Table of contents:
- How the third Russian misfortune grew stronger
- Attempts to curb insatiable officials
- What did Peter manage
Video: How Peter I fought against thieves in Russia and why he could not defeat corruption
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It would seem that Peter I was able to carry out any conceived plans. He built a fleet, cut a window to Europe, defeated the all-powerful Swedes, raised Russian industry, and did many great things. And only corruption remained a disease that even he could not overcome. The same local successful reforms, which at least reduced the severity of the problem, were canceled by the rulers who replaced the emperor.
How the third Russian misfortune grew stronger
Before Peter I, the great dukes tried to fight corruption. However, these actions have never been systemic, and some types of bribes were even legal. For example, "honors" (advance "gratitude" to an official), and "commemoration" (final remuneration). And only promises (crimes for a bribe) were punished physically.
Later, bribery legislation was divided into bribery (a bribe to an official for an authorized action) and covetousness (a bribe for a crime in the performance of official duties). Bribery has long been considered tolerant. Even in Ancient Russia, officials did not receive a salary, subsisting on public donations. Such a system has shifted the provision of officials to the people. This was the rise of corruption in parallel with the growing discontent with officials.
With the expansion of the state apparatus, the bureaucracy grew stronger, absorbing the traditions of past generations. It has become a norm among the people to financially thank officials for the preparation of documents or other work from the range of their immediate responsibilities. Moreover, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish honor from promise, which only spurred the bribe-takers.
The historically established phenomenon of corruption has filled the Russian language with catchphrases on the topic of bribery: “you won't grease, you won't go,” “a lamb in a piece of paper,” “bribe,” and others. Separately, it should be said about the phraseological unit "stay with the nose", which does not imply a part of the face. "Bringing" or simply "nose" was a bribe brought into a state institution under the floor. When an official for some reason refused to offer, he had to go back with a “nose”.
Attempts to curb insatiable officials
Peter I began the fight against thriving corruption with a personal example. Having abandoned any additional sources, he began to live only on a salary. As the autocrat of a huge empire, the king ordered him to be assigned a standard officer salary, the size of which often caused financial problems. When it became completely impossible to live on this money, Colonel Pyotr Romanov turned to Generalissimo Alexander Menshikov with a request to apply for the conferring of the rank of general to Peter I, which implied a more substantial salary.
When nothing came of an attempt to moderate the appetites of the elite, Peter initiated a whole range of anti-corruption measures, which had never been undertaken in Russia before. In 1715, in order to stimulate officials to work honestly, the tsar ordered them to pay a fixed salary from the treasury. The next step was the publication in March 1714 of a Decree regulating the powers of the fiscal and prescribing measures to combat embezzlement and bribery. So in Russia, for the first time, a body designed to secretly monitor legal proceedings and compliance with laws appeared. From now on, bribery, abuse of authority for personal gain, creation of false documents and seals, false oath and perjury were considered serious crimes. The punishments were severe - beatings, imprisonment and even the death penalty.
There are known cases of particularly cruel measures taken by Peter to punish lovers of profit. In St. Petersburg, in front of Russian senators, the Siberian governor Gagarin was hanged, systematically understating income in the region entrusted to him. The well-known fiscal Nesterov was quartered, who revealed dozens of abuses and himself got caught in bribery. Tongues were burned to Senator Volkonsky and Prince Apukhtin with a red-hot iron.
Peter I did not put his confidants on trial, but punished him personally. The tsar's favorite Alexander Menshikov was especially distinguished. Peter beat him several times, fined him large sums, but Menshikov remained the main Russian embezzler. He stole, then repented, reimbursed the stolen goods and stole again. At the same time, he successfully resolved difficult economic issues, which is why he was a valuable support for the tsar. Menshikov always found a way to smooth out the tsarist anger. Once, after another report on Menshikov's exorbitant extortions, Peter broke the prince's nose and kicked him out, shouting: "so that your feet are no longer here." Menshikov left, but a moment later he entered again … in his arms!
None of the measures taken by the tsar stopped the bribe-taking officials. Once, at the end of his life, Peter I, tired of rampant theft, in despair threatened the Senate to hang up every official who stole an amount sufficient to buy a rope. In response, Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky said that then Peter will have to reign alone, because everyone is stealing, and the difference is only in the amount of appropriated goods.
What did Peter manage
So it happened in Peter's Russia that some of the tsar's anti-corruption methods turned out to be ineffective. But they were still successful. First of all, this is the transfer of state-owned enterprises, as the main breeding grounds for embezzlement, under private management. Peter forced merchants to take private ownership of state-owned enterprises, giving them certain benefits. The new owners carried out the prescribed state order, supplied the set limit of guns to the army. And all that was produced was additionally realized in their favor.
Taking control of factories and plants, entrepreneurs built new enterprises on the profits. As a result, such a number of industrial facilities appeared that by the end of Peter the Great's reign, Russia had gained serious weight in the European markets. The successors of the sovereign turned out to be less concerned about the legal climate in the empire. And immediately after the death of the emperor, the payment of salaries to officials was abolished, along with the abolition of the death penalty for bribes.
Yet autocrats like Peter have sometimes managed to defeat corruption. Lee Kuan Yew was able to do it, transforming their country from a backward backwater into a world leader in economic growth.
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