin expected, at the head of a detachment of soldiers and workers, to “suddenly raid the palace at night and arrest the empress and the entire court.” Baturin even managed to waylay the Grand Duke while hunting, and during this meeting, which horrified the heir to the throne, he tried to convince Pyotr Fedorovich to accept his proposals. As Catherine II, Peter’s wife, wrote in her memoirs, Baturin’s plans were “not at all comical,” especially since Peter hid from Elizabeth Petrovna a meeting with him on a hunt, which unwittingly encouraged the conspirators to be active - Baturin took the Grand Duke’s silence as a sign of his consent .
But the plot failed; at the beginning of the winter of 1754, Baturin was arrested and imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, from where in 1767, having won over the guards, he almost made a daring escape. But this time he was unlucky: his conspiracy was exposed and Baturin was exiled to Kamchatka. There, in 1771, together with the famous Benyovsky, he staged a riot. The rebels captured the ship and fled from Russia, crossed three oceans, but Baturin died off the coast of Madagascar. His whole history suggests that such an adventurer as Baturin could, under a favorable set of circumstances, achieve his goal - to carry out a coup d'etat.
After 1741, the security of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was primarily ensured by the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs. The special secrecy in ensuring the safety of the Empress is evidenced by the fact that almost none of those close to her knew in which room she would spend the night in a particular residence. This is confirmed, in particular, by the artist A. Benois. After studying the plans of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, he came to the conclusion that there was no bedchamber for the Empress.
Strengthening security measures was taken after the exposure and arrest in 1742 of chamberlain A. Turchaninov and ensign of the Preobrazhensky regiment P. Kvashnin, who were preparing the night murder of Elizabeth. At the same time, a route was prepared for the urgent evacuation of the empress from St. Petersburg to Moscow. There were replacement horses every 20–30 versts; the distance was covered in two days. Considering the state of the roads at the time and riding in a heavy carriage, the average speed of 30 kilometers per hour is impressive. However, the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs was not only a body of political investigation, but also carried out counterintelligence tasks. In 1745, Elizabeth G. Lestocq, physician's physician, for a long time endowed with the personal trust of the empress, one of her closest advisers, who had direct access to the empress’s chambers, was exposed as an agent of French, Prussian and British intelligence. In 1748 he was sent into exile, first to Uglich, and then to Veliky Ustyug.
In 1756, the Empress instructed Shuvalov and Vorontsov to investigate the case of the French missionary Valcroissant and Baron Budberg, suspected of “espionage.” In 1761, a case was transferred to the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs on suspicion of General Totleben (a Saxon native) of “relations” with the Prussians. In January 1762, there was a big case about “espionage” among Russian troops in Prussia.
For fifteen years, the head of the Office of Secret Investigation Cases was Count Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov, cousin Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, the empress's favorite. Alexander Shuvalov, one of the closest friends of Princess Elizabeth’s youth, has long enjoyed her special trust. When Elizaveta Petrovna ascended the throne, Shuvalov began to be entrusted with detective work. At first he worked under Ushakov, and in 1746 he replaced his ill boss at his post.
In the detective department under Shuvalov, everything remained the same: the machine set up by Ushakov continued to work properly. True, the new head of the Office of Secret Affairs did not possess the gallantry inherent in Ushakov, and even inspired fear in those around him with the strange twitching of his facial muscles. As Catherine II wrote in her notes, “Alexander Shuvalov, not in himself, but in the position he held, was a threat to the entire court, the city and the entire empire; he was the head of the Inquisition Court, which was then called the Secret Chancellery. His occupation, as they said, caused him to have a kind of convulsive movement, which occurred on the entire right side of his face from eye to chin whenever he was excited by joy, anger, fear or apprehension.”
Shuvalov was not such a detective fanatic as Ushakov; he did not spend the night in the service, but became interested in commerce and entrepreneurship. Court affairs also took up a lot of his time - in 1754 he became chamberlain of the court of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. And although Shuvalov behaved with caution and caution towards the heir to the throne, the very fact that the chief of the secret police became his chamberlain unnerved Peter and his wife. Catherine wrote in her notes that she met Shuvalov every time “with a feeling of involuntary disgust.” This feeling, which was shared by Peter Fedorovich, could not but affect Shuvalov’s career after the death of Elizaveta Petrovna: having become emperor, Peter III immediately dismissed Shuvalov from his post.
“In 1754, the procedure for conducting a search in the Chancellery was regulated by a special instruction “In the ritual of how the accused tries,” approved personally by the Empress. If the suspect did not immediately admit his guilt during interrogation and confrontation with the informer, then in order to extract truthful testimony from him, first a rack and a whip were used. Tied hands came out of their joints, and the man hung on the rack. After this, the victim was given 10–15 blows with a whip. The executioners who worked in the dungeons were “true masters of the whip-making craft”: “They could lay blow to blow evenly, as if measuring them with a compass or ruler. The force of the blows is such that each one pierces the skin and blood flows in a stream; the skin came off in pieces along with the meat.”
If the rack and the whip did not have the desired effect, then the “Rite” recommended the use of the following “means of persuasion.” The document said: “A vice made of iron in three strips with screws, into which the villain’s fingers are placed on top, two large ones from the hands, and two feet on the bottom; and is screwed away from the executioner until either he obeys, or he can no longer press his fingers and the screw will not work. They put a rope on the head and put a gag in and twist it so that he (the tortured person - author's note) is amazed; then they cut the hair on the head down to the body, and cold water is poured onto those places almost drop by drop, which also makes you astonished.” In addition, the “backpack master” “stands up while hanging on the rack and, having lit a broom with fire, moves it along the back, for which three or more brooms are used, depending on the circumstances of the tortured person.”(North. "Special services of the Russian Empire")
The active application of these measures in practice gave rise to such strong hatred of the Office of Secret Investigative Cases in all layers of Russian society, not excluding the ruling one, that Peter III, who replaced Elizabeth on the throne, considered it a good thing with the “highest manifesto” on February 21, 1762 to liquidate this institution and everywhere announce to the population. At the same time, it was prohibited “the hateful expression, namely “word and deed,” should henceforth mean nothing.” The ominous words that had sounded over Russia for 140 years have lost their magical power. The news of this was greeted with enthusiasm in Russian society. Contemporary of events, writer and naturalist A.T. Bolotov writes in his memoirs: “This brought great pleasure to all Russians, and they all blessed him for this deed.”
Some pre-revolutionary historians were inclined to attribute the decision to abolish the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs to the nobility and generosity of Peter III, but the surviving documents completely destroy this legend. It turns out that even two weeks before the publication of the manifesto, which caused such “great pleasure” in society, the new tsar ordered, in place of the destroyed Office of Secret Investigative Affairs, to establish a Special Expedition under the Senate in charge of issues of political investigation. Thus, the decision of Peter III was a typical hypocritical maneuver of the authorities, striving, without changing anything in essence, to look more attractive in the eyes of society by simply changing the signs. Instead of the widely announced liquidation of the political investigation structure, in reality it simply flowed under the banner of the Senate. All the changes boiled down to the fact that the political investigation body, which retained its personnel from independent organization became structural unit at the highest state body of the Russian Empire.