Formation of the Siberian police bureaucracy in the 18th century

Based on pre-revolutionary legislation, the article comprehensively considers the formation of the Siberian police bureaucracy. The growing interest in the history of local government is connected not only with the aspiration of historians to look more deeply into the past but also with practical needs. A study of the forgotten traditions of public administration allows taking greater account of historical experience that has been accumulated over the centuries. We also need to take a look at the already known facts and events in the light of today's realities. This approach may help overcome the old myths and misconceptions and also prevent the birth of new ones. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was such principles of historical knowledge as objectivity, historicism, determinism, alternativeness and a social approach which assume an unbiased approach to the analysis of the researched problems, as well as a critical attitude to the sources. State administration in the 18th century was not separated from police activities, administrative and police authorities in the region were de facto merged. A specific feature of the Siberian administration was the greater autonomy of the political machinery than in the country's center. It was conditioned by the remoteness from the center and by the absence of noble corporations in the region, so the controlling and judicial functions which in the center were performed by the nobility were laid on civil servants in Siberia. The author concludes that the powers of the administrative and police authorities in the region had their own features and were much broader than in the central provinces of the Russian Empire. Moreover, the absence of the nobility and noble self-government exempted police officers from control by the noble corporate organization. Another feature of the region was its peripheral status and role of a katorga [penal labor] area. A characteristic feature of the Siberian administration was its militarized organization. Siberian administrators had weak theoretical training, and often they did not even have any systematic education. This lowered the professional level of the employees of the Siberian administrative police bodies. However, the system of transfers in the service made it possible to have people in key posts who had repeatedly experienced all the elements and methods of administrative and police activities. The vast territory, the underdeveloped communications, the weak intensity of socioeconomic and political ties generated uncontrolled autonomy in the actions of the local police bodies that were not adequately provided with an appropriate legal basis. The remoteness and huge size of Siberia generated unprecedented arbitrariness from the local police bureaucracy. The history of the Siberian local government in the 18th century is an almost continuous series of service abuses.

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