Developments in central and local government: codification of the law; the…

The idea

Catherine rationalised Russian administration, starting with the 1767 Great Commission. Convened to codify the law, it gathered delegates from various estates (excluding serfs) to discuss her Enlightenment-inspired 'Nakaz'. Though it failed to produce a new legal code and was dissolved in 1768, it provided vital data on provincial grievances. Centrally, she reformed the Senate in 1763, dividing it into six departments to improve efficiency while reducing its political power, cementing her autocracy. Locally, the 1775 Statute for the Administration of the Provinces restructured governance. It increased the number of provinces and granted the nobility greater control over rural administration, while the 1785 Charter to the Towns established municipal councils to manage urban affairs.

What earns the marks

• Evaluate the purpose and outcome of the Great Commission (1767-1768), noting its failure to codify the law but its success as a consultative exercise.
• Analyse the 1763 reform of the Senate, explaining how dividing it into six departments streamlined central government but deliberately weakened the Senate's legislative authority.
• Assess the impact of the 1775 Statute for the Administration of the Provinces on rural areas, specifically how it decentralised administration while empowering the local nobility.
• Examine changes to urban local government, particularly the 1785 Charter to the Towns which introduced limited self-government through municipal dumas.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Stating that the Great Commission successfully created a new code of law.

  Put it right: Clarify that the Commission was dissolved before producing a new code; the 1649 Ulozhenie remained in force.

• Confusing the reform of the Senate with an increase in its power.

  Put it right: Explain that Catherine's division of the Senate into departments made it an administrative tool, stripping it of its previous role as a powerful policy-making body.

• Assuming local government reforms benefited all classes equally.

  Put it right: Emphasise that the 1775 provincial reforms primarily strengthened the nobility's grip on rural administration and policing, further subjugating the serfs.

Exam tips

• Link the 1775 provincial reforms directly to the Pugachev Rebellion (1773-1775), demonstrating how Catherine recognised the need for stronger local security and noble control in rural areas.
• When discussing the Great Commission, use it as evidence of Catherine's early Enlightenment aims clashing with the practical difficulties of Russian social divisions.
• Contrast the centralisation of autocratic power in St Petersburg with the deliberate decentralisation of administrative duties to the provinces.