On April 14, 1801, Tsar Alexander Pavlovich in the Senate announced the liquidation of the Secret Expedition (a body of political investigation in 1762-1801). The investigation of political cases was transferred to the institutions that were in charge of criminal proceedings. From that moment on, cases of a political nature were to be considered by local judicial institutions on the same grounds "which are observed in all criminal offenses." The fate of the nobles was finally decided by the Senate, and for persons of "simple rank" court decisions were approved by the governor. The emperor also forbade torture during interrogations.

From the history of political investigation

Obviously, even the most democratic state cannot do without special bodies, a kind of political police. There will always be a certain number of people who will encroach on the state system, often at the suggestion of external forces (the so-called “fifth column”).

The lip reform of 1555 transferred "robbery cases" to the regional elders. "Search" was then considered the main thing in legal proceedings, while much attention was paid to the search. In 1555, instead of the temporary Boyar hut, which investigated robbery cases, a permanent institution was created - Robbery hut (order). It was headed by the boyars D. Kurlyatev and I. Vorontsov, and then by I. Bulgakov.

In the legislative acts of the 17th century, political crimes are already known, expressed in insulting the royal power and striving to belittle it. Crimes against the Church were close to this category. They were reacted with no less speed and cruelty. At the same time, indications appeared that the cases were conducted secretly, the interrogation was “eyes on eyes”, or “on one”. The cases were secret, they were not widely publicized. Often cases began with denunciations, which were mandatory. Denunciations (Isveta) bore the special name of "Isvetov on the sovereign's business or word." The investigation was usually conducted by governors who reported the results to Moscow, where these cases were conducted in the Discharge and other orders, there were no special bodies yet.

The first "special service" was the Order of Secret Affairs under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, he was engaged in the search for "dashing people." In the Code of Alexei Mikhailovich there is a section devoted to crimes in "word and deed". The second chapter of the Code is devoted to these matters: "On the sovereign's honor, and how to protect his state health." In the 1st article of this chapter, it is said about the intent on the “state health” of an “evil deed”, that is, we are talking about an attempt on the life and health of the sovereign. In the 2nd article, we are talking about the intent to "take over the state and be a sovereign." The following articles are devoted to high treason. In the second chapter of the Code, the duty of everyone to "notify" the authorities of any evil intent, conspiracy was established, for failure to comply with this requirement, the death penalty was threatened "without any mercy."

Before the reign of Peter Alekseevich, there were no special police bodies in Russia, their work was carried out by military, financial and judicial institutions. Their activities were regulated by the Council Code, the Decree books of the Rogue, Zemsky, Kholopye orders, as well as separate decrees of the tsar and the Boyar Duma.

In 1686, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz was established (in the village of Preobrazhensky near Moscow). It was a kind of office of Peter Alekseevich, created to manage the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. But at the same time he began to play the role of an institution for the fight against political opponents. As a result, this became its main function. This institution began to be called the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in 1695, since that time it received the function of protecting public order in Moscow and was responsible for the most significant court cases. Since 1702, he received the name of the hut in Preobrazhensky and the general courtyard in Preobrazhensky. The Preobrazhensky order was under the direct control of the tsar and was managed by his confidant Prince F.Yu. Romodanovsky (and after the death of F.Yu. Romodanovsky - by his son I.F. Romodanovsky).

In 1718, Peter established the Secret Chancellery, which existed until 1726. The secret office was created in St. Petersburg to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and performed the same functions as the Preobrazhensky order. The immediate chiefs of the Secret Chancellery were Pyotr Tolstoy and Andrei Ushakov. Subsequently, both institutions merged into one. The Secret Chancellery was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The methods of these bodies were very cruel, people were tortured, kept for months in stocks and iron. It was in the era of Peter the words - "Word and deed", made any person tremble, be it a vagabond, or a royal courtier. No one was immune from the effect of these words. Any, the latest criminal to shout these words and arrest an innocent, often high-ranking and respected person. Neither rank, nor age, nor gender - nothing could save a person from torture, after whom "the sovereign's word and deed" was said.

Under Peter, the police also appeared in the Russian state. The beginning of the creation of the Russian police can be considered 1718, when a decree was issued on the establishment in the capital of the post of police chief general. I must say that, unlike Europe, a division is emerging in Russia - general police and political bodies were created. The police under Peter I received very broad powers: up to the appearance of people, their clothes, interference in the upbringing of children. It is interesting that if before Peter Alekseevich in Russia it was forbidden to wear foreign clothes, to cut your head in a foreign way, then under him the situation changed in the opposite direction. All estates, except for the clergy and the peasantry, had to wear foreign clothes, shave their beards and mustaches.

Back in 1715, Peter opened the doors wide for political denunciation and voluntary investigation. He announced that the one who is a true Christian and a faithful servant of the sovereign and the fatherland, without a doubt, can convey in writing or orally about important matters to the sovereign himself or to the guard in his palace. It was reported what denunciations would be accepted: 1) about malicious intent against the sovereign or treason; 2) embezzlement of the treasury; 3) about an uprising, a rebellion, etc.

Getting into the dungeons of the secret office was very easy and trifling. For example, one Little Russian, while passing through the city of Konotop, drank with a soldier in a tavern. The soldier offered to drink to the Emperor's health. However, many ordinary people knew tsars, boyars, heard about overseas kings, but the concept of "emperor" was new and alien to them. Little Russian flared up: “Why do I need your emperor ?! There are many of you! The devil knows who he is, your emperor! But I know my righteous sovereign and I don’t want to know anyone else!” The soldier rushed to report to his superiors. The tavern was cordoned off, everyone who was in it was arrested. First they were sent to Kyiv to the Little Russian Collegium, and then to St. Petersburg, to the Secret Chancellery. So the high-profile case of "reproaching the emperor" was opened. The accused, Danil Belokonnik, was interrogated on the rack three times, and three times he gave the same testimony. He did not know that he was insulting the sovereign. I thought that the soldier was drinking for some boyar, who is called the "emperor." But the witnesses were confused in their testimony. At the time of the incident, they were drunk, no one really remembered anything, they were confused in the testimony. On the rack, they shouted whatever they wanted. Five died from "immoderate torture", others were sent to hard labor, and only two were released after being tortured. The “criminal” himself was released, but before that they were beaten with batogs, “so that no person should be scolded with such obscene words.”

Many fell into the dungeons on a drunken case, saying all sorts of nonsense, characteristic of a drunk person. Voronezh clerk Ivan Zavesin liked to drink, was noted for petty cheating. Once a clerk was under arrest for misconduct in the Voronezh provincial office. He asked for time off to visit a relative, but did not find him and went with the escort to a tavern. Having received it well, they entered the Court of Appeal. There Zavesin asked the official: "Who is your sovereign?" He answered: “Our sovereign is Peter the Great ...”, He hung in response and blurted out: “Your sovereign is Peter the Great ... and I am a serf of the sovereign Alexei Petrovich!” Zavesin woke up in the morning in the voivodship basement in shackles. He was taken to Moscow, to the Secret Chancellery. During interrogation, he said that drunk becomes insane. They made inquiries, his words were confirmed. However, he was still tortured for order, and then sentenced to 25 lashes.

At the beginning of the reign of Catherine I, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz received the name of the Preobrazhensky Chancellery, while retaining the same range of tasks. So it lasted until 1729. It was overseen by the Supreme Privy Council. The Preobrazhensky Chancellery was liquidated after the resignation of Prince Romodanovsky. The most important cases were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Privy Council, the less important ones to the Senate.

It should be noted that since the reign of Peter II, the social composition of the “political” has seriously changed. Under Pyotr Alekseevich, these were mostly people from the lower classes and social groups: archers, Old Believers, rebels from peasants, Cossacks, just random people. Like women who are currently called "possessed" (whores, holy fools) - they screamed all sorts of nonsense in a fit, which they used to start "political" affairs. After Peter I, a significant number of the military, people more or less close to the "elite", got into the dungeons. This is due to the fact that there was a tough struggle between various court factions.

They kept people in dungeons in very harsh conditions. According to some reports, the mortality rate reached 80%. A link to distant Siberia was considered a "happy occasion." According to contemporaries, the place of "preliminary detention" was a pit (dungeon), with virtually no access to daylight. Walking was not allowed for the convicts, they defecate directly on the earthen floor, which was cleaned once a year, before Easter. They fed once a day, in the morning they threw bread (no more than 2 pounds per prisoner). On big holidays they gave meat waste. Sometimes they gave food from alms. The stronger and healthier took away food from the weak, emaciated, exhausted by torture, bringing them closer to the grave. They slept on straw, which almost did not differ from other dirt, because it was changed every few months. There was no talk of official clothes, washing and bathing. This was accompanied by regular torture.

Anna Ioannovna in 1731 established the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs under the leadership of A. I. Ushakov. This institution was responsible for conducting an investigation into the crime of the "first two points" of state crimes (which belonged to the "Word and deed of the sovereign"). The 1st paragraph reported, “if someone teaches some fabrications to think of an evil deed or person and honor with evil and harmful words,” and the 2nd spoke “of rebellion and treason.”

In the era of palace coups and the fight against political opponents under Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna, the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs became a very influential institution. All government bodies were to immediately follow her orders, and all suspects and witnesses were sent to her.

From the beginning of 1741, Courlanders, "Germans", Biron's henchmen, or simply foreigners who were unlucky passed through the dungeons of the Secret Chancellery. They were accused of all sorts of crimes, from treason to simple theft. For a crowd of foreigners, even translators had to be invited. The dungeons were passed by two waves of foreigners. First, Minich overthrew Biron, and his supporters and their circle fell into disgrace. Then Elizaveta Petrovna received power and dealt with Anna Ioannovna's close associates, including Minikh.

Emperor Peter III abolished the Chancellery and at the same time banned the "Word and Deed of the Sovereign". Only the Senate was to deal with political affairs. But under the Senate itself, a Secret Expedition was established, which was engaged in political search. Formally, the institution was headed by the Prosecutor General of the Senate, but almost all affairs were in charge of the chief secretary S. I. Sheshkovsky. Catherine II decided to take care of such an important department herself and subordinated the Secret Expedition to the Prosecutor General, and its Moscow branch to the Governor General PS Saltykov.

Emperor Alexander I canceled the secret expedition, but in 1802 the Ministry of the Interior was created. In 1811, the Ministry of Police was separated from it. But it was not yet centralized, police chiefs and county police officers were subordinate to the governor. And the governors on some issues were controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on others - by the Ministry of Police. In 1819 the ministries were merged.

In addition, under Alexander Pavlovich in 1805, a Special Secret Committee for political investigation (Committee of the Higher Police) was established. In 1807, it was transformed into a Committee for the consideration of cases of crimes that concerned the violation of the general peace. The committee only considered cases, the investigations were carried out by the general police.

The uprising of the "Decembrists" led to the fact that Nicholas I established on July 3, 1826 the III Department of His Majesty's own office. It was the political police, which was directly subordinate to the king. III Division was subordinated to the Separate Gendarmerie Corps, established in 1827. The empire was divided into 7 gendarme districts. The head of this structure was A. Kh. Benckendorff. The III Section kept track of the mood in the society, its chief made reports to the tsar. Of about 300,000 sentenced to exile or imprisonment from 1823 to 1861, only about 5% were "political", most of them were Polish insurgents.

In 1880, considering that the III Branch was not coping with the task assigned to it (the terrorist threat had increased sharply), it was abolished. The overall leadership of the gendarme corps was entrusted to the Ministry of the Interior. The Police Department began to work in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a Special Department was established under it to combat political crimes. At the same time, departments for the protection of order and public security (security departments, the so-called “Okhranka”) began to work in Moscow and St. Petersburg. By the beginning of the 20th century, a network of security departments had been created throughout the empire. The security departments tried to identify revolutionary organizations, to stop the actions they were preparing: murders, robberies, anti-government propaganda, etc. The assets of the security departments were agents, fillers and secret employees. The latter were introduced into the revolutionary organizations, some were even in the leadership. Security departments also operated abroad, where there was a powerful strong revolutionary emigration. However, this did not save the Russian Empire. In December 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission was created, the history of the Soviet special services began.

Secret Chancellery (1718-1801) - the body of political investigation and court in Russia in the 18th century. In the early years, it existed in parallel with the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which performed similar functions. Abolished in 1726, restored in 1731 as the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs; the latter was liquidated in 1762 by Peter III, but instead of it in the same year, Catherine II established the Secret Expedition, which performed the same role. Completely abolished by Alexander I.

Preobrazhensky Prikaz and the Secret Office

The basis of the Preobrazhensky order refers to the beginning of the reign of Peter I (established in 1686 in the village of Preobrazhensky near Moscow); at first he represented the clan of the special office of the sovereign, created to manage the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. It was used by Peter as a political body in the struggle for power with Princess Sophia. Subsequently, the order received the exclusive right to conduct cases of political crimes or, as they were then called, "against the first two points." Since 1725, the secret office also dealt with criminal cases, which were in charge of A.I. Ushakov. But with a small number of people (under his command there were no more than ten people, nicknamed forwarders of the secret office), such a department could not cover all criminal cases. Under the then procedure for investigating these crimes, convicts convicted of any criminal offense could optionally extend their process by saying “word and deed” and making a denunciation; they immediately climbed into the Preobrazhensky order along with the slandered, and very often people were slandered who had not committed any crime, but on whom the scammers had anger. The main activity of the order is the persecution of participants in anti-serfdom demonstrations (about 70% of all cases) and opponents of the political transformations of Peter I.

Established in February 1718 in St. Petersburg and existing until 1726, the Secret Chancellery had the same departmental items as the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in Moscow, and was also managed by I.F. Romodanovsky. The department was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, then other political cases of extreme importance were transferred to it; the two institutions subsequently merged into one. The leadership of the Secret Chancellery, as well as the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, was carried out by Peter I, who was often present during the interrogations and torture of political criminals. The Secret Chancellery was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

At the beginning of the reign of Catherine I, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, keeping the same range of actions, received the name of the Preobrazhensky Chancellery; the latter existed until 1729, when it was abolished by Peter II upon the dismissal of Prince Romodanovsky; of the affairs under the jurisdiction of the office, the more important ones were transferred to the Supreme Privy Council, the less important ones to the Senate.

Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs

Central government agency. After the dissolution of the Secret Office in 1727, it resumed its work as the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs in 1731. under the leadership of A.I. Ushakov. The competence of the Chancellery included the investigation of the crime of the "first two points" of state crimes (they meant "The word and deed of the sovereign." The first point determined, "if someone teaches some fabrications to think an evil deed or person and honor on the imperial health with evil and harmful words vilify", and the second spoke "of rebellion and treason"). Torture and interrogation with "addiction" were the main weapons of the investigation. It was abolished by the manifesto of Emperor Peter III (1762), at the same time the "Word and deed of the sovereign" was prohibited.

Secret expedition

Secret expedition under the Senate, the central state institution in Russia, the body of political investigation (1762-1801). Established by decree of Empress Catherine II, replaced the Secret Chancellery. She was in St. Petersburg; had a branch in Moscow. The Prosecutor General of the Senate was in charge, his assistant and direct manager of affairs was the Chief Secretary (S. I. Sheshkovsky held this position for over 30 years). The secret expedition carried out investigations and trials on the most important political cases. Catherine II approved some sentences (in the cases of V. Ya. Mirovich, E. I. Pugachev, A. N. Radishchev, and others). During the investigation in the Secret Expedition, torture was often used. In 1774, secret commissions of the Secret Expedition carried out reprisals against the Pugachevites in Kazan, Orenburg, and other cities. After the liquidation of the Secret Expedition, its functions were assigned to the 1st and 5th departments of the Senate.

Photos from open sources

300 years ago, the Secret Chancellery was created, a special service dealing with issues of the country's internal security. It and the Preobrazhensky Prikaz are the origins of modern Russian state security institutions.

For the first time in Russian history, the expression "Secret Chancellery" was applied by Tsar Peter I to a four-person commission investigating the conspiracy case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich.

The Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs was established in Moscow in February 1718 as a temporary commission of inquiry, but already in March of the same year, after moving to St. Petersburg, to the Peter and Paul Fortress, it was transformed into a permanent department. She had to figure out a difficult issue: Tsarevich Alexei was under suspicion of plotting against the Russian monarch. The investigation into the case of the prince was led by Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, who managed to find the fugitive abroad and return him to Russia. Tolstoy and became the first minister of the Secret Chancellery.

After the completion of the case of Tsarevich Alexy, Tsar Peter did not abolish the organization, but transferred to it part of the functions of the Preobrazhensky order, which also dealt with issues of internal security. Thus, in Russia there were two parallel structures that had similar functional responsibilities, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in Moscow and the Secret Chancellery in St. Petersburg. Since it was more convenient for the tsar, who was in the new capital, to keep track of the cases that fell under the jurisdiction of the Secret Chancellery, he came to the Peter and Paul Fortress weekly, carefully studied the cases, and often attended interrogations.

The investigation was conducted only by the most reliable and proven people who enjoyed the special confidence of the sovereign. Prior to the reign of Alexander II, archival materials on the political processes that took place in the Secret Chancellery were virtually inaccessible to historians.

In addition to cases of national importance, the chancellery considered many completely insignificant cases. For example, gossip that was circulating among the people, in which the name of royalty was mixed up. It was enough for someone to publicly shout:

“I know the word and deed of the sovereign!”, which meant that the person was ready to talk about the crime against the person of the sovereign - the most serious state crime, as the suspects immediately found themselves in dungeons. Here they were subjected to interrogation and the most severe tortures - rack, whip, burning with fire and other tortures.

Often the case was not of particular importance, but rarely anyone came out of the dungeons: under torture, most people were ready to confess to any crimes or slander innocent people. Of course, this approach gave rise to many abuses and created an atmosphere of fear in society.

For quite a long time, the Secret Office was an absolutely independent organization. However, in 1724, Peter ordered that the affairs of the office be handed over to the Senate, apparently intending to turn it into one of the Senate offices. Due to the death of the king, this reform was incomplete. Subsequently, the functions of the Secret Chancellery were transferred to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz and the Supreme Privy Council. Under Anna Ioannovna, instead of the Secret Office, the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs was created, and after its abolition in 1762, the Secret Expedition of the Senate.

It should be noted that with the accession of Elizabeth Petrovna, known for the fact that she practically abolished the death penalty, humanization is observed in Russian legislation, the legal grounds for the use of torture are minimized, and under Alexander I, who called it “shame and reproach to mankind”, they are finally abolished.

On April 2, 1718, Tsar Peter I officially established the Secret Chancellery - a new state authority designed to sort out the case of Tsarevich Alexei, who had recently returned from Austria and was suspected by his father of treason. However, after the death of the king's son, the Secret Chancellery was not dissolved, but continued to operate as an independent body of state security.

From Antian scouts to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz

In the 1990s, among journalists and authors of popular science literature in the post-Soviet space, there was a fashion for the artificial aging of everything that is possible. The history of the newly founded cities began to be traced back to the Paleolithic sites in their place, and some Ukrainian patriotic scientists, for example, declared the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks to be the "ancestors of the submarine fleet" on the basis that they specially loaded their seagulls (vessels), increasing their draft and making them less noticeable to the Turkish military during the Black Sea raids.

• Drawing by a contemporary artist showing what a Cossack submarine might have looked like
• Wikimedia Commons

Inherited from lovers of antiquity and domestic special services. So, some authors, in pursuit of fees and popularity, began to declare the first Slavic intelligence officers and counterintelligence officers of the medieval Ant warriors who hid in the lakes and breathed through a straw while tracking down the enemy. For professional scientists, this approach caused only a smile. One of the historians, commenting on such arguments, even jokingly suggested that the history of domestic special services be traced back to sparrows, with the help of which Princess Olga set fire to the Drevlyansk city of Iskorosten.

A certain functionality related to ensuring state security, intelligence and political investigation can be seen in the service of the ancient Russian princely squads and guardsmen of Ivan the Terrible. However, until the 17th century, it was difficult to distinguish it from the array of law enforcement, defense and foreign policy activities.

In 1654, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich established the Order of Secret Affairs, whose duties were to sort out petitions addressed to the sovereign and to exercise general supervision over the administrative, military and diplomatic apparatus. In addition, the clerk who led the order and the clerks subordinate to him were engaged in what today would be called political investigation and counterintelligence - monitoring officials in order to detect treason, as well as combating slander against state power.

After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Order of Secret Affairs was abolished, but ten years later, in 1686, it was actually revived by his son Peter Alekseevich. The young tsar, being removed from power by his sister Sophia, while in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, founded an office that serviced the royal family and managed amusing regiments - the Preobrazhenskaya amusing hut.

As Peter concentrated real power in his hands, the hut turned into a full-fledged body of military planning and control. In 1695, it was renamed the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, and a year later, the tsar endowed the department with the functions of court and investigation of state crimes. The work of this structure was led by Peter's closest associate, Fyodor Romodanovsky, who demonstrated loyalty to the monarch and cruelty towards his enemies.

A new word in political investigation

A big problem for Peter I at a certain stage of his career was that his only (before the birth of Catherine's son) heir Alexei did not support his father's reforms and was determined to restore the old order in Russia. With the birth of the tsar's second son, Pyotr Petrovich, in 1715, Alexei's position was shaken completely. After another showdown with his father, in 1716, under the influence of his entourage, he fled to Austria, from where Peter managed to lure him out with the help of the diplomat Peter Tolstoy, promising the prince forgiveness.

In fact, the tsar was not going to forgive his son and was very much afraid of the supporters of antiquity gathered around him, therefore, immediately upon the return of the heir to Russia in 1718, he put him under investigation.

The tsar's faithful companion, Fyodor Romodanovsky, had died by this time, and his son Ivan, who inherited his position, was still inexperienced and relatively soft-hearted. Therefore, Peter decided to establish a fundamentally new body of power, intended exclusively for political investigation, the Secret Chancellery, which included Tolstoy, who returned the prince to Russia, and Major Andrei Ushakov, who had returned the prince to Russia, as ministers.

• "Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof"
• N.N. Ge (1871)

Peter I personally led the investigation into the case of the prince. During the proceedings and torture of Alexei, the Secret Chancellery uncovered a conspiracy that his colleague Alexander Kikin was weaving against Peter, who persuaded the prince to flee. Kikin was executed. Aleksey himself died, according to the official version, from a stroke (heart attack), and according to rumors of that time, he could not stand the torture. However, the Secret Chancellery was not dissolved and continued its work as a full-fledged body of political investigation, having managed to sort out several thousand more cases of state crimes.

“This body was needed. Peter's reforms implied a radical restructuring of the state structure, the restructuring of society itself. This led to the aggravation of social contradictions. There was a need for structures that could resist conspiracies, attempts to counteract the course of Peter the Great, ”said Pavel Krotov, doctor of historical sciences, professor at St. Petersburg State University, in an interview with RT.

According to him, the effectiveness of Peter's Secret Office is already evidenced by the fact that the emperor himself, unlike many "changers", did not fall victim to a conspiracy, and scientists are skeptical about rumors of barbarism and inhuman cruelty of the Secret Office.

According to Pavel Krotov, describing the horrors of Peter the Great in modern popular books and TV shows is good for raising ratings, but this is not a scientific approach. “Information about exposed slanders and even self-slanders has reached our days, the office sought to establish the truth,” the historian emphasized.

According to him, the Secret Chancellery "worked according to European standards" of the 17th century. And it is from the point of view of that time, and not from the position of our days, that it is necessary to evaluate her work.

In 1726, Empress Catherine I ceased the activities of the Secret Chancellery as an independent body, transferring its structure and affairs to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz.

Defenders of Russia

In 1729, the Preobrazhensky order was also liquidated. His functions were temporarily delegated to the Senate. But very quickly the authorities realized that it was impossible to live without the special services.

In 1731, the body of political investigation was revived under the name "Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs." It was headed by the former Minister of the Secret Chancellery Andrei Ushakov. The new structure existed until 1762 and was liquidated in the wake of the liberal reforms of Peter III, who was overthrown shortly after the dissolution of the Chancellery. But his widow Ekaterina quickly reanimated the secret service - under the name "Secret Expedition".

According to Pavel Krotov, the era of absolutism was characterized by increased state interference in the lives of its subjects.

The Secret Chancellery was a product of the era of palace coups, but it played an important role in history, becoming one of the guarantees for the preservation of Russia's sovereignty, the historian noted.

According to professionals of the special services, although the Secret Chancellery was not a counterintelligence body in the modern sense of the word, the activities of its employees, like many other defenders of Russia in the 18th - early 19th centuries, are worthy of respect and study.

• Frame from the film "Midshipmen 3" (1992)

“The bodies that existed in the 18th or early 19th centuries could hardly be called special services in the modern sense of the word,” Mikhail Lyubimov, a veteran of the special services, writer and publicist, said in an interview with RT. - In a sense, the responsibilities of such structures were blurred. They did not have a full-fledged intelligence apparatus, but they also had strengths. In particular, they were less shackled by the bureaucracy of later special services. It was a time of personalities who sometimes carried out brilliant operations, and the role of the individual in the work of special services at all times is extremely great.

Great Leap Forward Costs

The decision of Peter I to create a fundamentally new special service was influenced by a variety of circumstances in his life. It all started with a childhood fear of the turmoil that took place before the eyes of the prince. The childhood of the first Russian emperor, overshadowed by rebellion, is somewhat similar to the childhood of the first Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible. At an early age, he also lived in the days of boyar self-will, murders and conspiracies of the nobility.

Peter's heir Alexei died in the Peter and Paul Fortress

When Peter I began to carry out tough reforms in the country, a variety of his subjects opposed the changes. Supporters of the church, the former Moscow elite, long-bearded adherents of the "Russian antiquity" - who just was not dissatisfied with the impulsive autocrat. All this had a painful effect on Peter's moods. His suspiciousness intensified even more when the flight of the heir Alexei took place. At the same time, the conspiracy of the first head of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, Alexander Kikin, was uncovered. The case of the prince and his supporters turned out to be the last straw - after the executions and reprisals against traitors, Peter set about creating a centralized secret police on the Franco-Dutch model.

King and Consequence

In 1718, when the search for Tsarevich Alexander was still ongoing, the Office of Secret Investigations was formed in St. Petersburg. The department is located in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy began to play the main role in her work. The secret office began to conduct all political affairs in the country.

Count Pyotr Tolstoy

The tsar himself often attended the "hearings". He was brought "extracts" - reports of the investigation materials, on the basis of which he determined the sentence. Sometimes Peter changed the decisions of the office. “Having beaten with a whip and cut out the nostrils, sent to hard labor in eternal work” in response to the proposal only to beat with a whip and send to hard labor - this is just one characteristic resolution of the monarch. Other decisions (like the death penalty for fiscal Sanin) were approved without amendments.

"Excesses" with the church

Peter (and hence his secret police) had a special dislike for church leaders. Once he learned that Archimandrite Tikhvinsky had brought a miraculous icon to the capital and began to serve secret prayers before it. First, the Royal Majesty sent midshipmen to him, and then he personally came to the archimandrite, took the icon and ordered him to be sent "for guard".

"Peter I in a foreign outfit in front of his mother, Tsarina Natalia, Patriarch Andrian and teacher Zotov." Nikolai Nevrev, 1903

If the matter concerned the Old Believers, Peter could demonstrate flexibility: “His Majesty deigned to reason that with the schismatics, who, in their opposition, were very cold, it was necessary to act cautiously, by civil court.” Many decisions of the Secret Chancellery were postponed indefinitely, since the tsar, even in the last years of his life, was distinguished by restlessness. His resolutions came to the Peter and Paul Fortress from all over the country. As a rule, the orders of the ruler were transmitted by the cabinet-secretary Makarov. Some of those who were guilty before the throne, in anticipation of the final decision, had to languish in prison for a long time: "... if the execution of the Vologotsk priest is not inflicted, then wait for it until you see me." In other words, the Secret Chancellery worked not only under the control of the tsar, but also with his active participation.

Further fate

Peter's Secret Chancellery outlived its creator by only one year. The first Russian emperor died in 1725, and the department merged with the Preobrazhensky Prikaz already in 1726. This happened because of the unwillingness of Count Tolstoy to burden himself with long-standing duties. Under Catherine I, his influence at court increased significantly, which made it possible to carry out the necessary transformations.

The secret office outlived Peter I by only 1 year

However, the very need for power in the secret police has not gone away. That is why for the rest of the 18th century (the century of palace coups) this organ was reborn several times in different reincarnations. Under Peter II, the functions of the detective were transferred to the Senate and the Supreme Privy Council. In 1731, Anna Ioannovna established the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs, headed by Count Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov. The department was again abolished by Peter III and restored by Catherine II as a Secret Expedition under the Senate (among its most high-profile cases were the persecution of Radishchev and the trial of Pugachev). The history of regular domestic special services began in 1826, when Nicholas I, after the Decembrist uprising, created the Third Department at the Office of His Imperial Majesty.