ЦЕНТРАЛЬНО-АЗИАТСКИЙ РЕГИОН РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ: ОБЩНОСТЬ ВНУТРЕННЕЙ ПОЛИТИКИ ЧЕРЕЗ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТЬ ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬНОЙ ПРАКТИКИ

Abstract

The article examines the legislative practice of the Russian Empire in relation to the southeastern possessions (Kazakh Steppe, Russian Turkestan and the Transсaspian region). Based on the analysis of the current legislation, the validity of the use of the regional approach to the study of the history of the Russian Empire is confirmed. The imperial legislation on the Kazakh steppe convinces that during the 18th century it was a colonial possession and consistently experienced methods of indirect and direct rule. From the middle of the 19th century, when Russia became more active in the direction of Afghanistan and China, it came to an understanding of the need to integrate not only Kazakh, but also newly conquered lands into a common state space as ordinary provinces. The approaches used in this direction were the same for all three sub-regions of the Empire’s Southeast. This gives grounds to assert that the Russian leadership perceived them as part of a single geopolitical space. The 18th and 19th centuries Russian legislation makes it possible to highlight the main parameters of administration unification. They allowed the Empire to assimilate a different civilization space confidently. The main instrument was the system of military-and-people’s administration, tested in another region of the Empire (in the Caucasus). It was implemented in special administrative-territorial units (Governorates-General). Their boundaries and composition changed depending on foreign policy circumstances and the solution of another important task — the adaptation of the population to the All-Russian order.