Tver Zemstvo and Governor A. N. Somov: Features of Interaction

Abstract

The article analyzes the interaction of the Tver governor A. N. Somov with zemstvo institutions at the end of the 19th century. The issue of interaction between authorities and local self-government, independent from each other in accordance with the current legislation, is relevant for the work of both representative and executive authorities in the Russian Federation. The aim of the study is to determine the features of the interaction of the Tver zemstvo and the highest official of the province at the end of the 19th century. The author’s methodological approaches are traditionally determined by the principles of scientific objectivity, historicism and historical determinism. The study used both universal scientific methods and special methods of historical research, determined by the specifics of the problem posed and source material, namely: problem-chronological method, comparative analysis method, systemic method. The source base of the research is quite representative and included several groups of historical sources: legislation, office documentation, official directories, periodicals. In the course of the study, it was revealed that an employee exiled from the capital for anti-government activities worked in the provincial zemstvo statistical committee. With his help, the Zemstvo people provided the governor, and he, in turn, with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, inaccurate information in order to reduce the police apparatus. Another example of the governor’s benevolent attitude towards the anti-government-minded zemstvo is the submission to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the dissenting opinion of the provincial zemstvo assembly on the shortcomings of state power and the need to reform the state apparatus. The facts of the reaction of the Governor of Tver A. N. Somov on the actions of the Tver zemstvo confirm the opinion about the anti-government activities of the zemstvo, which for more than 20 years was not suppressed in a timely manner by this governor, despite the latter’s significant powers. Keywords: zemstvo, governor A. N. Somov, provincial institutions, anti-government work