ISSN 2078-9823 (Print), ISSN 2587-7879 (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.066.024.202402.113-122

Bulat A. Aznabaev1, Dmitry P. Samorodov2

1 Ufa University of Science and Technology (Ufa, Russia),

e-mail: azbulattt@mail.ru

2 Sterlitamak branch of the Ufa University of Science and Technology (Sterlitamak, Russia),

e-mail: d.p.samorodov@struust.ru

 

Revision of the “Center – Ethnic Periphery” Relations in the State of Peter the Great

 

Abstract

Introduction. The purpose of the article is to investigate the process of transformation of relations “center – ethnic periphery” in the era of Peter the Great. In terms of the cardinality of the revision of the entire former structure of governance of non-Russian peoples, the period of Peter’s transformations can be compared only with Lenin’s national program. One of the symbols of Russia’s new policy towards the ethnic peripheries is the adoption of a new title by the Russian monarch.

Materials and Methods. The source base consisted of monographs and scientific articles by modern foreign and domestic authors. The use of a set of general scientific and special historical methods served as a condition for achieving the goal of the research.

Results. Two positions have been established in the literature, according to which the change of title by the Russian monarch in 1721 was caused, first, by the change of Russia’s international status, and second, by the evolution of ideas about the source of royal power. However, these explanations contradict the very concept of the empire as a compound state in which the center and provinces are connected in an indirect way. The latter position implied the management of national peripheries through local elites by means of special agreements confirming the rights and privileges of subjects. In pre-Petrine Russia a differentiated approach to the management of the population of former states was implemented, special rights and privileges of certain peoples were legally recognized. However, already at the end of the 17th century the government of Peter the Great carried out a number of measures aimed at unifying the situation of the subjects and eliminating the state institutions that carried out national policy. Since the Bashkirs were one of the most privileged peoples of Russia, their status changed most radically. The state’s fiscal demands on the population of the Ufa province increased 16 times. In literature, the tax policy of Peter the Great is usually interpreted from the point of view of cameralism. Nevertheless, both in its conception and practical realization, Peter the Great’s fiscal policy towards the Bashkirs contradicted the foundations of this rationalistic doctrine.

Discussion and Conclusion. The attempt of Peter the Great’s government to “unify” the Bashkirs actually meant the annulment of all previous letters of complaint and the unilateral elimination of the system of indirect rule. Similar processes took place during this period in Ukraine, the Don, the North Caucasus and the Lower Volga. The change of titulature in 1721 for all subject peoples symbolized a new concept of the state, in which all rights and privileges granted by Russian monarchs to individual peoples were abolished. As a result, the government of Peter the Great led the state not to the transformation of the empire from the Eurasian to the Roman version, but actually to the beginning of its collapse.

Keywords: Russian Empire, Ufa province, Bashkirs, unification of management.

For citation: Aznabaev B. A., Samorodov D. P. Revision of the “Center – Ethnic Periphery” Relations in the State of Peter the Great. Gumanitarian: aktual’nye problemy gumanitarnoi nauki i obrazovaniia = Russian Journal of the Humanities. 2024; 24(2): 113–122. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.066.024.202402.113-122.

 

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