Shishkovsky secret office. Biographies of the leaders of the secret office

In addition to the formation of the police department, the XVIII century. It was also marked by the flourishing of secret investigations, associated primarily with state or "political" crimes. Peter I in 1713. declares: "To say in the whole state (so that ignorance of nihto does not excuse himself) that all criminals and damage to the interests of the state ... such without mercy to execute death ..."

Bust of Peter I. B.K. They shot him. 1724 State Hermitage, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Protection of state interests since 1718. the Secret Chancellery is engaged, for some time operating simultaneously with the Preobrazhensky Order, formed at the end of the 17th century. In 1726. the baton of secret investigation was taken over by the Supreme Privy Council, and in 1731. The Office of Secret Investigation Affairs, subordinate to the Senate. Catherine II by decree of 1762. returns the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs to its former powers, which were lost in the short period of the reign of Peter III. Catherine II also reorganizes the detective department, obliging him to obey only the Prosecutor General, which contributed to the formation of the secret investigation even more secret.

In the photo: Moscow, Myasnitskaya street, 3. At the end of the XVIII century. this building housed the Secret Office of Investigative Secret Affairs

First of all, the jurisdiction of the investigators of the Secret Chancellery included cases concerning official crimes, high treason, attempted murder of the sovereign. In the conditions of Russia, just awakening from the medieval mystical dream, there was still a punishment for making a deal with the devil and through this causing harm, and even more so for causing harm to the sovereign in this way.

Illustration from the book by I. Kurukin, E. Nikulina "Everyday life of the Secret Chancellery"

However, ordinary mortals, who did not make deals with the devil and did not even think about high treason, had to keep their ears open. The use of "obscene" words, especially as a wish for the death of the sovereign, was equated with a state crime. The mention of the words "sovereign", "tsar", "emperor" together with other names threatened to be accused of imposture. Mentioning the sovereign as the hero of a fairy tale or anecdote was also severely punished. They even refused to retell real testimonies connected with the autocrat.
Considering that most of the information came to the Secret Chancellery through denunciations, and investigative measures were carried out with the help of torture, getting into the clutches of a secret investigation was an unenviable fate for the layman.

"Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof" Ge N. 1872. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

"If I were a queen ..."

Peasant Boris Petrov in 1705 for the words "Who started to shave his beards, that would cut off his head" was pulled up on a rack.

Master Semyon Sorokin in 1731. in the official document he made a mistake "Perth the First", for which he was whipped "for his guilt, for fear of others."

Joiner Nikifor Muravyov in 1732, being in the Commerce Collegium and dissatisfied with the fact that his case was being considered for a very long time, declared, using the name of the empress without a title, that he would go “to Anna Ivanovna with a petition, she would judge”, for which he was beaten with whips.

The court jester of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1744. was arrested by the Secret Chancery for a bad joke. He brought her a hedgehog wearing a “laughing” hat, thereby frightening her. The joke was seen as an attempt on the empress's health.

"Interrogation in the Secret Chancellery" Illustration from the book by I. Kurukin, E. Nikulina "Everyday Life of the Secret Chancellery"

They also tried for “unworthy words such that the sovereign lives in places, and if he dies, then be different ...”: “But the sovereign does not live long!”, “God knows how long he will live, now times are shaky”, etc.

Refusal to drink to the health of the sovereign or the loyal monarch's subjects was considered not just a crime, but an insult to honor. Chancellor Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin reported on the nobleman Grigory Nikolaevich Teplov. He accused Teplov of showing disrespect to Empress Elizabeth Ioanovna, “only poured about a spoon and a half” pouring, instead of “it is full to drink to the health of such a person who is faithful to Her Imperial Majesty and is in Her highest mercy”.

"Portrait of Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin" Louis Tokke 1757, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Catherine II, who was trying to reform Russia no less than the glorified Peter, softened considerably towards her people, who practically did not mention the name of their empress in vain. Gavrila Derzhavin dedicated this significant change to the line:
“There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Do not drink for the health of kings.
There with the name of Felitsa you can
Scrape the slip of the line
Or a portrait inadvertently
Drop it on the ground ... "

"Portrait of the poet Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin" V. Borovikovsky, 1795, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Three pillars of a secret investigation

The first head of the Secret Chancellery was Prince Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, who, being a good administrator, was not a fan of operational work. The “gray cardinal” of the Secret Chancellery and a real master of detective work was his deputy, Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov, a native of the village, who was registered in the Preobrazhensky regiment for his heroic appearance at the inspection of the ignorant, in which he won the favor of Peter I.

"Portrait of Count Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy", I. G. Tannauer 1710s, State Hermitage, St. Petersburg

After the period of opals from 1727-1731. Ushakov was returned to the court of Anna Ioanovna who had gained power and was appointed head of the Secret Chancellery. In his practice, it was common practice to torture the person under investigation, and then the informer on the person under investigation. Ushakov wrote about his work: "Here again there are no important matters, but there are mediocre ones, for which, as if before, I reported that we were whipping the rogues and letting them free." However, princes Dolgorukiy, Artemy Volynsky, Biron, Minikh passed through the hands of Ushakov, and Ushakov himself, embodying the power of the Russian political investigation system, successfully remained at court and at work. Russian monarchs had a weakness for investigating "state" crimes, often judging themselves, and the monarch's every morning ritual, in addition to breakfast and toilets, was listening to the report of the Secret Chancellery.

"Empress Anna Ioannovna" L. Karavak, 1730 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Ushakov in such an honorary position was replaced in 1746. Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov. Catherine II in the Notes mentions: “Alexander Shuvalov, not by himself, but by the position he held, was a threat to the entire court, the city and the entire empire, he was the head of the Inquisition Court, which was then called the Secret Chancellery. His occupation, it was said, caused him a kind of convulsive movement, which was done on the entire right side of his face from eye to chin whenever he was excited by joy, anger, fear or dread. " His authority as the head of the Secret Chancellery was more deserved by his repulsive and frightening appearance. With the ascension to the throne of Peter III, Shuvalov was dismissed from this position.

Shuvalov Alexander Ivanovich. Portrait by P. Rotary. 1761

The third pillar of political investigation in Russia in the XVIII century. Stepan Ivanovich Sheshkovsky became. He led the Secret Expedition from 1762-1794. For 32 years of Sheshkovsky's work, his personality has acquired a huge number of legends. Sheshkovsky, in the minds of the people, was known as a sophisticated executioner, guarding the law and moral values. In noble circles, he had the nickname "confessor", because Catherine II herself, jealously watching the moral image of her subjects, asked Sheshkovsky to "talk" with the guilty persons for edifying purposes. “Talk” often meant “light corporal punishment,” such as flogging or whipping.

Sheshkovsky Stepan Ivanovich. Illustration from the book “Russian Antiquity. A guide to the 18th century. "

It was very popular at the end of the 18th century. a story about a mechanical chair that stood in the office at Sheshkovsky's house. Allegedly, when the invitee sat down in it, the armrests of the chair clicked, and the chair itself dropped into the hatch in the floor, so that one head remained sticking out. Then the invisible assistants removed the chair, freed the guest from clothes and flogged, not knowing who. In the description of the son of Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev, Afanasy Sheshkovsky appears to be a maniac sadist: “He acted with disgusting autocracy and severity, without the slightest indulgence and compassion. Sheshkovsky himself boasted that he knew the means to compel confessions, namely, he began by saying that the interrogated person would have enough with a stick under the chin, so that his teeth would crackle and sometimes jump out. Not a single accused during such an interrogation dared to defend himself under fear of the death penalty. The most remarkable thing is that Sheshkovsky treated in this way only with noble persons, for commoners were handed over to his subordinates for reprisal. Thus, Sheshkovsky forced confessions. He carried out the punishments of noble persons in his own hand. He often flogged and whipped. He whipped with an extraordinary dexterity acquired by frequent exercise. "

Punishment with a whip. From a drawing by H. G. Geisler. 1805

However, it is known that Catherine II stated that torture was not used during interrogations, and Sheshkovsky himself, most likely, was an excellent psychologist, which allowed him to achieve what he wanted from the interrogated by just whipping up the atmosphere and light cuffs. Be that as it may, Sheshkovsky elevated political investigation to the rank of art, complementing Ushakov's methodology and Shuvalov's expressiveness with a creative and non-standard approach to business.

Secret Chancery. XVIII century

In addition to the formation of the police department, the 18th century was also marked by the flourishing of secret investigations associated primarily with state or "political" crimes. Peter I in 1713. declares: "To say in the whole state (so that ignorance of nihto does not excuse himself) that all criminals and damage to the interests of the state ... such without mercy to execute death ..."

Bust of Peter I. B.K. They shot him. 1724 State Hermitage, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Protection of state interests since 1718. is engaged Secret Chanceryfor some time acting simultaneously with Preobrazhensky order, formed at the end of the 17th century.

So, the first Secret Chancellery was founded by Peter the Great at the very beginning of his reign and was called the Preobrazhensky Prikaz after the village of Preobrazhensky.

The first guardians of the detective case filed a lawsuit against the villains who acted "against the first two points." The first point - atrocities against the person of the sovereign, the second - against the state itself, that is, they organized a riot.

"Word and deed" is a cry invented by the guardsmen. Anyone could shout out "word and deed", pointing a finger at a criminal - true or invented. The investigative machine immediately went into action. At one time they thundered with such concepts as "enemy of the people", and if we consider that Stalin's investigators were never wrong, then the Preobrazhensky order was fair in its own way. If the guilt of the person taken on the denunciation was not proven, then the denouncer himself was subjected to “interrogation with partiality,” that is, torture.

Secret Chancellery - Russia's first special service

Scored prisons, executions and torture are the opposite and unpleasant side of the reign of Peter I, whose unprecedented transformations in all spheres of Russian life were accompanied by repression of opponents and dissent. April 2, 1718 became an important milestone in the fight against state crimes. On this day, Peter's Secret Chancellery was created.

The cost of the great leap forward

The decision of Peter I to create a fundamentally new special service was influenced by a variety of circumstances of his life. It all began with a childish fear of the streltsy turmoil that took place in front of the prince's eyes.

The childhood of the first Russian emperor overshadowed by the rebellion is somewhat similar to the childhood of the first Russian tsar - Ivan the Terrible. At an early age, he also lived in a time of boyar willfulness, murders and conspiracies of the nobility.

When Peter I began to carry out tough reforms in the country, a variety of his subjects opposed the changes. Church supporters, the former Moscow elite, long-bearded adherents of "Russian antiquity" - whoever was not dissatisfied with the impulsive autocrat. All this painfully affected the mood of Peter. His suspiciousness intensified even more when the flight of Alexei's heir took place. At the same time, the conspiracy of the first head of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, Alexander Vasilyevich Kikin, was revealed.

The affair of the prince and his supporters turned out to be the last straw - after the executions and reprisals against the traitors, Peter began to create a centralized secret police on the Franco-Dutch model.

Tsar and consequence

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

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

"Kinks" with the church

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

"Peter I in a foreign dress in front of his mother, his queen Natalia, patriarch Andrian and teacher Zotov." Nikolay Nevrev, 1903

If the matter concerned the Old Believers, Peter could demonstrate flexibility: "His Majesty deigned to argue that with the schismatics, who in their opposition were very cold, it was necessary to act with caution by the nobles, in a civil court." Many decisions of the Secret Chancellery were postponed indefinitely, since the tsar, even in the last years of his life, was notable for restlessness. His resolutions came to the Peter and Paul Fortress from all over the country. The orders of the ruler were usually given by the cabinet secretary Makarov. Some of those guilty before the throne in anticipation of the final decision had to languish for a long time in dungeon: "... if the Vologotsk priest has not been executed, then wait until we see me." In other words, the Secret Chancellery worked not only under the control of the tsar, but also with his active participation.

In 1711, Alexey Petrovich married Sofia-Charlotte Blankenburg - the sister of the wife of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduke of Austria Charles VI, becoming the first representative of the reigning house in Russia after Ivan III to marry a princess from the family of a European monarch.

After the wedding, Alexey Petrovich took part in the Finnish campaign: he supervised the construction of ships in Ladoga and carried out other orders of the tsar.

In 1714, Charlotte had a daughter, Natalia, and in 1715, a son, the future Russian emperor Peter II, a few days after whose birth Charlotte died. On the day of the death of the crown princess, Peter, who reached information about Alexei's drunkenness and his connection with the former serf Euphrosyne, demanded in writing from the prince that he either reform or become a monk.

At the end of 1716, together with Euphrosyne, whom the tsarevich wanted to marry, Aleksey Petrovich fled to Vienna, hoping for the support of Emperor Charles VI.

In January 1718, after much trouble, threats and promises, Peter managed to summon his son to Russia. Aleksey Petrovich renounced his rights to the throne in favor of his brother, Tsarevich Peter (son of Catherine I), betrayed a number of like-minded people and waited for him to be allowed to retire for private life. Efrosinya, planted in the fortress, betrayed everything that the prince had hidden in his confessions - dreams of accession when his father dies, threats to his stepmother (Catherine), hopes of rebellion and the violent death of his father. After such testimony, confirmed by Alexei Petrovich, the prince was taken into custody and tortured. Peter called a special trial over his son from the generals, senate and synod. On July 5 (June 24, old style), 1718, the prince was sentenced to death. On July 7 (June 26, old style), 1718, the tsarevich died under mysterious circumstances.

The body of Alexei Petrovich from the Peter and Paul Fortress was transferred to the Church of the Holy Trinity. On the evening of July 11 (June 30, old style), in the presence of Peter I and Catherine, it was interred in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

"Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof" Ge N. 1872. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Further destiny

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

Yet the very need for power in the secret police has not gone away. That is why for the entire remaining 18th century (the century of palace coups), this organ was reborn several times in different reincarnations. Under Peter II, the search functions were transferred to the Senate and the Supreme Privy Council. In 1731 Anna Ioannovna established the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs, which was headed by Count Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov. The department was again abolished by Peter III and restored by Catherine II as a Secret Expedition to the Senate (among its most notorious cases are 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.

The Preobrazhensky order was abolished by Peter II in 1729, honor and praise to the boy-tsar! But strong power came in the person of Anna Ioannovna, and the detective office again started working like a well-oiled mechanism. This happened in 1731; it was called now "Office of Secret Investigation Affairs"... An inconspicuous one-story mansion, eight windows along the facade; casemates and office premises were also in charge of the office. Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov, well-known throughout St. Petersburg, was in charge of this farm.

In 1726. takes over the covert investigation Supreme Privy Council, and in 1731. Office of secret search del, subordinate to the Senate. Catherine II by decree of 1762. returns the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs to its former powers, which were lost in the short period of the reign of Peter III. Catherine II also reorganizes the detective department, obliging him to obey only the Prosecutor General, which contributed to the formation of the secret investigation even more secret.

In the photo: Moscow, Myasnitskaya street, 3. At the end of the XVIII century. this building housed the Secret Office of Investigative Secret Affairs

Illustration from the book by I. Kurukin, E. Nikulina "Everyday life of the Secret Chancellery"

were carried out with the help of torture, falling into the clutches of a secret investigation was an unenviable fate for a layman ..

"If I were a queen ..."
- Peasant Boris Petrov in 1705 for the words "Who started to shave his beards, that would cut off his head" was pulled up on a rack.

Anton Lyubuchennikov was tortured and beaten with a whip in 1728. for the words "Foolish our sovereign, if I were sovereign, then I would have outweighed all the temporary workers." By order of the Preobrazhensky order, he was exiled to Siberia.
- Master Semyon Sorokin in 1731. in the official document he made a mistake "Perth the First", for which he was whipped "for his guilt, for fear of others."
- Joiner Nikifor Muravyov in 1732, being in the Commerce Collegium and dissatisfied with the fact that his case was being considered for a very long time, declared, using the name of the empress without a title, that he would go “to Anna Ivanovna with a petition, she would judge”, for which he was beaten with whips ...
- Court jester of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1744. was arrested by the Secret Chancery for a bad joke. He brought her a hedgehog wearing a “laughing” hat, thereby frightening her. The joke was seen as an attempt on the empress's health.

"Interrogation in the Secret Chancellery" Illustration from the book by I. Kurukin, E. Nikulina "Everyday Life of the Secret Chancellery"

Refusal to drink to the health of the sovereign or the loyal monarch's subjects was considered not just a crime, but an insult to honor. The chancellor reported on the nobleman Grigory Nikolaevich Teplov Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin... He accused Teplov of showing disrespect to Empress Elizabeth Ioanovna, “only poured about a spoon and a half” pouring, instead of “it is full to drink to the health of such a person who is faithful to Her Imperial Majesty and is in Her highest mercy”.

"Portrait of Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin" Louis Tokke 1757, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Catherine II, who was trying to reform Russia no less than the glorified Peter, softened considerably towards her people, who practically did not mention the name of their empress in vain. Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin dedicated this significant line change:
“There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Do not drink for the health of kings.
There with the name of Felitsa you can
Scrape the slip of the line
Or a portrait inadvertently
Drop it on the ground ... "

"Portrait of the poet Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin" V. Borovikovsky, 1795, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Three pillars of a secret investigation
The first head of the Secret Chancellery was the prince Peter Andreevich Tolstoy, who, being a good administrator, was not a fan of operational work. The "gray eminence" of the Secret Chancellery and a real master of detective work was his deputy Andrey Ivanovich Ushakov, a native of the village, at the review of the ignoramus for his heroic appearance was recorded in the Preobrazhensky regiment, serving in which he won the favor of Peter I.

After the period of opals from 1727-1731. Ushakov returned to the court of the one who gained power Anna Ioanovnaand appointed head of the Secret Chancellery.

In his practice, it was common practice to torture the person under investigation, and then the informer on the person under investigation. Ushakov wrote about his work: "Here again there are no important matters, but there are mediocre ones, for which, as if before, I reported that we were whipping rogues and letting them free." However, princes Dolgorukiy, Artemy Volynsky, Biron, Minikh ... passed through the hands of Ushakov, and Ushakov himself, who embodies the power of the Russian political investigation system, successfully remained at court and at work. Russian monarchs had a weakness for investigating "state" crimes, often judged themselves, and the monarch's every morning ritual, in addition to breakfast and toilet, was listening to the report of the Secret Chancellery.

"Empress Anna Ioannovna" L. Karavak, 1730 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Ushakov in such an honorary position was replaced in 1746. Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov... Catherine II in the Notes mentions: “Alexander Shuvalov, not by himself, but by the position he held, was a threat to the entire court, city and the entire empire, he was the head of the Inquisitional Court, which was then called the Secret Chancellery. His occupation, it was said, caused him a kind of convulsive movement, which was done on the entire right side of his face from eye to chin whenever he was excited by joy, anger, fear or dread. " His authority as the head of the Secret Chancellery was more deserved by his repulsive and frightening appearance. Ascension to the throne Peter III Shuvalov was dismissed from this position.

Peter III visits Ioan Antonovich in his Shlisselburg chamber. Illustration from a German history magazine of the early 20th century.

The third pillar of political investigation in Russia in the XVIII century. became Stepan Ivanovich Sheshkovsky... He led the Secret Expedition from 1762-1794. Over the 32 years of Sheshkovsky's work, his personality has acquired a huge number of legends. Sheshkovsky, in the minds of the people, was known as a sophisticated executioner, guarding the law and moral values. In noble circles, he had the nickname "confessor", because Catherine II herself, zealously watching the moral character of her subjects, asked Sheshkovsky to "talk" with the guilty persons for edifying purposes. “Talk” often meant “light corporal punishment,” such as flogging or whipping.

Sheshkovsky Stepan Ivanovich. Illustration from the book “Russian Antiquity. A guide to the 18th century. "

At the end of the 18th century, the story of a mechanical chair that stood in the office at the Sheshkovsky house was very popular. Allegedly, when the invitee sat down in it, the armrests of the chair clicked, and the chair itself dropped into the hatch in the floor, so that one head remained sticking out. Further, invisible assistants removed the chair, freed the guest from clothes and flogged, not knowing who. In the description of the son of Alexander Nikolayevich Radishchev, Afanasy Sheshkovsky appears to be a maniac sadist: “He acted with disgusting autocracy and severity, without the slightest indulgence and compassion. Sheshkovsky himself boasted that he knew the means to compel confessions, namely, he began by saying that the interrogated person would have enough with a stick under the chin, so that his teeth would crackle and sometimes jump out. Not a single accused, during such an interrogation, dared to defend himself under fear of the death penalty. The most remarkable thing is that Sheshkovsky treated in this way only with noble persons, for commoners were handed over to his subordinates for reprisal. Thus, Sheshkovsky forced confessions. He carried out the punishments of noble persons in his own hand. He often flogged and whipped. He whipped with an extraordinary dexterity acquired by frequent exercise. "

Punishment with a whip. From a drawing by H. G. Geisler. 1805

However, it is known that Catherine II stated that torture was not used during interrogations, and Sheshkovsky himself, most likely, was an excellent psychologist, which allowed him to achieve what he wanted from the interrogated by just whipping up the atmosphere and light cuffs.

Be that as it may, Sheshkovsky elevated political investigation to the rank of art, supplementing Ushakov's methodology and Shuvalov's expressiveness with a creative and non-standard approach to business.

Torture

If the investigators during the interrogation thought that the suspect was “locked up,” then the conversation was followed by torture. This effective method was resorted to in St. Petersburg no less often than in the cellars of the European Inquisition.

There was a rule in the office - “one who confesses to torture three times”. This meant the need for a triple plea of \u200b\u200bthe accused.

In order for the testimony to be considered reliable, it had to be repeated at different times at least three times without changes. Before Elizabeth's decree of 1742, torture began without the presence of an investigator, that is, even before the beginning of questioning in the torture chamber. The executioner had time to "find" a common language with the victim. Naturally, his actions are not controlled by anyone.

Elizaveta Petrovna, like her father, constantly kept the affairs of the Secret Chancellery under full control. Through a report given to her in 1755, we learn that the favorite methods of torture were: rack, vise, head pressure and pouring cold water (the most severe of the torture).

Inquisition "in Russian"

The secret office was reminiscent of the Catholic Inquisition. Catherine II in her memoirs even compared these two organs of "justice":

"Alexander Shuvalov, not by himself, but by the position he held, was a threat to the entire court, city and the entire empire, he was the head of the Inquisitional court, which was then called the Secret Chancellery."

These were not just nice words. Back in 1711, Peter I created a state corporation of informers - the institute of fiscal (one or two people in each city). The ecclesiastical authorities were controlled by spiritual fiscals called "inquisitors". Subsequently, this initiative formed the basis of the Secret Chancellery. This has not turned into a witch hunt, but religious crimes are mentioned in the cases.

In the conditions of Russia, just awakening from medieval sleep, there were punishments for making a deal with the devil, especially with the aim of harming the sovereign. Among the last cases of the Secret Chancellery, there is a trial about a merchant, who declared the then deceased Peter the Great the Antichrist, and threatened Elizaveta Petrovna with a fire. The impudent foul language was one of the Old Believers. He got off easily - he was whipped with a whip.

Eminence grise

General Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov became the real "gray cardinal" of the Secret Chancellery. “He ran the Secret Chancery under five monarchs,” notes the historian Yevgeny Anisimov, “and knew how to negotiate with everyone! First he tortured Volynsky, and then Biron. Ushakov was a professional, he didn't care who to torture. " He came from among the impoverished Novgorod nobles and knew what a "fight for a piece of bread" was.

He led the case of Tsarevich Alexei, tipped the cup in favor of Catherine I, when, after Peter's death, the question of the inheritance was decided, opposed Elizabeth Petrovna, and then quickly entered the favor of the ruler.

When the passions of palace coups thundered in the country, he was as unsinkable as the "shadow" of the French revolution - Joseph Fouche,who, during the bloody events in France, managed to be on the side of the monarch, the revolutionaries and Napoleon, who replaced them.

Significantly, both "gray cardinals" met their death not on the scaffold, like most of their victims, but at home, in bed.

Denunciation hysteria

Peter urged his subjects to report all disorder and crimes. In October 1713, the tsar wrote menacing words "about the heralds of decrees and those laid down by the law and the robber of the people", for denunciation of which the subjects "would come without any fear and announced this to us ourselves." The following year, Peter revealingly publicly invited the unknown author of an anonymous letter "about the great benefit of his majesty and the whole state" to come to him for a reward of 300 rubles - a huge sum for those times. The process that led to the real hysteria of denunciations was launched. Anna Ioannovna, following the example of her uncle, promised "mercy and reward" for a just accusation. Elizaveta Petrovna gave freedom to serfs for "right-wing" denunciation of landowners who sheltered their peasants from revision. The decree of 1739 cited as an example the wife who reported on her husband, for which she got 100 souls from the confiscated estate.
In these conditions, they reported everything and everyone, without resorting to any evidence, based only on rumors. This became the main tool for the work of the main office. One careless phrase at a feast, and the fate of the unfortunate was a foregone conclusion. True, something cooled the ardor of the adventurers. Researcher of the "secret office" Igor Kurukin wrote: "In the event of the denial of the accused and refusal to testify, the unlucky informer could have reared himself or been imprisoned from several months to several years."

In the era of palace coups, when thoughts of overthrowing the government arose not only among the officers, but also among persons of "vile rank", hysteria reached its climax. People started reporting on themselves!

In Russkaya Starina, which published the files of the Secret Chancellery, the case of the soldier Vasily Treskin is described, who himself came to the Secret Chancellery, accusing himself of seditious thoughts: “that it is not a great thing to hurt the Empress; and if he, Treskin, took the time to see the merciful Empress, he could have stabbed her with a sword. "

Spy games

After the successful policy of Peter, the Russian Empire was integrated into the system of international relations, and at the same time the interest of foreign diplomats in the activities of the St. Petersburg court increased. Secret agents of European states began to arrive in the Russian Empire. Espionage cases also fell into the jurisdiction of the Secret Chancellery, but they did not succeed in this field. For example, under Shuvalov, the Secret Chancellery knew only about those "prisoners" who had been exposed on the fronts of the Seven Years War. The most famous among them was the Major General of the Russian Army Count Gottlieb Kurt Heinrich Totleben, who was caught for correspondence with the enemy and for giving him copies of the "secret orders" of the Russian command.

But against this background, such well-known "spies" as the French Gilbert Romm, who in 1779 handed over to his government the detailed state of the Russian army and secret maps, successfully carried out their affairs in the country; or Ivan Valets, a court politician who sent information about Catherine's foreign policy to Paris.

The last pillar of Peter III

Upon accession to the throne, Peter III wanted to reform the Secret Chancellery. Unlike all his predecessors, he did not interfere in the affairs of the organ. Obviously, his dislike of the institution in connection with the affairs of the Prussian informers during the Seven Years' War, whom he sympathized with, played a role. The result of its reform was the abolition of the Secret Chancellery by the manifesto of March 6, 1762 due to "uncorrected morals among the people."

In other words, the body was accused of not fulfilling the tasks assigned to it.

The abolition of the Secret Chancellery is often considered one of the positive outcomes of the reign of Peter III. However, this only led the emperor to his inglorious death. The temporary disorganization of the punitive department did not allow the participants in the conspiracy to be identified in advance and contributed to the spread of rumors defaming the emperor, which now had no one to suppress. As a result, on June 28, 1762, a palace coup was successfully carried out, as a result of which the emperor lost the throne, and then his life.

In the 18th century, political crimes included "uprisings and conspiracies against the government, treason and espionage, imposture, criticizing government policies and actions of the tsar, members of the tsar's family or representatives of tsarist administration, as well as acts damaging the prestige of tsarist power."
In previous years, the Order of Secret Affairs, the Preobrazhensky Order and the infamous Secret Chancellery, closed by Peter III in February 1762, were alternately engaged in this work. However, this step by no means put an end to the development of the domestic political police, since on the site of the previous institution a new one was formed - a Special Expedition under the ruling Senate. It should be noted that the idea of \u200b\u200bincluding political investigations in the structure of the Senate belonged to Peter I, but by coincidence it was implemented only 37 years after his death. However, this step did not save Peter III - in June 1762 he was dethroned by his wife. So Catherine II ascended the throne.
The Empress had no particular love for either the political police or her husband's reforms in this area, but when she came to power, she quickly realized the benefits and necessity of the Special Expedition. This body was not only not liquidated, but also became the main center of the political investigation of the Russian Empire for many years to come. The expedition staff (forwarders) were investigating the high-profile cases of E. Pugachev, A. N. Radishchev, N. I. Novikov and Princess E. Tarakanova. They also investigated the attempt of Second Lieutenant V. Ya. Mirovich to release the deposed Peter III from custody, the conspiracy of the chamber-cadet F. Khitrovo to murder Count G. Orlov, espionage activities of the court councilor Valva, etc.
There were plenty of political crimes during the 34 years of the reign of Catherine II. Most of them were successfully found by forwarders. According to the testimony of contemporaries, they knew "everything that happens in the capital: not only criminal plans or actions, but even free and careless conversations."
Only 2,000 rubles a year was officially allocated for the maintenance of this department, but this money was spent only on paying salaries to a few employees. The real amounts of the expedition were kept in the strictest confidence, as was everything that was connected with it. Catherine tried in every possible way to remove the political investigation service from the public's field of vision, so the main residence of the expedition even became the Peter and Paul Fortress. In addition, the Empress decided to make several changes to the organization of the detective department.
The first step on this path was the change of name - from October 1762, the Special Expedition was renamed Secret. The purposes of the updated body were to collect information "about all crimes against the government", arrest the perpetrators and conduct investigations. The official head of the Secret Expedition was at first the Prosecutor General of the Senate A.I.Glebov, and then Prince A.A.Vyazemsky, who replaced him. However, the actual head of the political police was Stepan Ivanovich Sheshkovsky, who acted under the direct control of Catherine II.
According to the historian A. Korsakov, in the comparison of these names one could hear "a sharp, striking dissonance." If the Empress was considered an ardent supporter of the Enlightenment and humanism, then Sheshkovsky was called “the executioner” and “the great inquisitor of Russia”, and his name instilled panic in his contemporaries. For example, when A. N. Radishchev was informed that Stepan Ivanovich was entrusted with his case, the author of "Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow" fainted.
Why did the head of the Secret Expedition cause such fear? On the surface, Sheshkovsky seemed like a good-natured and modest man of short stature, and few people could find something frightening in his appearance. Despite a rather mediocre education, Stepan Ivanovich was distinguished by incredible hard work and efficiency. He did not stay in the capital, often leaving to investigate crimes in other regions. He was distinguished by his honesty, and in his resume it was said: "He is able to write and does not drink - he will be good at business." However, contrary to this characteristic, it was Sheshkovsky that most residents of St. Petersburg and Moscow called the most dangerous person from Catherine's entourage.
The main reason for this attitude was the methods of inquest he allegedly used. The capital was full of rumors about the facts of systematic beating of suspects: “Sheshkovsky did not stand on ceremony with anyone. For him, what a peasant, what a nobleman - everything is one. The interrogation began by hitting the accused in the teeth with a stick. In fairness, it should be said that these rumors had almost no real basis.
Freight forwarders, of course, had the right to torture state criminals, but their boss considered such measures unnecessary. In the words of Catherine II, "for twelve years the Secret Expedition under my eyes did not flog a single person during interrogations." Despite the fact that, according to rumors, during his stay at the head of the political investigation, Sheshkovsky personally whipped more than 2,000 people, reliable information about this has not yet been found. Neither the writer Radishchev, nor the journalist Novikov, nor even the rebel Pugachev were subjected to any torture in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Moreover, the Empress's secret instructions explicitly prohibited physical abuse of many defendants.
As for gossip and gossip, they appeared for several reasons.
First, the Secret Chancellery was still fresh in the people's memory, where torture was the main means of obtaining information - the townsfolk simply did not understand or refused to understand the difference between the two political police bodies.
Secondly, for many, the figure of Sheshkovsky in such a responsible post was unacceptable, which was explained by his ignoble origin. As a descendant of the Polish bourgeoisie, he reached unprecedented heights even for the Russian aristocracy - over the long years of leading the expedition, Stepan Ivanovich rose to the rank of Privy Councilor and became a Knight of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree. In the circles of the Russian nobility, such "upstarts" were not very respected (suffice it to recall the sad fate of A. D. Menshikov), and the need to obey Sheshkovsky's orders and his closeness to the Empress were perceived as an insult to representatives of more ancient families.
Thirdly, the secrecy and secrecy of the expedition played a role. No one knew exactly what was going on in the dungeons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, so people's imaginations drew monstrous scenes of torture of suspects. In addition, world practice shows that it is natural for people to ascribe to employees of special services in general, and political investigation in particular, various atrocities against prisoners. At the same time, the spread of such gossip was strongly encouraged by Sheshkovsky's subordinates and by himself. The reason for this is easily explained if we take into account the true principles of the Secret Expedition, which consisted, first of all, in psychological pressure on the suspects. Stepan Ivanovich was one of the few interrogators in the Russian Empire who did not have to resort to "whip and rack" during interrogations. He achieved the desired result by intimidating the arrested and only threatening them with cruel torture. This was facilitated by the gloomy atmosphere of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the rude manner of Sheshkovsky's communication with criminals, and, of course, the bad reputation of political investigation.
Another characteristic feature of the work of freight forwarders was the involvement of clergymen in the investigation. Before interrogation, the accused was offered to confess to the priest of the Peter and Paul Fortress, giving him a chance to repent of his deeds. By that time, the prisoners were intimidated to such an extent that they agreed to sign any confession, just not to meet with the "Grand Inquisitor of Russia." This method of inquiry was especially popular on the Secret Expedition, as its leader was a deeply religious person and believed in the power of persuasion more than in torture.
To the surprise of many modern researchers, the methods described were very effective. Few of the Russian nobles, let alone representatives of other classes, could withstand such psychological pressure. Nevertheless, there were incidents in the work of the Secret Expedition.
For example, the case of student Nevzorov is very indicative. Here is how it is described in a memo addressed to Catherine II: “Student Nevzorov did not want to answer privy councilor Sheshkovsky about anything, saying that according to the rules of the university, without the presence of a university member or commander Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, he should not be held accountable to any court , and although he, Nevzorov, was repeatedly told that he was asked by the highest permission of her imperial majesty, he said to this: I do not believe this. Finally, it was told to him, Nevzorov, that if he didn’t answer, then he, like a disobedient to the authorities, at the behest of her imperial majesty, would be slaughtered, to which he spoke with passion: I’m in your hands, do what you want, take me on the scaffold and chop off my head. " In such cases, even Sheshkovsky was powerless.
The well-known journalist and writer N.I. Novikov, accused of forbidden relations with the Duke of Braunschweig and the Prussian minister Welner, found himself in a similar situation. The leader of the Martinists so skillfully reflected all the accusations against him that the investigators were unable to prove his treason. So Novikov was taken into custody in the Shlisselburg Fortress only on the personal order of Catherine II.
As you can see from the above facts, the Secret Expedition under the ruling Senate did not correspond much to everyday ideas about it. In the same way, Stepan Sheshkovsky was not “the domestic executioner of the meek Catherine,” about whom there were so many rumors, gossip and anecdotes.
At the same time, it is absurd to claim that the head of the expedition was absolutely sinless - he took huge bribes. True, it should be borne in mind that in Catherine's time almost all members of the state apparatus suffered from bribery, and there was nothing unusual in such actions. The benefits brought by Sheshkovsky covered any sins. As a result, by the end of his life he owned estates in 4 provinces, hundreds of serfs, and received an annual pension of 2,000 rubles.
As a seventy-year old man, Stepan Ivanovich began to retire, entrusting the leadership of the political investigation to his closest assistants: A. M. Cheredin and A. S. Makarov. Nevertheless, none of them possessed either Sheshkovsky's talents in the field of interrogation, or his capacity for work. The affairs of the Secret Expedition began to decline gradually. The death of Sheshkovsky in May 1794 further weakened the detective department. Freight forwarders, accustomed to trust and rely on their boss in everything, were somewhat confused after his death. And already two years later, the founder of the special service, Catherine the Great, died. Nevertheless, the decline of one era in the history of the Russian political police was the beginning of another - the accession to the throne of Emperor Paul I breathed new life into the Secret Expedition.

Literature.

1. Anisimov E. V. Russian torture. Political investigation in Russia in the 18th century. - S-Pb., 2004.
2. Gernet MN History of the imperial prison. T. 1. - M., 1960.
3. The life and suffering of the father and monk Abel. // Russian Antiquity. 1875. No. 2.
4. History of the Russian special services. - M., 2004.
5. Koshel PA History of punishments in Russia. - M., 1995.
6. Novikov NI Selected Works. - M .; L., 1951.
7. Radishchev A. N. Complete Works. T. 3. - M .; L., 1954.
8. Samoilov V. The emergence of the Secret Expedition at the Senate // Questions of history. 1946. No. 1.
9. Sizikov MI Formation of the central and capital apparatus of the regular police of Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century. - M., 2000.

Special services of the Russian Empire [Unique encyclopedia] Kolpakidi Alexander Ivanovich

Biographies of the leaders of the Secret Chancellery

BUTURLIN Ivan Ivanovich (1661-1738). "Minister" of the Secret Chancellery in 1718-1722.

He belonged to one of the most ancient noble families, who descended from the legendary Ratsha, who served Alexander Nevsky, from the "honest husband". His descendant, who lived at the end of the XIV century, was called Ivan Buturlya and gave the name to this family. I.I. Buturlin began his career as a sleeping bag, and then as a steward of the young Peter I. When in 1687 the young tsar established his amusing regiments, he appointed Buturlin as Prime Major of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. The latter becomes one of the tsar's most devoted assistants in his struggle for power with the ruler Sophia. Together with the Preobrazhensky regiment, he participates in the Azov campaigns of Peter I. At the beginning of the Northern War with Sweden, the king makes Buturlin to major general. At the head of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky guards regiments, he was the first to approach Narva, the siege of which ended in the defeat of the Russian army by the Swedes. Although the regiments led by him fought bravely and escaped the encirclement, the general himself was taken prisoner, in which he spent nine years.

Returning to Russia in 1710, the next year, Buturlin received a special corps under command, at the head of which he defends Ukraine from the invasion of the Crimean Tatars and traitorous Zaporozhians, commanded Russian troops in Courland and Finland, which at that time belonged to Sweden. For successful actions against the Swedes, Peter I in May 1713 conferred the rank of lieutenant general on Buturlin; July 29, 1714 takes part in the famous sea battle of Gangut.

In 1718, Lieutenant-General Buturlin, by the Tsar's decision, was inducted into the number of "ministers" of the Secret Chancellery, took an active part in interrogations and the trial of Tsarevich Alexei, and signed, along with other colleagues in political investigation, a death sentence. At the end of this business, the tsar confers on him the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. For the next several years, he continued to participate in the work of the Secret Chancellery, but gradually retired from its affairs, and since 1722 his name has not been found in the documents of this state security body.

In November 1719, Peter I appoints Buturlin a member of the Military Collegium, and in this position he, together with others, signed the army regulation on February 9, 1720. In the same year, at the head of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky Guards, Ingermanland and Astrakhan infantry regiments, he went to Finland, where, under the command of M.M. Golitsyn distinguished himself in the naval battle at Grengam. In honor of the conclusion of the Nystadt Peace, which ended the Northern War, Peter on October 22, 1721 promoted Buturlin to the rank of full general. In 1722, his participation in the work of the Military Collegium ceases, but he remains the chief of the same four elite regiments that he commanded during the last campaign in Finland. These four regiments, consolidated into a division, were stationed in St. Petersburg, and soon they were to play a decisive role in the history of Russia. The last major assignment entrusted to him during the life of Peter I was participation in the commission formed for the trial of the "minister" of the Secret Chancellery G.G. Skornyakov-Pisarev in 1723

The first Russian emperor did not manage to appoint a successor during his lifetime. In the absence of his clearly expressed will, this issue was decided by Peter's associates. How this happened was excellently described by V.O. Klyuchevsky: “On January 28, 1725, when the transformer was dying, having lost his language, a member of the Senate gathered to discuss the question of a successor. The government class was divided: the old nobility, headed by the princes Golitsyn, Repnin, spoke out for the young grandson of the reformer - Peter II. New unborn businessmen, the closest employees of the reformer, members of the commission that condemned the father of this heir, Tsarevich Alexei, with Prince Menshikov at the head, stood for the widow empress ... Suddenly a drumbeat was heard under the palace windows: it turned out that there were two guards regiment under arms, called by their commanders - Prince Menshikov and Buturlin. The President of the Military Collegium (Minister of War) Field Marshal Prince Repnin asked with heart: “Who dared to lead the regiments without my knowledge? Am I not a field marshal? " Buturlin objected that he summoned the regiments at the behest of the Empress, whom all subjects are obliged to obey, "not excluding you," he added. It was this appearance of the guards that decided the issue in favor of the Empress. " This laid the foundation for a tradition that has operated in Russian history throughout the entire century.

Finding himself for a brief moment in the role of "kingmaker", Buturlin was generously rewarded by the empress, whom he, in fact, enthroned. Paying tribute to his role in this event, Catherine I instructed him at the funeral of her late husband to bear the crown of the Russian Empire, which he actually delivered to her. However, his prosperity did not last long - only until the end of the empress's reign, when, along with all his colleagues in the Secret Chancellery, P.A. Tolstoy conspired against the plans of A.D. Menshikov to marry his daughter with the grandson of Peter I and elevate him to the throne. When the conspiracy was revealed, Buturlin, by the will of His Serene Highness, was deprived of all ranks and insignia and was exiled "to a permanent residence" to his distant estate. It did not ease, but greatly worsened his position, the fall of his lordship that soon followed, since the Dolgoruky princes, who received a dominant influence on the son of Tsarevich Alexei, took away from him all the estates granted by Peter I, leaving only the hereditary estate Kruttsy in the Vladimir province, where he spent the rest of his life. Buturlin was awarded the highest Russian orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Alexander Nevsky.

SKORNYAKOV-PISAREV Grigory Grigorievich (unknown year of birth - c. 1745). "Minister" of the Secret Chancellery in 1718-1723.

The family of the Skornyakov-Pisarevs originates from the Polish native of Semyon Pisar, whom the Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich granted an estate in the Kolomensky district. G.G. Skornyakov-Pisarev was first mentioned in official documents since 1696 as an ordinary scorer. Apparently, he managed to attract the attention of the sovereign with his ingenuity and the next year was sent to Italy for training, accompanying Prince I. Urusov. Being part of the Great Embassy abroad, Peter I ordered to move Skornyakov-Pisarev to Berlin, where he mastered the German language, and then studied mathematics, mechanics and engineering. Upon his return to Russia, the tsar instructs him to train bombardiers in the company entrusted to him, and he has been doing this for 20 years. The young transfiguration man valiantly manifests himself during the siege of Narva in 1700, and Peter promotes him to the rank of ensign. When in 1704 A.D. Menshikov retires from the ranks of the officers of the bombardier company of the Preobrazhensky regiment, then G.G. Skornyakov-Pisarev, which testifies to the great disposition of both the tsar and his favorite to him. He belongs to a relatively narrow circle of close associates of Peter and is one of the few "trusted" officers who correspond with the monarch.

As an officer of the active army, Skornyakov-Pisarev takes part in many battles of the Northern War with Sweden, including the battle of Poltava, which decided the fate of the war, in which he is promoted to the rank of captain-lieutenant for the skillful leadership of the artillery. In the same years, Peter I, who even in the most tense moments of the war did not forget about the tasks of economic transformations in Russia, instructed him to study the possibility of connecting the Dnieper and Dvina canals with each other and with the Lovatya River. In this regard, it should be noted that the design and construction of canals became the second specialty of Skornyakov-Pisarev in the Peter the Great era. Following this, he went to the outskirts of Smolensk on the Kasplya River to prepare ships and organize the transportation of artillery and provisions on them for the Russian army besieging Riga. From Riga at the end of 1709, Skornyakov-Pisarev, at the head of his bombing company, was sent to Moscow to take part in the solemn parade in honor of Poltava Victoria, and next year he took part in the assault on Vyborg. In the unsuccessful Prut campaign of Peter I against Turkey in 1711, Skornyakov-Pisarev commanded the artillery in the tsarist division, in 1712–1713. - commanded the guards artillery in the ongoing war with the Swedes, and at the end of 1713 - all the artillery of the Northern capital. The tsar instructed him to organize an artillery school for future navigators in St. Petersburg, which soon received the name of the Naval Academy.

With the beginning of the case of Tsarevich Alexei, Peter I created a new body of political investigation - the Secret Chancellery. The composition of the leadership of this new structure is indicative: in addition to the diplomat Tolstoy, who lured the "beast" from abroad, he is fully staffed by the Guard officers of the Preobrazhensky regiment. Such a step by Peter was far from accidental - the guard he created was the institution on which he could safely rely and from where he drew leading cadres for a wide variety of assignments. The tsar entrusts the guardsman Skornyakov-Pisarev with the most delicate part of the investigation concerning his ex-wife Evdokia Lopukhina.

In addition, the "bombardier captain" took part in the investigation and trial of Tsarevich Alexei, having signed a death sentence with other judges to the son of Peter I. Skornyakov-Pisarev was among the persons who carried the coffin with his body out of the church. Needless to say, after the completion of such an important matter for Peter I, a rain of royal favors fell on him, as on the rest of the "ministers" of the Secret Chancellery. Skornyakov-Pisarev was awarded the rank of colonel and two hundred peasant households on December 9, 1718 "... for his faithful work in the former secret search business". At the end of the case of Tsarevich Alexei Skornyakov-Pisarev remains to serve in the Secret Chancellery.

Along with the service in the department of political investigation, the tsar assigns a number of new assignments to the colonel who justified his confidence. In December 1718, Skornyakov-Pisarev was charged with overseeing the construction of the Ladoga Canal; in January 1719, he was appointed director of the St. Petersburg Naval Academy; in May, he was instructed to set up a "coastline" - a waterway from Ladoga along the Volkhov and Mete rivers "everywhere it was possible to drive ships by horses to the pier", etc. Finally, in November of the same 1719, the Pskov, Yaroslavl and Novgorod schools at the bishops' houses were entrusted to his care, together with the Moscow and Novgorod schools of navigators. However, this time the former striker did not live up to the Tsar's hopes. A harsh and cruel man, perfectly suited to work in a dungeon, he was unable to organize the educational process.

The construction of the Ladoga Canal, entrusted to him, was proceeding extremely slowly, which in four years of work by 1723 had been laid only 12 miles away. Peter I personally examined the work performed and, based on the results of the audit, removed Skornyakov-Pisarev from the construction management. A little earlier, between Skornyakov-Pisarev and Vice-Chancellor Shafirov there was a scandalous showdown in the Senate, which caused the strongest anger of Peter I against both participants in the quarrel. However, thanks to the intercession of His Serene Highness Prince A.D. Menshikov, for his former subordinate in the Preobrazhensky regiment, he suffered a relatively light punishment in the form of demotion. In parallel with this, he was removed from affairs in the Secret Chancellery. The disgrace did not last long, and in May 1724 Skornyakov-Pisarev was forgiven by a special decree, but Peter I did not forget the misdeeds of his former favorite. Nevertheless, when the first Russian emperor died, during his funeral, Colonel Skornyakov-Pisarev, along with other closest associates of the late monarch, carried his coffin.

When Menshikov's influence on Catherine I becomes decisive, the star of his former subordinate went up, and at the insistence of his Serene Highness, he receives the rank of Major General. However, in 1727 Skornyakov-Pisarev allowed himself to be drawn into a conspiracy by Tolstoy and under his influence advocated the transfer of the throne of the Russian Empire to Elizaveta Petrovna and against the wedding of Menshikov's daughter to Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich (future Emperor Peter II). The conspiracy was very quickly revealed, and the Most Serene Highness did not forgive his former protege for black ingratitude. Skornyakov-Pisarev was punished more severely than most of the other conspirators: in addition to being deprived of honor, ranks and estates, he was beaten with a whip and exiled to the Zhiganskoe winter hut, from where there were as many as 800 miles to the nearest town of Yakutsk. However, I had to stay in the Yakut exile for a relatively short time. As you know, during the reign of Catherine I, Bering's 1st Kamchatka Expedition was equipped. Upon his return from the expedition, the navigator submitted a report to the government, where, in particular, he proposed to establish the Okhotsk Administration and build a port at the mouth of the Okhota River. This proposal was approved, and since the Far Eastern outskirts of the empire experienced an acute shortage of educated leaders, Bering pointed to Skornyakov-Pisarev, who was sitting in the Zhigansky winter hut “without any benefit” for the government, as a person who could be entrusted with this task. Since Peter II had already died by this time and Anna Ioannovna had ascended the throne, this idea did not raise any objections, and on May 10, 1731, a decree was issued appointing the exiled Skornyakov-Pisarev as commander to Okhotsk. Russia confidently began to develop the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and the former Petrovsky bombardier, who had been in charge of the port on the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk for 10 years, made his contribution to this process.

The position of the former "minister" of the Secret Chancellery changed abruptly with the accession of Elizabeth Petrovna. She has not forgotten her longtime supporters who suffered in the attempt to get her crown. December 1, 1741 signed a decree on the release from exile Skornyakov-Pisarev. Communication with the Far East at that time was carried out extremely slowly, and the decree reached Okhotsk only on June 26, 1742.

Upon his return to the capital, Skornyakov-Pisarev received the rank of major general, all his orders and estates. The last news of him dates back to 1745, and apparently he died soon after.

TOLSTOY Peter Andreevich (1645-1729). "Minister" of the Secret Chancellery in 1718-1726.

This famous noble family originates from the "honest husband" Indros, who left in 1353 for Chernigov "from the German land" with two sons and a retinue. Baptized in Russia, he receives the name Leonty. His great-grandson Andrei Kharitonovich moved from Chernigov to Moscow under the Grand Duke Vasily II (according to other sources - under Ivan III) and received the nickname Tolstoy from the new overlord, which became the surname of his descendants. The beginning of the rise of this kind falls on the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. Pyotr Andreevich's father, boyar Andrei Vasilyevich Tolstoy, who died in 1690, was married to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, sister of the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Born in the year of the accession of Alexei Mikhailovich and in 1676 received the rank of steward by his patronymic, Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, together with his patron Ivan Miloslavsky, actively prepared the Streletsky revolt of 1682, which took power from the young Peter and transferred it to Princess Sophia. In the days of May 1682, Tolstoy personally gave the signal for the beginning of the Streletsky revolt, riding along with Miloslavsky's nephew along Streletskaya Sloboda, shouting loudly that the Naryshkins strangled Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich. For himself, Tolstoy received nothing from the coup, and after the death of the all-powerful under the ruler of Miloslavsky in 1685, he moved away from Sophia's supporters. By this, without suspecting it, he is protected from the consequences of the fall of the regent in four years.

Although the future head of the Secret Chancellery did not suffer, during the next coup in 1698, which gave full power to the young Peter, he had practically no chance of making a career under the new sovereign. Not only did he belong to the “seed of the Miloslavskys,” so hated by Peter, but also with his lies in 1682 initiated the uprising of the Streltsy, which inflicted an indelible psychological trauma on little Peter. The king never forgot this to him.

With such an attitude of the monarch, it would have been simply impossible for any other person to make a career during his reign, but not for the clever and resourceful Tolstoy. Through his relative Apraksin, he became close to the supporters of Peter I and in 1693 sought to be appointed voivode to Veliky Ustyug.

Meanwhile, Peter, having won access to the Black Sea for Russia, is actively beginning to build a fleet. In November 1696, by his decree, he sent 61 stewards abroad to study the art of navigation, i.e. be able to "own the ship both in battle and in a simple procession." The overwhelming majority of future masters of navigation were sent to the West by force, for disobeying the tsar's decree threatened to deprive of all rights, lands and property. In contrast, 52-year-old Tolstoy, much older than other students in age, realizing that only an expression of desire to study the naval business so beloved by Peter could in the future lead to royal favor, on February 28, 1697, together with 38 stolniks, went to study in Venice (the rest went to England). He studies mathematics and maritime science, even sailed on the Adriatic Sea for several months. Although Tolstoy did not become a real sailor, his close acquaintance with life abroad made him a Westerner and a staunch supporter of Peter's reforms. In this regard, the journey undertaken, which significantly expanded his horizons, was not in vain. During his stay in the country, he learned Italian quite well. Along the way, he, the ancestor of the great writer Leo Tolstoy, discovered a remarkable literary talent, and he compiles a diary of his travels in Italy, translates Ovid's Metamorphoses into Russian, and subsequently creates an extensive description of Turkey.

However, acquaintance with the Western way of life was not enough to earn the mercy of the tsar who disliked him, and upon his return to Russia he was out of work. The situation changed abruptly when, in April 1702, the already middle-aged Tolstoy was appointed the first permanent Russian ambassador to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. At that moment it was the most difficult and responsible post of the entire Russian diplomatic service. Having entered into a dangerous and protracted war with Sweden in 1700 for the sake of access to the Baltic Sea, Peter I was in vital need of a stable peace on Russia's southern borders, since the country could not withstand a war on two fronts. Tolstoy was sent to prevent Turkey's attack on Russia, his "extremely sharp" mind and obvious ability to intrigue were forced to admit even by his enemies.

Despite the fact that the Russian embassy in Constantinople was placed in extremely unfavorable conditions, Tolstoy managed to achieve success in fulfilling the mission entrusted to him. When bribes and flattering speeches did not help, the Russian diplomat had to resort to intrigues in which he was quite dexterous. Added to this were the intrigues of French diplomacy, the most influential European country in Constantinople, which, based on the interests of its state, actively encouraged Turkey to attack Russia. The ambassador's colossal efforts were not in vain - at the moment of the decisive battle with the Swedish king Charles XII in 1709, Peter's hands were untied, and he could, without fear of a blow from the south, concentrate all his forces against the main enemy.

The crushing defeat of the Swedish army near Poltava caused an explosion of rage among the Turks, who hoped for the defeat of Peter and the easy capture of Azov and southern Ukraine. Those who fled into the possession of Sultan Karl XII and the traitor Mazepa were greeted with unprecedented honor, and the troops were immediately moved to the Russian borders. Ambassador Tolstoy reported to the chancellor, Count G.I. Golovkin from the Turkish capital: “Do not be surprised that before, when the Swedish king was in great power, I reported about the peacefulness of Porta, and now that the Swedes are defeated, I doubt it! The reason for my doubt is this: the Turks see that the tsarist majesty is now the victor of the strong Swedish people and wants to soon arrange everything at will in Poland, and then, having no obstacle, can start a war with us, the Turks. So they think ... ”However, Tolstoy once again coped with his task, and already in January 1710 Sultan Ahmed III gave him an audience and solemnly presented him with a ratification instrument confirming the Treaty of Constantinople in 1700.

But the Swedish king, who was in Turkey, did not think to surrender. Taking the gold taken out by Mazepa, making large loans in Holstein, in the English Levantine company and borrowing half a million thalers from the Turks, Charles XII was able to outbid Turkish officials. Despite all the attempts of Peter I and his ambassador to keep the peace, the Great Divan speaks out for breaking off relations with Russia, and on November 20, 1710, the Turkish Empire officially declares war. The Ottomans supplemented their decision to war with an act that even more savage barbarian tribes did not descend to - the arrest and imprisonment of the ambassador. In the famous prison Pikule, or, as it was also called, the Seven Towers Castle, he spent almost a year and a half until the conclusion of peace.

This war itself was unsuccessful for Russia. The small Russian army led by Peter I was surrounded on the Prut by the superior forces of the Turkish troops. On July 12, 1712, the tsar was forced to sign the extremely unprofitable Prut peace treaty. However, peace did not come. Referring to the fact that Peter I did not fulfill all of his terms of the peace treaty, the Sultan on October 31, 1712 declares war on Russia for the second time. Tolstoy is again arrested and thrown into the Seven-Tower Castle, though this time not alone, but in the company of Vice-Chancellor P.P. Shafirov and Mikhail Sheremetev, the son of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev, sent by the king to Turkey as hostages under the terms of the Prut Treaty. The Sultan, seeing that this time Russia was thoroughly preparing for war in the south, did not dare to go to an armed conflict and in March 1713 resumed peace negotiations. To conduct them, Russian diplomats were released from the Constantinople prison. The Turkish government makes ultimatum demands: Russia should actually abandon Ukraine and settle there fugitive adherents of Mazepa, as well as resume paying tribute to the Crimean Khan. Russian ambassadors reject these humiliating demands. Their position is extremely complicated by the fact that Chancellor Golovkin at this crucial moment left Russian diplomats in Turkey without any instructions. Shafirov and Tolstoy were forced to conduct difficult negotiations on their own, at their own peril and risk, rejecting or accepting the terms of the Turkish side. Nevertheless, a new peace treaty “for many difficulties and truly deadly fear” was finally concluded on June 13, 1712, and Peter, having familiarized himself with its terms, approved the result of the hard work of his diplomats. The difficult 12-year service to the Fatherland in the Turkish capital ended for Tolstoy, and he was finally able to return to his homeland.

His rich diplomatic experience was immediately called for, and upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, Tolstoy was appointed a member of the Foreign Affairs Council. He takes an active part in the development of Russia's foreign policy, in 1715 he was awarded the rank of privy councilor and is now called the "minister of secret foreign affairs of the collegium." In July of the same year, he negotiates with Denmark on the occupation of the island of Rügen by Russian troops, which is necessary for the quickest end of the Northern War. In 1716-1717. accompanies Peter I on his new trip to Europe. During it in 1716, Tolstoy participates in difficult negotiations with the Polish king Augustus: together with the Russian ambassador B. Kurakin, the secret adviser is conducting difficult negotiations with the English king George I, and in 1717, together with Peter, he visits Paris and tries to establish friendly relations with the French government. There, abroad, in Spa on June 1, 1717, the tsar entrusted Tolstoy with the most difficult and responsible mission at that moment - to return to Russia his son who had fled into the possession of the Austrian emperor. The legitimate heir to the throne could become a trump card in the hands of forces hostile to Russia, which could thus receive a plausible pretext for interfering in the country's internal affairs. The impending danger had to be eliminated at any cost. The fact that such a delicate task was entrusted by Peter to Tolstoy testifies to the tsar's high assessment of his diplomatic dexterity and intelligence. After Russian intelligence established the exact location of the tsarevich, carefully concealed from prying eyes, Tolstoy handed the Austrian emperor a letter from Peter I on July 29, 1717, which said that his son was currently in Naples, and on behalf of his sovereign demanded the extradition of the fugitive. The ambassador subtly hinted that an angry father with an army might appear in Italy, and at a meeting of the Austrian Privy Council he threatened that the Russian army standing in Poland might move into the Czech Republic, which belonged to the Austrian Empire. The pressure exerted by Tolstoy was not in vain - the Russian ambassador was allowed to meet with Alexei and agreed to let him go if he voluntarily went to his father.

The sudden appearance of Tolstoy and his accompanying Alexander Rumyantsev in Naples, where the prince considered himself completely safe, struck Alexei like a thunderbolt. The ambassador handed him a letter from Peter I, full of bitter reproaches: “My son! What have you done? He left and surrendered, like a traitor, under someone else's patronage, which has not been heard ... What an insult and vexation to his father and shame to his Fatherland! " Further, Peter demanded that his son return, promising him his complete forgiveness. For Tolstoy, the days of regular visits to the fugitive dragged on, in long conversations with whom he, deftly alternating exhortations and threats, convinced Alexei of the complete senselessness of further resistance to his father's will, and strongly advised him to obey Peter and rely on his mercy, swearing his fatherly forgiveness. It is unlikely that the shrewd Tolstoy harbored any illusions about the royal favor, and he, thus, deliberately lured Alexei to Russia to certain death.

Having finally persuaded Alexei to return to his father, Tolstoy immediately notifies the sovereign of his success. At the same time, he writes an unofficial letter to Catherine, begging her to help in receiving the award. On October 14, 1717, the tsarevich, together with Tolstoy, left Naples and, after three and a half months of travel, arrived in Moscow. January 31, 1718 Tolstoy hands it over to his father.

Peter I, who promised to forgive his son, did not think to keep his word. For the search in the case of Tsarevich Alexei, an extraordinary investigative body is created - the Secret Chancellery, at the head of which the tsar puts Tolstoy, who has demonstrated his skill and loyalty. Already on February 4, Peter I dictated to him "points" for the first interrogation of his son. Under the direct supervision of the tsar and in cooperation with other "ministers" of the Secret Chancellery, Tolstoy quickly and thoroughly conducts an investigation, not stopping even at the torture of the former heir to the throne. Thanks to his participation in the case of Alexei, the former adherent of the Miloslavskys finally achieved the royal favors, which he had so long and passionately longed for, and entered the inner circle of Peter's companions. The reward for the life of the tsarevich was the rank of actual state councilor and the order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

The secret office was originally created by Peter as a temporary institution, but the tsar's need to have a body of political investigation at hand made it permanent. They barely had time to bury the executed Alexei when the tsar on August 8, 1718, from a ship at Cape Gangut, wrote to Tolstoy: “My lord! Ponezh came to steal the shops below named, for the sake of finding them, take them on guard. The investigation on the list of alleged thieves contained in the letter further resulted in the high-profile Revel Admiralty case, which ended in harsh sentences for the perpetrators. Although all the "ministers" of the Secret Chancellery were formally equal, Tolstoy played a clearly leading role among them. The other three colleagues, as a rule, informed him of their opinions on certain matters and, recognizing his tacit primacy, asked if not direct approval of their own actions, then, in any case, the consent of the cunning diplomat. Nevertheless, in the depths of his soul, Tolstoy, apparently, was burdened by the investigative and execution duties assigned to him. Not daring to give up this post outright, in 1724 he convinced the tsar to order not to send new cases to the Secret Chancellery, but to submit the existing cases to the Senate. However, under Peter, this attempt to shake off this hateful "burden" from his shoulders failed, and Tolstoy was able to carry out his plan only during the reign of Catherine I. Using his increased influence, in May 1726 he persuaded the empress to abolish this body of political investigation.

As for the rest of the activities of Tolstoy, on December 15, 1717 the tsar appointed him president of the Commerce Collegium. Considering how great importance Peter attached to the development of trade, this was yet another testimony to the royal trust and another reward for returning the prince from abroad. He leads this department until 1721. He does not leave the "cleverest head" and the diplomatic career. When at the beginning of 1719 the tsar learned that an intensive process of rapprochement was taking place between Prussia and England, which was hostile to Russia, which was to be crowned with an official treaty, Peter I sent P.A. to help the Russian ambassador in Berlin, Count A. Golovkin. Tolstoy. However, this time the efforts were unsuccessful, and the Anglo-Prussian treaty was concluded. This particular failure did not affect the attitude of Peter I towards him, and in 1721 Tolstoy accompanied the tsar on his trip to Riga, and the next year on the Persian campaign. During this last war of Peter I, he was the head of the marching diplomatic chancellery, through which in 1722 all reports of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs pass. At the end of the campaign, Tolstoy remained for some time in Astrakhan for negotiations with Persia and Turkey, and in May 1723 he went to Moscow to prepare the ceremony of the official coronation of Catherine I.

During this solemn procedure, which took place on May 7, 1724, the old diplomat served as the supreme marshal, and for the successful completion of the coronation he was awarded the title of count.

When the emperor dies in January of the following year, without having time to name a successor, P.A. Tolstoy together with A.D. Menshikov energetically promotes the transfer of power to Catherine I. Tolstoy understood perfectly well that if the throne passed to Peter II, the son of Tsarevich Alexei, who had been ruined by him, then his head had every chance to fly off his shoulders. At the beginning of the empress's reign, the count enjoyed great influence, and it is he who is credited with the idea of \u200b\u200bforming the Supreme Privy Council, created by the decree of Catherine I of February 8, 1726. This body consisted of representatives of the new and old nobility and in fact decided all the most important state affairs. Tolstoy was a member of it along with six other members. However, at the end of the reign of Catherine I, Menshikov gained the predominant influence on her. As a result, the political weight of the former diplomat is sharply diminishing, and he almost no longer appears with reports to the empress. Realizing that the empress would soon die and the throne would inevitably go to Peter II, Menshikov, in order to secure his future, decided to marry the heir to his daughter and obtained the consent of Catherine I to this marriage. However, Tolstoy rebelled against this plan, seeing in the son of Tsarevich Alexei a mortal threat to himself. He almost upset this marriage, and as the heir to the throne, he sagaciously put forward the candidacy of Tsarevna Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I. Elizabeth Petrovna will eventually become empress, but this will happen only in 1741. At the same time, in March 1727, the plan Tolstoy failed completely. The defeat of the old diplomat was largely predetermined by the fact that practically none of the influential persons supported him and he had to fight the almighty enemy practically alone.

In search of allies, Tolstoy turned to his colleagues in the Secret Chancellery, who also had no reason to expect a good thing from Peter II's accession to the throne, and to the Chief of Police, Count Devier. However, Menshikov became aware of these negotiations, and he ordered the arrest of Devier. During interrogation, he quickly confessed everything, and according to his testimony, all the former "ministers" of the Secret Chancellery were immediately seized. Deprived of his honor, rank, villages, count's rank (this title was returned to his grandchildren in 1760), Tolstoy and his son Ivan were exiled to the harsh northern prison of the Solovetsky Monastery. The first to bear the hardships of imprisonment and died Ivan, and a few months later - and his father, who died on January 30, 1729 at the age of 84 years.

UshakovAndrey Ivanovich (1670-1747). “Minister” of the Secret Chancellery in 1718–1726, head of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in 1726–1727, head of the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs in 1731–1746.

He came from the noblemen of the Novgorod province, together with his brothers owned the only serf peasant. He lived in poverty until he was 30 years old, until, together with other noble misfits in 1700 (according to other sources, in 1704), he did not appear at the royal review in Novgorod. The mighty recruit is enrolled in the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, and there, with his diligence and quickness, he attracts the attention of the sovereign. A recent undergrowth rather quickly moved up the career ladder and in 1714 became a major, always since then signing: "From the guard, Major Andrey Ushakov."

The turning point in his fate was his participation in the investigation of the Bulavin uprising of 1707–1708. The cruelty with which Ushakov dealt with its participants and at the same time still had time to recruit horses for the regular army was to the liking of the tsar. Gradually, he entered a relatively close circle of the guard elite, whom Peter I entrusted with responsible assignments as his most reliable and tried-and-true servants. In July 1712, being the tsar's adjutant, he was sent to Poland to secretly supervise the Russian officers who were there. The revealed detective talent of his adjutant Peter I decides to use for its intended purpose. In 1713, the tsar sent Ushakov to the old capital to check denunciations against the Moscow merchants, recruit merchant children to study abroad, and search for fugitive peasants. In 1714 a personal imperial decree was appointed to investigate the causes of the fire at the Moscow Cannon Yard. Simultaneously with this public order, Peter instructs him to secretly investigate a number of important cases in Moscow: about thefts under contracts, extortion in the military chancellery, Moscow town hall affairs, about hiding peasant households and hiding from service. To conduct such a diverse search, Ushakov, on the tsar's order, creates his own special "major's office". Regarding the relationship of the king with his faithful servant, the famous historian of the XIX century. D.N. Bantysh-Kamensky noted: "Peter the Great always gave him an advantage over other guards officers for his excellent disinterestedness, impartiality and loyalty, and used to say about him," that if he had many such officers, he could call himself completely happy. " Indeed, many of Peter's associates could boast of loyalty and courage, but the absence of greed was a great rarity among them. Ushakov is engaged in the audit of the judicial offices of the Moscow province, in 1717 he goes to the new capital to recruit sailors and oversee the construction of ships. Until the death of Peter I, he oversees the proper execution of the tsar's favorite work - the construction of ships in St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1718, the case of Tsarevich Alexei returned to Russia was opened, and the tsar included the faithful and quick-witted major among the "ministers" of the Secret Chancellery, where he immediately became the closest assistant to P.A. Tolstoy. Taking an active part in the investigation, Ushakov, on the orders of Peter I, creates in the old capital a branch of the new department of political investigation, located at the Poteshny Dvor in Preobrazhensky. Like other participants in the search for this extremely important case for the sovereign, he receives generous royal awards. In 1721 he was promoted to the rank of major general, leaving the Preobrazhensky regiment as a major. Experiencing an obvious inclination to political investigation, Ushakov remains in the Secret Chancellery and works diligently in it until its liquidation (at the same time he is a member of the Admiralty College). The actual head of the Chancellery, P.A. Tolstoy was burdened by the position imposed on him by Peter I and willingly shouldered all the current work on the shoulders of his diligent assistant. Catherine I, who ascended the throne after the death of Peter I, favored the faithful servant of her late husband, was one of the first to honor him with the title of Chevalier of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, newly established by her, and appointed him a senator.

After the abolition of the Secret Chancellery in 1726, Ushakov does not leave his usual path and goes to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz. He becomes the de facto head of this department with his seriously ill official chief I.F. Romodanovsky. Instead, he makes a search, reports the most important cases to the Empress and the Supreme Privy Council. Ushakov did not have a chance to lead the Preobrazhensky order for long. Together with other colleagues in the Secret Chancellery, he was involved by P.A. Tolstoy into intrigue against A.D. Menshikov, in May 1727 he was arrested and charged with the fact that "knowing about the malicious intent, he did not report it." True, unlike others, he got off easy - he was not exiled with the deprivation of all rights and ranks to Solovki or Siberia, but with the rank of lieutenant general he was sent to Revel.

His involvement, albeit indirectly, in an attempt to prevent Peter's accession to the throne made it impossible for Ushakov to have a successful career under the new monarch, but his reign was short-lived, and under Empress Anna Ioannovna his star shone especially brightly.

When in 1730 there was a political ferment among the capital's elite and various groups of the aristocracy and nobility drew up various projects to limit the monarchy, which for a short moment was enshrined in the conditions of the Supreme Privy Council, signed by Anna Ioannovna when she was elected to the kingdom, Ushakov kept himself in the background and he did not shy away from participating only in those projects that called for the restoration of the autocracy in full. When the new empress tore up the conditions she had signed, the loyalty of the former “minister” of the Secret Chancellery was noticed and appreciated. In March 1730 he returned to the rank of senator, in April he was promoted to the rank of general-in-chief, in 1733 - lieutenant colonel of the Semenovsky Life Guards regiment. But the main thing was that real power in the sphere of political investigation was returned to his hands. Having strengthened her position on the throne, Anna Ioannovna hastened to liquidate the Supreme Privy Council, and removed political affairs from the jurisdiction of the Senate and transferred it to the newly created special body, headed by the Ushakov returned to the court - the empress could not find a better candidate for this responsible role. On April 6, 1731, the new department was named the "Office of Secret Investigation Affairs", and in terms of its legal status it was officially equated to the collegia. However, due to the fact that Ushakov received the right of a personal report to the empress, the structure headed by him was outside the influence of the Senate, to which the collegiums were subordinate, and acted under the direct supervision of Anna Ioannovna and her inner circle, primarily the infamous favorite Biron. The empress directed her first blow against those members of the Supreme Privy Council, who almost deprived her of the fullness of autocratic power. V.L. Dolgoruky, exiled to the Solovetsky monastery in 1730, and executed in 1739. In 1731, it was the turn of his relative, Field Marshal V.V. Dolgoruky, accused of a disapproving comment on the new empress in a domestic conversation. The search was conducted by Ushakov, and on the basis of materials fabricated by him to please Anna Ioannovna, the dangerous field marshal was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress for real or imaginary words addressed to the empress, in 1737 he was exiled to Ivangorod, and two years later he was imprisoned in the Solovetsky monastery.

M.M. Golitsyn fell into disgrace immediately upon the accession of Anna Ioannovna, but he was "lucky" to die a natural death in 1730. His brother D.М. Golitsyn, the true "ideologist and organizer" of the conspiracy of the "supreme leaders", was accused of official abuse and brought to trial in 1736. Formally for "abuse", but in fact for an attempt to limit the autocracy, the old prince was sentenced to death, replaced by imprisonment in Shlisselburgskaya fortress, where he soon died.

Princes Dolgoruky Ushakov tried together with other confidants of Anna Ioannovna, among whom was the cabinet minister of the Empress A.P. Volynsky. But in 1740, the head of the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs tortured his recent colleague in the conduct of this process, who tried to put an end to the German dominance at court. Drafts of documents confiscated from Volynsky during a search testified to the intention to limit the autocratic power, and his associates under torture "testified" to the desire of the cabinet minister to usurp the Russian throne - the last accusation, apparently, was suggested to Ushakov by Biron.

Sincerely devoted to his torture craft, Ushakov did his job not for fear, but conscientiously. Even in his free time at the Chancellery, he never for a moment forgot about his duties. Such a reputation was entrenched for the terrible leader of the dungeon that his name alone made everyone tremble, moreover, not only Russian subjects, but also foreign ambassadors who enjoyed diplomatic immunity. “He, Shetardy,” the members of the commission for the expulsion of the French diplomat from Russia reported in 1744, “as soon as he saw General Ushakov, he changed his face.”

Anna Ioannovna died in 1740, having bequeathed the Russian throne to the infant Ioann Antonovich, and she appointed her favorite Biron as regent. In the series of coups d'etat that followed, Ushakov demonstrated miracles of political survival. At first, out of old memory, he supports Biron. But a month later Field Marshal Munnich overthrew the hated temporary worker without much difficulty and proclaimed Anna Leopoldovna, the mother of John Antonovich, Princess of Braunschweig as regent. To give the military coup the appearance of at least some kind of legality, the winner orders Ushakov to obtain the necessary information about Biron's conspiracy. The dungeons of the Chancellery of Secret Investigative Affairs were filled with Kurlanders, the main of whom were the former favorite himself and his cousin, who was attached by his almighty relative to the captains of the Preobrazhensky regiment. They were charged with intent to poison John Antonovich, blame Anna Leopoldovna for his death, and proclaim Biron the Russian emperor. As a result, the case ended with the latter being sentenced to death, replaced by exile in Pelym, and the irrepressible zeal of the members of the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs to present an imaginary conspiracy as large-scale as possible and accuse as many people as possible of participation in it was suppressed by Minich himself, who cursed investigators and told them "to stop the idiot occupation, from which the Russian state is sowing unrest." Nevertheless, the regent awarded A.I. Ushakov with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

The Courland dominance at the Russian court was replaced by the Brunswick dominance, once again creating a breeding ground for discontent. But everything comes to an end: on November 25, 1741, the guards carried out a coup and elevated Elizaveta Petrovna to the throne. The juvenile emperor John Antonovich, together with his parents and who played the main role at the court of Anna Leopoldovna Minich and Osterman, was arrested. When Peter's daughter was not yet in power, Ushakov refused to join the party that supported her, but after a coup in her favor he managed to maintain both his post and an influential position at court. While many prominent members of the former elite have been exiled or deprived of their former positions, the head of the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs falls into the renewed Senate. Shortly before that, at the behest of Minich, Biron, who allegedly wanted to lime John Antonovich, is now investigating a new case - "On the intrigues of the former Field Marshal von Minich on the health of Prince John Antonovich, Duke of Braunschweig", leading along the way and one more - "On the intrigues of the former chancellor Count Osterman ". Both leaders of the previous coup were declared enemies of the Fatherland and in turn sent into exile. Along with the major political figures of the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs, it was necessary to deal with some of the winners, intoxicated by a series of military coups and feeling their permissiveness. Thus, the tipsy 19-year-old sergeant of the Nevsky Regiment A. Yaroslavtsev, "walking with a friend and a lady of easy virtue," did not want to give way to the carriage of Empress Elizabeth herself in the center of St. Petersburg. The aura of grandeur and inviolability of the bearer of supreme power in the eyes of a part of the military was already very blurred, and to the reproaches and admonitions of the retinue, the sergeant replied: “What a great curiosity that we chose the general or the riders. And the Empress herself is the same person as I am, only that she has the advantage that she reigns. "

Biographies of the leaders of the Order of Secret Affairs BASHMAKOV Dementiy Minich (born unknown - after 1700). He headed the Order of Secret Affairs in 1656-1657, 1659-1664 and 1676 He served in a total of 16 orders, going from clerk to the Duma nobleman. First mentioned in

From the book "Hungarian Rhapsody" by the GRU author Popov Evgeny Vladimirovich

Biographies of the leaders of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz ROMODANOVSKY Ivan Fedorovich (late 1670 - 1730). The head of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in 1717-1729 began his career in the detective department of his father in September 1698 during the bloody investigation of the Streletsky revolt. When

From the book Intelligence Sudoplatov. Frontline sabotage work of the NKVD-NKGB in 1941-1945 author Kolpakidi Alexander Ivanovich

Biographies of the leaders of the Secret Expedition under the ruling Senate VYAZEMSKY Alexander Alekseevich (1727-1793). Prosecutor General of the Governing Senate in 1764-1792 The ancient noble family of the Vyazemsky originates from Prince Rostislav-Mikhail Mstislavovich

From the book Bridge of Spies. The real story of James Donovan author Sever Alexander

Biographies of the heads of the Police Department ALEXEEV Boris Kirillovich (1882 – after 1927). Collegiate assessor, officer of the Police Department. Graduated from the Alexander Lyceum. From February 1910 - senior assistant to the clerk of the 2nd office work of the Police Department,

From the book At the origins of Russian counterintelligence. Collection of documents and materials author Batyushin Nikolay Stepanovich

Biographies of the heads of the Special Division of the Police Department BROETSKY Mitrofan Efimovich (1866 - unknown year of death). Acting State Counselor. Graduated from Kiev University. From 1890 he served in the judicial department, assistant prosecutor of the Zhytomyr district court,

From the book Military counterintelligence from "Smersh" to counter-terrorist operations author Bondarenko Alexander Yulievich

Biographies of the heads of the Foreign Agency of the Police Department GARTING Arkady Mikhailovich (1861 - unknown year of death). Active State Councilor (1910). Real name - Gekkelman Aaron Mordukhovich was born in the Pinsk district of the Minsk province in the family of a merchant of the 2nd guild.

From the book Sergey Kruglov [Two Decades in the Leadership of the State Security and Internal Affairs of the USSR] author Bogdanov Yuri Nikolaevich

London's goals in the "secret war" One of the main tasks that British diplomats and intelligence officers had to solve at the beginning of the last century was to force the Russian Empire to stop balancing between two groups: the "Prussian" (Germany and Austria-Hungary) and

From the author's book

In the secret service of Peter the Great The story told above is just one of the episodes of the "secret war" of the era of Peter the Great. In fact, there are many similar stories. Indeed, under this Russian emperor, the organization of political and military intelligence continued

From the author's book

Biographies of the leaders of the Soviet military counterintelligence during the war ABAKUMOV Viktor Semenovich (1908-1954). Minister of State Security of the USSR (1946-1951). Colonel General (1943) Born in Moscow, son of a pharmaceutical factory worker and a laundress. Education: 1920.

From the author's book

In the epicenter of secret diplomacy In order to understand the difficult situation in Turkey during the war years, I decided to find the former Soviet military attaché in Ankara, Major General Nikolai Grigorievich Lyakhterov. We managed to find his phone number. But for several days on

From the author's book

Biographies of the heads of the Fourth Departments of the Regional Directorates of the NKVD-NKGB Viktor Terentyevich ALENTSEV - Head of the 4th Department of the NKVD for the Kursk Region; born in 1904; since April 1939 - Deputy Head of the NKVD for the Kursk Region; since February 1941 - Deputy

From the author's book

Biography of the hero of the "secret war" Heinz Felfe was born on March 18, 1918 in Dresden in the family of a German police officer. He was drafted into the army, took part in hostilities in Poland, but in mid-September 1939 he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. After

From the author's book

Appendix 3 Biographies of the leaders of the military counterintelligence Mikhail Sergeevich KEDROV (1878-1941). Born in Moscow in the family of a notary; of the nobles. He studied at the Demidov Juridical Lyceum (Yaroslavl), graduated from the medical faculty of the University of Bern. In 1897 he was expelled "for

From the author's book

14. Protection of top leaders Since the beginning of 1945, the direction of the official activities of the first deputy people's commissar of internal affairs Kruglov S.N. changed dramatically: by order of the People's Commissar he was entrusted with "organizing the protection of special-purpose facilities"

The successors of Peter the Great announced that there were no more important and large-scale political affairs in the state. By a decree of May 28, 1726, Empress Catherine I liquidated the Secret Chancellery and ordered all its affairs and servants to be transferred to Prince I.F. Romodanovsky (the son of Peter's satrap) to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz by July 1. There the search was carried out. The order became known as the Preobrazhenskaya Chancellery. Of the political affairs of that time, one can name the trials of Tolstoy, Devier and Menshikov himself. But Peter II in 1729 ceased the activity of this body and dismissed Prince Romodanovsky. From the office, the most important cases were transferred to the Supreme Privy Council, the less important ones were sent to the Senate.

The activity of special bodies resumed only under Anna Ioannovna.

On March 24, 1731, the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs was established at the Preobrazhensky General Court. The new intelligence service was functionally designed to detect and investigate political crimes. The Office of Secret Investigation Affairs received the right to investigate political crimes throughout Russia, which was expressed in the order to send to the office persons who declared "the word and deed of the sovereign." All central and local authorities had to unquestioningly comply with the orders of the chief of the Chancellery Ushakov, and for "malfunction" he could fine any official.

When organizing the office of secret search cases, undoubtedly, the experience of its predecessors, and first of all the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, was taken into account. The Office of Secret Investigations was a new, higher stage in the organization of the system of political investigation. It was free from many of the shortcomings inherent in the Preobrazhensky order, and above all from multifunctionality. The Chancellery originated as a branch institution, the staff of which was entirely focused on investigative and judicial activities to combat political crimes.

Like its historical predecessors, the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs had a small staff - 2 secretaries and a little more than 20 clerks. The budget of the department was 3360 rubles per year, with the total budget of the Russian Empire at 6-8 million rubles.

A.I. was appointed head of the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs. Ushakov, who had experience of work in the Preobrazhensky "order" and the Secret Chancellery. He was able to obtain such a high post thanks to his demonstration of exceptional devotion to the Empress Anna Ioannovna.

The new institution reliably stood guard over the interests of the authorities. The means and methods of investigation remained the same - denunciations and torture. Ushakov did not try to play a political role, remembering the sad fate of his former comrades-in-arms Tolstoy, Buturlin, Skornyakov-Pisarev, and remained only a zealous executor of the monarch's will.

Under Elizaveta Petrovna, the Secret Investigation Office remained the supreme body of political investigation of the empire. It was headed by the same Ushakov. In 1746 he was replaced by the actual chamberlain P.I.Shuvalov. He led a secret service, "bringing terror and fear to all of Russia" (according to Catherine II). Torture even under Elizaveta Petrovna remained the main method of inquiry. They even drew up a special instruction "The rite of what the accused is trying". She demanded, "having recorded the torture speeches, to strengthen the judges without leaving the dungeon," which regulated the execution of the inquiry.

All political affairs were still carried out in the capital, but their echoes reached the provinces. In 1742, the former ruler of the country, Duke Biron, with his family was exiled to Yaroslavl. This favorite of Anna Ioannovna actually ruled the country for ten years. The established regime was nicknamed Bironovism. The Duke's opponents were persecuted by servants of the Secret Chancellery (an example is the case of the cabinet secretary of A.P. Volynsky and his supporters). After the death of the empress, Biron became regent of the juvenile king, but was overthrown as a result of a palace coup.