Reform of Russia’s Finances and Central Administration

Abstract

Speransky’s main task was to bring order into the “chaotic structure” of the Empire and to give the imperial government a solid and modern foundation. Working in close contact with Emperor Alexander during the years 1808 to 1812, Speransky elaborated a series of concrete measures to take care of the immediate practical needs of the admin­istration and to prepare the ground for his long-range reform projects. Both the short-range acts and the general reform plans played a significant role in the history of Russian administration, and they must be considered in some detail. Reversing the order in which these mea­sures are usually treated by historians, it seems more useful to describe and analyse first those reforms which were actually carried out. There is no full treatment of Speransky’s plans and acts in English, and as they have been the object of much confusion and superficial inter­pretation in Russian historical literature, it seems desirable to support the analysis with detailed summaries of the legislation and projects concerned, even at the risk of incurring the reproach of undue length and tediousness. In the final analysis, Speransky’s activity left an in­delible mark on the methods and pattern of the imperial government throughout the 19th century, and for this reason alone it deserves as full a treatment as possible.