Original taken from oper_1974 Once upon a time there was a Gendarme. (21 photos)

From an article by Vladimir Voronov.

In the spring of 1915 Russian society The execution of a former gendarmerie officer, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Myasoedov, who was accused of spying for the enemy, was alarming.
Lieutenant Colonel Myasoedov was tried at an incredibly accelerated pace on March 18 (31), 1915 in Warsaw by a military court, violating almost all the legal norms of the Russian Empire then in force, without even providing him with a defense lawyer.
What was the court, if the newly appointed judges were still on their way to Warsaw, when Lieutenant General Alexander Turbin, the military governor of Warsaw, had already helpfully asked the chief of staff of the North-Western Front whether to carry out the death sentence immediately or wait for its approval by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (junior).
The front headquarters answered briefly and succinctly: you can hang without waiting for the verdict to be approved by the Commander-in-Chief. But the trial hasn’t even started yet.

Lieutenant Colonel Myasoedov.

Hereditary nobleman Sergei Nikolaevich Myasoedov was born in 1865 in Vilna, into a not very rich landowner family of the former leader of the Smolensk nobility.
He first graduated from perhaps the best of the cadet corps - the First Moscow, then the equally prestigious Moscow Alexander Infantry Military School, after which in 1885, with the rank of second lieutenant, he was enlisted in the 105th Orenburg Infantry Regiment, stationed in his native Vilna.
Where he served until the fall of 1892, when he transferred to the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. The motives for donning a blue uniform are banal: a much higher salary for a much less burdensome service.

Photo of a non-commissioned officer of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes.

From 1894 to 1907, Myasoedov served in the Verzhbolovsky railway gendarme department - as an assistant chief, and then head of the department.
As envious people claimed, in this post Myasoedov received many Russian and foreign orders, which was later even blamed on him.
In addition, the gendarmerie officer received his domestic regalia not only for his length of service, courtesy, beauty of figure and representative manners.
Verzhbolovo (now Lithuanian Virbalis) was one of the most important border points of the Russian Empire on the border with Germany.
Formally, the tasks of the gendarmes included only border police duties - checking documents and inspecting those crossing the border. But no less important, although not advertised, were the tasks of counterintelligence and reconnaissance in adjacent territory.

Non-commissioned officer (average salary) of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (who served as a senior non-commissioned officer in the army) in service uniform on foot.
Private of the Separate Corps of Conscript Gendarmes (St. Petersburg and Moscow Gendarme Divisions) in service uniform on foot.

According to Colonel Walter Nicolai, who led the German military intelligence During the First World War, “the German border population was corrupted by smuggling and money from Russian intelligence. The latter’s organs penetrated with indescribable shamelessness deep into Germany.
The real ruler in the German border strip was the Russian border officer. The head of the border gendarmerie in Verzhbolovo, Lieutenant Colonel Myasoedov, worked especially successfully."
Taking into account the fact that Myasoedov was introduced to both emperors, German - Wilhelm and Russian - Nicholas, who loved to hunt together or separately in those places, the quality of the officer’s connections is difficult to overestimate.
As Colonel Nikolai confirms, Myasoedov was a guest of the German Emperor more than once during the latter’s hunt in the Rominten Forest. As General Spiridovich wrote, Myasoedov was known throughout St. Petersburg, who traveled abroad, and the German emperor more than once invited him to hunt.

General of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes in service uniform on foot.
Staff officer of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes in service uniform on foot.

And the domestic crown bearer presented the gendarme with a gold bracelet with rubies and diamonds, as well as a gold watch. It must be assumed that our gendarme also fully worked out the orders he received through human intelligence in the border zone. Not forgetting, of course, your pocket - this was also quite in the spirit of that time.
And in general, our hero was clearly not indifferent to money, a beautiful life and beautiful women; he spent money on his mistresses easily and naturally. He married, contrary to hints from his superiors, a lady of not quite the “correct” national-state origin (the family of his chosen one, Klara Samuilovna Goldstein, came from Germany), albeit with a rich dowry. Which, however, he quickly blew away.
In 1907, when Myasoedov, as a witness in court in a scandalous case, testified against his colleagues from the Police Department and the Security Department, he was forced to leave the service.
Then he made serious enemies in these departments, not counting the fact that even Prime Minister Stolypin was among his enemies, who ordered to drive the scoundrel into some wilderness. Myasoedov refused to leave “for Mozhai”, wrote a letter of resignation, and went into business.

Chief officer of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes in service uniform on foot.
Sergeant of the Separate Service Corps (who served in the Grenadier Corps) in service uniform on foot.

Somewhat later, according to contemporaries, “Myasoedov became a family friend of General Sukhomlinov and in the fall of 1910 he was again accepted into the Gendarme Corps and placed at the disposal of Sukhomlinov as Minister of War.” That’s where it all started: having found family friendship with the Minister of War for a short time, Myasoedov made countless enemies for himself.
Among them, in addition to former colleagues, were now numerous adjutants of the minister and, most importantly, powerful enemies of Sukhomlinov himself, including Alexander Guchkov, deputy and chairman of the Third State Duma, owner of newspapers and leader of the Octobrist Party.
Guchkov, intriguing against Sukhomlinov, in 1912, through his newspapers, unprovenly accused Myasoedov of espionage and even fought a duel with him.
The official investigation showed that Guchkov “turned out to be a patented slanderer and liar” and our defendant is clean in terms of espionage. However, having defended his good name, Myasoedov was nevertheless forced to resign from service again, switching to free bread.

Guchkov. Duma deputy (1907-1912), member of the State Council of the Russian Empire (1907 and 1915-1917). Military and Naval Minister of the Russian Provisional Government (1917).

Since 1908, the ex-gendarme began to work closely with businessmen, some Freidberg brothers. They created the Russian North-Western Shipping Company joint-stock company in Libau: Myasoedov was listed as director of the board with an annual salary of six thousand rubles. The shipping company was engaged in transporting emigrants to America.
And although it was difficult to call this office particularly prosperous, nevertheless, the retired lieutenant colonel settled down quite well. Of course, businessmen did not need Myasoedov as such, but his connections in the gendarmerie-police environment - a classic example of the now well-known merging of special services with business.
Judging by the directory “All of St. Petersburg for 1914,” Myasoedov lived in a very expensive apartment in the Nikonov apartment building at Kolokolnaya, 11. The directory also lists his telephone number: 6779.
The habitat is very difficult - prestigious and comfortable, favored by the cream of St. Petersburg society. “Strangers” did not go to that area, so everyone who was supposed to do so through their service was checked and tapped more than once and thoroughly through Myasoedov’s intelligence and security service.

Then there was a war. Myasoedov, being a reserve officer, was first drafted into the militia, then they took care of him - he was appointed as a translator at the headquarters of the 10th Army, stationed in the East Prussian town of Johannesburg.
Where he arrived on November 9 (22), 1914. Documents show that Myasoedov performed well as a front-line intelligence officer: he went with reconnaissance groups to the German rear for “tongues.”
As his immediate superior, Major General Arkhipov, reported to the headquarters of the 10th Army, Myasoedov “extremely skillfully obtains valuable information, contributes to the success of military reconnaissance operations, encourages by example under fire, with his fearlessness and courage inspiring his subordinates to take action against a stronger enemy, in As an intelligence officer, he brought significant benefits, demonstrating an amazing ability to extract valuable information from German prisoners."
With his groups, Myasoedov more than once entered into fire contacts with the Germans, showing himself excellently and even extremely courageously. But “Annushka has already spilled the oil” - on December 17 (30), 1914, second lieutenant Yakov Kolakovsky arrived from Sweden to Petrograd, who was captured by the Germans on August 17 (30) of the same year during the fighting in East Prussia...

Colonel Batyushin is one of the organizers of the Myasoedov case.

The second lieutenant, presenting to the competent authorities a German passport and a stack of German marks, told during interrogation that, while in captivity, on November 28 (December 11), 1914, he voluntarily turned to the camp authorities, offering his services as a candidate for the role of a spy or saboteur.
According to him, he did this in order to return to his homeland in this way. On December 3 (16), he was interrogated and recruited by an officer of the German intelligence service, Captain Richard Skopnik, and already on December 11 (24), 1914, he received an assignment and went to Stockholm to infiltrate into Russia through Sweden. The fugitive second lieutenant testified during interrogation that the Germans offered him:
1) blow up a strategic bridge near Warsaw, for which they promised to pay 200 thousand rubles;
2) convince the commandant of the Novogeorgievsk fortress, General Nikolai Bobyr, to surrender the fortress to the Germans for 1 million rubles and, finally,
3) kill the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, for which Kolakovsky was allegedly promised the same million rubles.

At his third interrogation, on December 24 (January 6, 1915), the failed agent said that when a German intelligence officer, Lieutenant Bauermeister, worked with him, he advised “I should contact the retired gendarmerie Colonel Myasoedov in Petrograd, from whom I could learn many valuable information for the Germans."
And a day later, Kolakovsky finally “saw the light”, declaring: “The Germans especially emphasized that the German General base For more than 5 years he has been using the espionage services of the former gendarme colonel and adjutant of the Minister of War Myasoedov.”
At the same time, the Germans, having allegedly given this name to the newly hired agent, did not tell the latter how he could contact Myasoedov: you will find him, they say, in one of the expensive capital restaurants.

A German spy in a woman's dress (second from left), caught by Russian peasants in the front line.

The defector Kolakovsky is one of the most mysterious characters in this drama. Here is what is officially known about him: Yakov Pavlovich Kolakovsky, second lieutenant of the 23rd Nizovsky Infantry Field Marshal General Prince Saltykov Regiment.
Before the war, the regiment was quartered in the town of Ostrow (Ostrow) in the Lomzhin province of the Kingdom of Poland. In the lists of Russian officers imperial army for 1909 and 1910 there is no Yakov Pavlovich Kolakovsky listed.
There is no such thing in the lists of the 23rd Nizovsky Infantry Regiment for 1912. Theoretically, it can be assumed that he received the shoulder straps of a second lieutenant immediately upon graduating from college - in 1912 or 1913, not earlier and not later: there is a mention of his testimony that about the scandalous duel of Myasoedov with Guchkov (held on April 20 / May 3, 1912) he I heard it when I was still in military school.
No other information about this officer, even the most basic, can be found in any other accessible official source: when and where he was born and studied, when he entered the service and what military school he graduated from, when he was released into the regiment and when he was awarded the first officer's rank rank - there is none of this.

Gendarmes.

Our second lieutenant literally jumped out like a jack-in-the-box at the end of 1914 - beginning of 1915, disappearing from sight forever immediately after the completion of the “Myasoedov case”.
They didn’t even deign to call him to trial as a witness “out of great distance,” although literally two weeks before he gave his regular testimony in Warsaw.
According to one version, he was then sent to a reserve unit in Penza, where he remained under the supervision of the competent authorities until the end of the war. According to another version, the second lieutenant was sent to the Turkish front - supposedly to protect him from the revenge of the omnipresent German intelligence. Then our hero allegedly emigrated and died in distant Buenos Aires.

Gendarmes.

There is also more documented information. An interesting reference is to the Highest Order of April 5 (18), 1915 - the second lieutenant was already awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree. As the wording says, “granted for excellent and diligent service and labor incurred during hostilities.”
That is, they were awarded unambiguously for the role of a second lieutenant in the case of “exposing” Myasoedov - there could not have been any other feats on Kolakovsky’s account at that time. The Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree, was one step lower than the Order of St. George and was highly valued among officers, but it was, frankly speaking, rarely awarded to officers in the ranks of second lieutenants and lieutenants.

Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree.

So they paid the second lieutenant in full, and it couldn’t have been otherwise. It was impossible not to reward not only because the highest authority would have instantly realized that the case was fake: if the developers of the case had not submitted the “whistleblower” to the award, they would have signed that the case itself was insignificant and had no special significance.
Again, the presentation of a second lieutenant-provocateur to a high order beyond his rank allowed the real organizers of the case to count on high rewards themselves: how could one fail to note those under whose wise leadership this hero exposed the enemy gang?
One of these beneficiaries is known - Nikolai Nikolaevich’s protégé, Chief of Staff of the North-Western Front, Lieutenant General Gulevich.
Although the general failed all his front-line operations, being the initiator of the “Myasoedov case,” on May 1 (14), 1915, he was awarded two orders of the highest class - St. Vladimir II degree and St. Anna I degree.

General Lieutenant A. A. Gulevich.

Perhaps the main fabricator of the case, Quartermaster General of the Northwestern Front headquarters, Major General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich, then received the Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree.
The understanding General Turbin, who ensured the timely hanging of Myasoedov, did not go without a reward. Another developer, Colonel Nikolai Batyushin, who led counterintelligence at the headquarters of the North-Western Front, was soon promoted to the rank of general.
The direct developer, investigator Vladimir Orlov, was not left out either, although he was more proud of a different relic. According to Mikhail Lemke, author of the diary book “250 days at Tsar’s Headquarters,” “the meat-eater saber came to him after he was hanged, as if for good luck... He wears it.”

General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich.

According to Bonch-Bruevich, to expose Myasoedov they allegedly resorted to a simple trick: “In the car in which Myasoedov was supposed to leave, the driver and his assistant were replaced by two counterintelligence officers dressed in soldier’s uniform.”
Another guard was assigned to Myasoedov as a secretary. And when Myasoedov spent the night in one of the estates, he “was caught at the crime scene.
While the owner of the manor was looking at the secret documents handed over by the colonel, one of the disguised officers as if accidentally entered the room and grabbed Myasoedov by the hands. Having identified himself, the officer announced his arrest to the traitor."
Here Bonch-Bruevich is blatantly lying: Myasoedov was not caught “red-handed” or in any manor - he was arrested on February 18 (March 3), 1915 in Kovno.
No evidence was found to support the charge of espionage, either during the arrest and search, or during the investigation. Even those papers of a secret nature that were confiscated from him - and he had them strictly according to his position, having registered them upon receipt in the prescribed manner.
“As many as three cartloads of papers” were allegedly taken from his Petrograd apartment. The figure was also mentioned as 62 poods, but no secrets were discovered in these poods and carts: no espionage - personal and business correspondence, family papers, etc.

Investigator Orlov (counterintelligence officer).

As Gendarmerie General Globachev dryly stated, “the investigation did not obtain material incriminating Myasoedov in military espionage, and only Kolakovsky’s unfounded statement remained.”
Myasoedov was arrested “without any observation of him, without attempts to find out exactly which way through the front news could quickly be transmitted to the enemy,” Sukhomlinov later wrote indignantly.
Then the order was given to immediately bring him before a field court, quickly and energetically liquidate the case, and carry out the sentence without presenting him for confirmation. That’s what they did.” By the way, all the “accomplices” and “spies” arrested in the Myasoedov case were subsequently acquitted and released.

Gendarmerie General Globachev.

However, what kind of evidence is there - knowledgeable people initially knew that Myasoedov was sentenced to death on the orders of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. As General Spiridovich frankly noted, “those who knew the intrigues of Petrograd understood that the Myasoedovs were bringing down Sukhomlinov, and the Sukhomlinovs were beating the throne.”
In fact, it was a political murder with very specific goals, a murder in which the victim was purposefully chosen - based on her former family closeness to the Minister of War, since it was he who was the main target of the intrigue of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich - and then they came to grips with it.
It was the story of Myasoedov, as Spiridovich, experienced in matters of secret investigation, believed, “in all its development and ramifications, during the war, that was, perhaps, the main factor (after Rasputin) that prepared the atmosphere for the revolution.”

Minister of War Sukhomlinov with staff officials.

, Russo-Persian War 1826-1828, Russo-Turkish War 1828-1829, Polish Uprising of 1830, Crimean War -, Polish Uprising of 1863, Russo-Turkish War 1877-1878, Yihetuan Uprising -, Russo-Japanese War, World War I war -

A group of railway gendarmes with an officer on a bicycle, ca. 1890

Uniform of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. 1911

Story

Since the reign of Emperor Peter I, in both capital cities and some other cities of Russia, to assist the police in monitoring public order and security, from various army And garrison regiments equestrian teams were dressed up, replaced after a certain time by others, and, as circumstances dictated, were canceled altogether.

WITH further development railway transport in Russia in the 1860s, a whole network of railway police was created. “Regulations on Police Departments on the St. Petersburg-Warsaw and Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod Railways” was approved on July 27, 1861. According to this Regulation, the departments were entrusted with the functions of monitoring the exact fulfillment by workers and contractors of their mutual obligations, ensuring the safety of property and order at railway stations, considering complaints from workers, contractors, employees traveling and living on the railways, and controlling passports.

In 1866, railroad police departments became known as " Gendarmerie police departments of railways"(ZhPUZhD). Until 1866, these departments were subordinate to the Minister of Railways, and on December 31, 1866 (January 12), all ZHPUZD were removed from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Railways and, according to the law “On the duties and subordination of gendarmerie police departments of railways,” were completely subordinated to the chief of gendarmes. In January 1867, by order No. 6 of the Corps of Gendarmes, all gendarmerie units and departments on the railways were subordinated to him. The rights and responsibilities of the ZHPUZD were expanded; they had to perform the duties of the general police, using all the rights assigned to it. The area of ​​operation of the ZHPUZD extended to the entire territory allocated for railways, to all buildings and structures located on this strip. They were engaged in “preserving external order, decency” and public safety in the area where the ZhPUZhD operated.

The law of May 19, 1871 established the procedure for the actions of ZHPUZhD officials to investigate “crimes” and “misdemeanors” general, in the area where the ZHPUZD operates. Each department served a section of the road with a length of about 2000 miles, by 1895 their number increased to 21. Until 1906, the ZHPUZD were removed from political activities and did not directly participate in the production of inquiries into state crimes, in political investigation and surveillance. Only in 1906, due to the further growth of the revolutionary movement and the active participation in it of workers and employees on the railways, the government involved the ZhPUZhD in activities aimed at combating revolutionary uprisings. By order of July 28, 1906 No. 145, officials of the ZhPUZhD were entrusted with the responsibility of conducting inquiries into all “criminal acts” of a political nature committed in the railroad right-of-way.

When carrying out inquiries, the heads of the ZhPUZhD were subordinate to the heads of local provincial gendarmerie departments. Secret agent supervision was also created on the railways, which obliged the ZHPUZD to have its own secret agents.

The first provincial gendarmerie departments were created in 1867 for political investigation, conducting inquiries into state crimes within their provinces. With the organization of security departments, the functions of the provincial gendarmerie departments change and they remain mainly responsible for conducting inquiries on political matters.

According to the instructions of 1904, the duties of the provincial gendarmerie departments included monitoring the local population and the direction of political ideas of society, bringing information about riots and abuses to the attention of higher authorities, conducting inquiries in cases of state crimes, conducting investigations in accordance with the Regulations on State Protection, and carrying out secret supervision; surveillance of persons traveling across the border; surveillance of foreign intelligence officers; search and surveillance of persons hiding from the authorities; assisting the general police in restoring disturbed order, escorting prisoners. In those provinces where there were no security departments, they continued to perform their previous duties - investigative activities.

In administrative and military terms, the provincial gendarmerie departments were directly subordinate to the Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, in terms of political investigation - first to the III Department of the S.E.I.V. Chancellery, since 1881 - to the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The positions of assistant heads of departments were established in the counties. Subordinate to the heads of the provincial gendarme departments were serf and port gendarme teams and gendarme border points. In the Russian Empire, there were previously 75 provincial gendarmerie departments.

In 1875, the Corps of Gendarmes was renamed the Separate Corps of Gendarmes.

In 1880, the III Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was abolished, and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes was transferred to the subordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Decree of June 25, 1882, retaining for the Minister of Internal Affairs the title of chief of gendarmes and the role of commander-in-chief over all departments and units of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (with the exception of units located under military districts), the direct management of the corps was entrusted to one of the minister’s comrades, the head of the police, with the name last commander Separate Corps of Gendarmes. This commander, in combat, inspector and military relations, enjoys the rights and authority of the commander of the troops of the military district; for the combat part it operates through the corps headquarters, and for subjects related to the detection and investigation of crimes - through the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Immediately after the February Revolution of 1917, on March 4, 1917, the Provisional Government decided to abolish security departments and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, including the gendarmerie police departments of the railways. On March 7, 1917, after a message from Comrade Minister of Internal Affairs D.M. Shchepkin, acting minister, about the actions of the chief of staff and officials of the Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, the Provisional Government decided to arrest the chief of staff of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, Major General Vladimir Pavlovich Nikolsky and the officials of the said Headquarters , living in house No. 40 on Furshtatskaya Street, and instructed the Minister of Justice to implement this resolution.

On March 19, the Provisional Government decided to publish a decree disbanding the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, including the railway gendarmerie police departments.

According to the published decree, the Separate Corps of Gendarmes was abolished, and its ranks, with the exception of those who, due to age or health reasons, were not subject to conscription, were transferred to the ranks of the troops. The ranks of the gendarme corps, who were not subject to recruitment into the ranks of the troops, were dismissed on a general basis. All archives, files and correspondence of the Main Directorate of the Corps and the Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes were transferred to the jurisdiction of the General Headquarters of the Ministry of War. All archives, files and correspondence of provincial, regional and city gendarme departments, security departments, search centers, gendarme police departments of railways and departments of these departments relating to the combat and economic units, as well as stocks of uniforms and weapons of the lower ranks, were transferred to the corresponding district military commanders . All archives, files and correspondence of a political and general criminal nature of the listed institutions were transferred to the prosecutors of the district courts, and those relating to enemy espionage - to the headquarters of the military districts. The affairs of the gendarme corps institutions located in Finland were transferred to the Main Directorate of the General Staff.

On April 14, 1917, at its meeting, the Provisional Government decided to leave the building of the former Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, located at 40 Furshtatskaya Street, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to house the Public Police Department.

Corps Commanders

• 1882−1887 - Orzhevsky P.V.
• April 1887-1895 - Shebeko N.I. (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• May 1896 - February 1897 - A. A. Frese (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• February 1897 - April 1900 - Panteleev A.I. (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• April 1900 - September 1902 - Prince Svyatopolk-Mirsky P. D. (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• September 1902 - January 1904 - von Wahl V.V. (comrade Minister of the Interior);
• January 1904 - May 1905 - Rydzevsky K.N. (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• May-October 1905 - Trepov D.F. (comrade Minister of Internal Affairs);
• December 1905 - September 1906 - Dedyulin V.A.
• November 1906 - February 1909 - Baron Taube F.F.
• March 1909 - September 1911 - Kurlov P. G. (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• January 1912 - January 1913 - Tolmachev V. A.
• January 1913 - August 1915 - V.F. Dzhunkovsky (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs);
• January 1915 - February 1917 - Count Tatishchev D.N.

Chiefs of Staff of the OKJ

• April 1830 - September 1831 - etc. duty officer of the Corps Dubelt L.V.
• September 1831 - April 1835 - duty officer of the Corps Dubelt L.V.
• April - June 1835 - etc. Chief of Staff of the Corps of Gendarmes Dubelt L.V.
• June 1835 - August 1856 - Chief of Staff of the Corps of Gendarmes Dubelt L.V. (from March 1839 - Chief of Staff of the Corps of Gendarmes and Manager of the III Department of the Own E.I.V. Chancellery)
• August 1856 - August 1861 - Timashev A.E.
• August - December 1861 - Count Shuvalov P.A.
• October 1861 (approved in December 1861) - July 1864 - Potapov A.L.
• July 1864 - May 1871 - Mezentsev N.V.
• December 1871 (approved in April 1872) - March 1882 - Nikiforaki A.N.
• March - July 1882 - Kozlov A. A.
• July 1882 - December 1883 - Kantakouzin M.A.
• January 1884 - February 1893 - Petrov N.I.
• March 1893 - November 1896 - Mezentsev S.N.
• November 1896 - October 1903 - Zuev, Dmitry Petrovich
• January 1905 - October 1907 - Savvich S.S.
• October 1907 - July 1913 - Gershelman D.K.
• August 1913 - March 1917 - Nikolsky V.P.

Structure

Corps of Gendarmes, which has been given the name since Separate Corps of Gendarmes, in 1913 consisted of:

• Main Directorate of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes consisting of: the chief of gendarmes - the Minister of Internal Affairs, the corps commander - a comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the head of the police, and the Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes;
• provincial gendarmerie departments in the provinces of Great Russia, the North-Western Territory and the Caucasus, additional staff located in cities and counties (until 1870 it was called the observation staff of the corps), Gendarmerie Department of Odessa And Shlisselburg Gendarmerie Directorate;
• Siberian gendarme district with district administration, provincial gendarme administrations, additional staff and the gendarmerie administration of Tobolsk, and since 1839 - Omsk (abolished since 1902);
• Warsaw Gendarme District with the district administration, provincial and district gendarmerie administrations;
• railway gendarmerie police departments with departments and “Special Committees” at the gendarmerie police departments of the railways to take emergency security measures and combat the strike movement on the railways;
• city ​​equestrian teams existing in some cities;
• Warsaw, Vladivostok, Vyborg, Bendery, Brest-Litovsk, Dinaburg, Dinaminda, Ivangorod, Kara Kerch, Kyiv, Kovno, Kronstadt, Nikolaevskaya on Amur, Mikhailovskaya, Novogeorgievskaya, Osovetskaya, Ochakovskaya and Sveaborgskaya serf gendarmerie teams;
• Petropavlovskaya in Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Shlisselburg foot gendarme team And
• combat units of the hull: St. Petersburg, Moscow And Warsaw Gendarmerie Divisions.

Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes was executive body chief of gendarmes and commander of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes ( governing body The Separate Corps of Gendarmes was also the Main Directorate of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes) for the organization of political investigation, combat, inspector, military-judicial and economic units. The headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes directly supervised the activities of the gendarmerie police departments of the railways, gendarmerie supervision on waterways, in river and sea ports.

The Headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes had six divisions, their functions were distributed as follows:

• 1st department- personnel, recruitment of units of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (1827-1917);
• 2nd department- establishment of gendarmerie surveillance on railways, management and control over the activities of gendarmerie police departments of railways (until 1893), financial and economic issues (until 1868), organization, staffing and deployment of individual units and departments, border points, inspecting corps units, monitoring the performance of official duties, awarding corps ranks (1827-1917);
• 3rd department- investigation of malfeasance of corps ranks, bringing them to trial, appointment of regimental courts, correspondence on reports of insults to gendarme corps employees in the performance of official duties (until 1867), management and control over the activities of gendarmerie police departments of railways (since 1893) , financial and economic issues (1827-1893);
• 4th department- financial and economic issues (1863-1917);
• 5th department- investigation of malfeasance of employees of the gendarme corps, bringing them to trial, appointment of regimental courts, correspondence on reports of insults to employees of the gendarme corps in the performance of official duties (1896-1917), monitoring the activities of gendarmerie departments for political investigation and investigations (1875- 1917);
• 6th department- monitoring the activities of the gendarmerie departments for political investigation and investigations (1871-1874).

In addition, the Headquarters included the Police Guard Department, which dealt with issues of recruiting police guards, providing and inspecting provincial and district police guards (1906-1917), and there was also a military judicial part of the gendarme corps (1874-1896).

Of the officers in the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (since 1890), only those belonging to the first category by education or who had completed a course at cadet schools in the 1st category were accepted; additional staff, like the gendarmerie police departments of the railways, was staffed from non-commissioned officers of all branches of arms, mainly from those transferred to the reserve and retired; lower ranks were available only in divisions and were appointed on a general basis.

In addition, there were field gendarme squadrons (6 in number; one guards squadron), which had nothing to do with the Corps of Gendarmes and carried out military-police service with the troops, both in peacetime and in wartime.

Responsibilities

Gendarmerie divisions and city equestrian teams (in Odessa) were intended to perform the duties of the executive police (at the call of civil authorities), for example: “to disperse crowds prohibited by law, to pacify riots and restore disturbed order, to maintain order at military parades, fires, fairs , folk festivals, all kinds of public conventions, etc. The responsibilities of other parts of the gendarme corps were: to detect and investigate state crimes; in maintaining external order, decency and public safety in the railway area; in examining passports in some ports and border places of the empire; in the supervision of state criminals held in Shlisselburg and Kari prisons.” The first news that the gendarmerie ranks, as bodies of the III department, carried out investigative cases, is found in the Highest Decree on March 24, 1831, announced by the chief of the gendarmes to the Senate, on the occasion of the slowness of the offices in fulfilling the demands made by the ranks of the gendarme corps.

Authority and Responsibility

With the introduction of the Judicial Charters, prosecution of state crimes was entrusted to the prosecutors of the judicial chambers, while the activities of gendarmerie officials in this area were not at all taken into account by the Charters. Misunderstandings and disputes that arose in practice between two separate departments, which, without prior agreement among themselves, carried out investigations in the same cases, led to the publication of rules on May 19, 1871, which were included (with later additions) in the Charter of Criminal Procedure, edition of 1892 . (Art. 261 1-26113, 4881-4885, 10351-103516). According to these rules, inquiries into state crimes are carried out by officers of the gendarme corps, with the exception of only the case of a crime being committed by military personnel alone, and, moreover, in places of exclusive jurisdiction of military or naval authorities or during the performance of service duties. If malicious intent is detected that does not contain signs of a state crime, the gendarmerie ranks limit itself to reporting it to the local prosecutor's supervision and the general police; but if, before the police arrive, traces of the crime may be destroyed or the suspect may escape, they are obliged to take appropriate measures. In special cases, persons of prosecutorial supervision may, at their discretion, entrust gendarmerie officials with conducting inquiries into general crimes; but the ranks of the Gendarmes may, for good reasons, evade such an assignment. The gendarmerie police departments of the railways, directly subordinate to the chief of staff of the corps Zh. (the costs of maintaining them on private roads are reimbursed to the treasury by the railway companies), in addition to the general duties of the ranks of the corps of gendarmes, in all respects replace the general police in the railway area; the latter can act here only at the invitation of the gendarmerie officials or in their absence. Gendarmerie ranks can only be held accountable for incorrect actions and abuses during the conduct of inquiries by their immediate superiors; the prosecutor's authority can only make reports about this and, if the disciplinary penalty imposed is insufficient, submit it to the Minister of Justice for further agreement with the Minister of Internal Affairs. The difference of opinion between the prosecutor and the superiors of the guilty party on the issue of bringing him to trial is resolved by the Senate (for 1 department).

Gendarmes and Guards of the Russian Empire

– Did you want to draw my attention to something?

– One interesting detail: the dog’s behavior at night.

“But the dog didn’t behave at all at night.”

- That’s what’s interesting

Arthur Conan Doyle

The security structures of the Russian Empire appeared almost simultaneously with its creation in 1721. The most highly professional of them and solving complex political problems were the Gendarmerie Corps and the Security Branches. These two special services of the Russian Empire knew everything that was happening in it, and could foresee, and even more so prevent, any political crime. Salvation order state power Neither the Gendarmerie Corps nor the Security Departments received any damage from the just attacks of political parties. The Russian Empire exploded into 1917, into the chaos and horrific carnage of the revolution and civil war of 1917–1921, followed by the even worse Stalinist era.

The police of the Russian Empire were created in April 1733 in twenty-three provincial and provincial cities, and later throughout the country. The police charter of 1782 strictly regulated private and public life in the state, trying to educate subjects in the spirit of goodwill towards the authorities.

Each Russian city was divided into parts of two hundred to seven hundred courtyards and blocks of fifty to one hundred courtyards. The units were led by private bailiffs, the districts were led by neighborhood supervisors and heads of police departments. The highest police supervisory body was the Deanery Board, created in 1782. At the end of the 19th century, the deanery councils, together with its regional branch, were replaced by the offices of chief police officers and mayors. From 1766 to 1871, the police in Russian cities were headed by chief police officers and police chiefs. The lowest police rank was a city guard, a guard who served in a neighborhood, a small police station.

The head of the Russian district police from 1775 to 1917 was the police officer, elected by the local nobility for three years. He also headed the zemstvo court. Since 1882, the position ceased to be elective; police officers were appointed by governors. The main task of the police officers was the precise fulfillment of their loyal duty by all residents of the county, then the protection of public safety and control over the correct and prompt execution of affairs.

The counties were divided into camps, which were led by bailiffs. District police officers often inspected them, monitoring the execution of particularly important cases. The police officers brought the dissatisfied into obedience, pursued robbers, thieves, and fugitives, and collected taxes. The police officers monitored the serviceability of the roads, monitored the correctness of the buildings being erected, supervised the collection of taxes, foresters and field guards. The law obliged police officers to “educate rural inhabitants about their duties and benefits and encourage them to work hard, pointing out to them the benefits of spreading and improving agriculture, crafts and trade industry, especially preserving good morals and order.”

Usually there are three or four camps in the district, divided into volosts. According to the instructions, the bailiffs had many responsibilities:

“The bailiffs supervised all executive, investigative, judicial-police and economic-administrative matters in their camp. To assist the police officer were police officers, the lower ranks of the district police, and elected sots and tens. The police officer is the local executor of government orders and the direct guardian of public safety, peace and order in the country. He stops all kinds of quarrels, fights, riots and disorder; monitors that there are no prohibited actions and deeds. He reports to his superiors about all emergency incidents, encourages ordinary people to take measures to exterminate harmful insects and predatory animals, reports to management about the prospects for the harvest of bread and herbs, about the final harvest of grain from the fields.”

From the beginning of the 19th century, the police carried out police surveillance over many subjects of the empire - public, temporary, lifelong. Supervised persons did not have the right to change their place of residence. In 1802, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was created in the Russian Empire, which included all police structures.

Since 1812 Russian Emperor governed the state with the help of “His Imperial Majesty’s Own Office,” which consisted of six departments. The most highly professional and effective were the Third Department and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, subordinate to it since 1827, which became the most powerful bodies of political investigation and investigation; since 1880, the Police Department and Security Departments. The activities of the security services depended in everything on the royal will, and in the 19th century during the “ministerial century” of the Russian Empire, it was terrible and stupid and, of course, completely unprofessional.

The Moscow tsars did not like codes and general sets of laws in force throughout the state. They constantly violated the law with their separate decrees. The kings looked at general laws not as norms that should be applied always and everywhere, but as approximate models for their decisions and the execution of their autocratic will. The Muscovite kingdom paid for such a system of governance with the terrifying Troubles of 1606–1613, which miraculously did not destroy the state itself and littered the whole of Russia with corpses. However, this was just the beginning.

The Moscow tsars, naturally, did not have permanent monitoring institutions, and they always relied only on denunciations, anonymous letters, complaints and quarrels of their officials. Descriptions government system and the administration of the Muscovite kingdom of the 16th–17th centuries, made by contemporaries, is terrifying.

Peter I tried to reform the unreformable, raising Russia on its hind legs. He created the Russian Empire, but he could not defeat the bureaucracy: “the governing bodies of the country were occupied by a semi-educated and multi-tribal crowd of officials, arrogant, quick to implement all sorts of schemes, selfish, arrogant in their relations with the population and wasteful, like people who unexpectedly received a large inheritance. Officials appeared on the stage of history who, due to their position and mental and cultural development, were not interested in the development and prosperity of their own state. The country's successes interested them only in terms of benefits, careers, obtaining new positions, salaries, vacancies, awards, and service in the capitals.

By transferring officials to salaries, Peter I sought to make them more dependent on the monarch. Receiving bureaucratic payments for services from the population was declared a crime. However, the difference in salary, salary, and cost of living, especially in the capitals of the state, as well as the temptation of big money from officials conducting business in their own favor, led to the emergence of corruption, a set of unwritten rules of behavior and mutual bureaucratic responsibility. It was the fight against corruption that became one of the main tasks of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes and Security Branches created later.

In Russia at the beginning of the terrible 19th century there were very few social forces left that could be opposed to the bureaucracy. When its interests were affected, all attempts to improve the Russian Empire were doomed to failure. Officials made every effort to bring 1917 closer.

On the instructions of Emperor Alexander I, his Secretary of State M. Speransky tried to bring the management of the country to the ideal. His brilliant reform program was blocked by the bureaucracy. Denunciations and anonymous letters rained down on M. Speransky from all sides, and Alexander I, without checking them, naturally sent the reformer into exile. The hypocrite emperor, as usual, cried when saying goodbye to his secretary of state, and behind his back he talked about putting him to death.

After the death of Alexander I, Nicholas I came to power, having suppressed the Decembrist uprising, declaring: “I will surprise the whole world with mercy.” Naturally, he immediately held a trial of the Decembrists, punishing almost seven hundred noblemen who participated and for some reason another three thousand innocent soldiers, whom they led to Senate Square on December 14, 1825.

His Imperial Majesty's own office began to carry out the imperial will. Its first department carried out the personal orders and instructions of the sovereign, presented to him the papers received in the imperial name and announced the decision of the highest authority on them. The second department, formed in 1826, tried to put Russian legislation in order. Since 1826, the third department was in charge of the police in the state and monitored law and order in government and public life. Officers were to "see that the peace and rights of the citizens may not be disturbed by any one's personal power, or by the predominance of the strong, or by the pernicious direction of ill-intentioned men." Soon, oversight of legality turned into oversight of the political mood of society. The third department replaced the secret offices for political affairs that existed in the 18th century.

The third department, the organ of political investigation and police management, existed from July 3, 1826 to August 6, 1880. For more than fifty years, the Third Department carried out political investigations and monitored society, individual subjects and government agencies. The power of the Third Branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was unlimited. It was created by Nicholas I on the initiative of A.H. Benckendorff, who became its first boss. When the Third Department was formed, it included a special office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a black committee for reading letters, secret agents, foreign intelligence and the gendarmerie.

The third department turned into a body of supreme power, concentrating in its hands almost all branches of government and, in essence, replacing several ministries. Subordinate only to Nicholas I, the third department stood outside common system government institutions, being above them. The ministers had to carry out all his instructions regarding disorder and abuse in their departments. General-governors and governors reported on problems that were within the scope of activity of the Third Department, not to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to which they were subordinate, but directly to the emperor through the head of the Department.

The third department was led by the general manager, who is also the chief of gendarmes, and the manager, who is also the chief of staff of the gendarme corps. The executive bodies of the Third Department were institutions and military units of the gendarmerie.

The Department's apparatus consisted of five expeditions, a general archive, two secret archives, and a printing house. The first secret expedition was in charge of all political affairs - monitoring revolutionary and public organizations and figures. She conducted inquiries into political affairs, compiled for the emperor the yearbook “Reports on Actions” - reviews of public opinion and the political life of the country, and handled cases related to insulting the tsar and the imperial family. The second expedition supervised religious sects, collected information about inventions, counterfeiters, and was in charge of the Peter and Paul and Shlisselburg fortresses - prisons, and state departments. The third expedition monitored foreigners living in Russia and collected information about the political situation, revolutionary parties and organizations of foreign countries. The fourth expedition collected information about the peasant movement and government activities on peasant problems, about all incidents in the country, and about the prospects for the harvest. The fifth expedition was in charge of censorship and monitored the press. If necessary, the Department created special commissions and committees. Its personnel was small - sixteen people in 1826, forty people in 1855. The Third Department and the Corps of Gendarmes were headed by A. Kh. Benkendorf (1826–1844), A. F. Orlov (1844–1856), V. A. Dolgorukov (1856–1866), P. A. Shuvalov (1866–1874), A.L. Potapov (1874–1877), N.V. Mezentsev (1877–1878), A.R. Drenteln (1878–1880).

Officials and subjects quickly got used to fear - it became normal condition empires. The head of the political police, A.H. Benckendorf, reported to the tsar: “Everyone is waiting, if not for a complete transformation, then at least for a correction in the order of government.” His deputy M. Fok added: “Now is the time to begin reforms in the judicial and administrative departments, without, however, acting too decisively. This is expected with the greatest impatience, and everyone repeats it with one voice.”

After reading the reports of the Third Department, Nicholas I returned M. Speransky from exile. Over the course of five years, the reformer submitted to the Tsar “Notes on the organization of the judicial system in Russia”, “Regulations on the procedure for promotion to ranks”, “Project for the establishment of county government”, “Note on the organization of cities”, “Project of an institution for governing the province”. M. Speransky finalized the “Introduction to the Code of State Laws” - the reform of public administration and the social system. Of course, none of the new laws were adopted. Nicholas I ordered M. Speransky: “The goal of your work is not to completely change the existing order of management, but to improve it through some particular changes and additions.”

Officials clashed with reformers. Half-hearted changes in the government of the country were prepared in secret committees. There was no talk of any civil society - the emperor did not trust his subjects after the Decembrist uprising. Top officials, as usual, declared that they knew better than anyone what the country and people needed. As a result, “the mountains gave birth to mice.” The development of laws to improve the lives of their subjects was entrusted to officials who lived at their expense. Deliberately false documents were submitted to the State Council for discussion, distorting the situation in the country. There was a game of reforms going on. Nicholas I strengthened the gendarmerie, but, of course, did not change the system of recruitment and appointment to the civil service.

The first gendarmerie teams were created in 1792 in the Gatchina troops of the future Emperor Paul I as part of the military police that monitored order and mood. In 1815–1817, units of the gendarmerie were formed in the army, as well as as part of the garrison service in all major cities of the empire. From this period, along with military functions, the gendarmerie began to perform the tasks of political police.

In 1826, when creating the Third Department, Nicholas I subordinated all gendarmerie units to it. In 1827, the gendarmerie was reorganized. All its services were consolidated into the Corps of Gendarmes with the rights of the army. The Corps became the executive body of the Third Department, and its chief became the chief of the Corps. The entire Russian Empire was divided into six districts, headed by gendarmerie generals, who had senior officers subordinate to them in charge of individual provinces. Later, in 1867, provincial gendarmerie departments began to be created. Gendarme divisions were organized - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw.

The manager of the Third Section, along with several of the most responsible employees, directly contacted the secret agents. They received numerous denunciations, reports, and complaints. Gendarmerie departments commanded the provinces. The gendarmes observed and reported to the tsar about free-thinking words, actions, conspiracies, peasant riots, fires, floods, and conducted investigations into political affairs.

The reforms of 1861 legislated for a radical social reorganization of Russia, involving all layers of society in the historical process. Within a short period of time, the situation of tens of millions of people across a vast territory and with many regional, national and cultural characteristics changed. The shameful serfdom was abolished, and nine years later the townspeople received the right to elect public deputies to the city duma, who elected the mayor and members of the city government. Justices of the peace appeared in the empire, in 1864 the “Regulations on provincial and zemstvo institutions” were adopted, and twenty-five-year military service was abolished - now they served for six years. The education system was liberalized - now not only the children of nobles could study.

Contemporaries called the reforms great. With this controversial statement, they did not give land to the peasants or political rights to their subjects. The “Great Reforms” marked the beginning of the end of the Russian Empire.

The nobles - landowners, who remained the owners of the land, raised its value several times and most peasants, naturally, were unable to buy it from the owner. Landless peasants went to the cities and became the lumpen proletariat. The reforms led to unprecedented freedom for individuals who wanted equality and participation in public life. Educated youth saw and understood how desperately poorly the titled scoundrels and their semi-literate slaves governed the country. The power and opportunities for the successful development of the state, laid down by Peter and Catherine the Great, quickly dried up.

Instead of granting political freedoms and allowing non-official educated young professionals to govern the state, the authorities went back to the past and radical movements appeared in the already formed revolutionary environment. Deep fermentation began in the country. Nihilists and Narodnaya Volya went to the people, and the idea arose to achieve their goal through terror. Russia was almost breaking into a period of severe Troubles.

The revolutionary party "People's Will", which had less than five hundred members throughout the entire multi-million-strong Russia, managed to create the appearance of a mysterious, crowded organization. There were already many people in society who wanted to continue the reforms, but rejected terror. The highest dignitaries of the empire were unable and unwilling to separate the small terrorist party from the entire opposition environment. The authorities attacked the entire civil society with persecution. Anyone who seemed suspicious and unreliable was subject to surveillance and persecution on command from above. This, naturally, did not help, but only revolutionized society. The liberated peasant A. Zhelyabov with “Narodnaya Volya” organized a hunt for Tsar Alexander II.

The authorities finally created a commission headed by Foreign Minister M. Loris-Melikov, which managed to calm society by ceasing to persecute the usual oppositionists - liberals. Representatives of zemstvos from all over Russia were to join the State Council. Documents were being prepared to discuss the first Russian constitution. At this moment, the tsar's inner circle managed to unknowingly or deliberately abolish the political police of the empire - the Third Section. Zhelyabovtsy immediately blew up Alexander II.

The new Emperor Alexander III locked himself in the Gatchina Palace near St. Petersburg. Loris-Melikov was fired, the reforms were curtailed. All contemporaries, like the royal family, believed Alexandra III the person who government activity was frankly beyond my means. For some reason, the “owners of the Russian land” during the ministerial century did not consider the Voice of the people to be the voice of God. Alexander III dismissed his father’s entire government, defeated the few Narodnaya Volya members, canceled all the prepared reforms and declared that he would protect the autocracy without cooperation with society.

The reason for the liquidation of the Third Department in August 1880 was the explosion of the Winter Palace dining room, carried out by Narodnaya Volya member S. Khalturin. The third department was liquidated, and its functions were transferred to the Police Department created within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which included the executive police department and the judicial department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire from August 1880 to February 1917 was the central body of political investigation and supervision and management of the police. Its main part was the Special, later Political Department.

The Police Department inherited the affairs of the Third Division. His main task was to prevent and suppress state crimes and protect public safety and order. The Police Department was under the jurisdiction of police institutions, the gendarmerie, all of whose officers began to receive double salary, detective departments, address desks, and fire brigades. At first, from the beginning of its creation, the Department was headed by very smart and highly professional leaders. They began to create Security Departments.

Since 1882, the general management of the Police Department and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes has been carried out by the deputy, comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs. The department consisted of a Special Department, nine office work, and other structural divisions.

The first administrative office was in charge of general police affairs and police personnel. The second legislative office was in charge of drawing up police instructions, bills, and circulars. The third secret office was in charge of all matters of political investigation, supervision of political parties and organizations, the fight against them, with mass movements, management of all internal public and secret and foreign agents, the protection of the tsar, the release of funds for agents. The third office provided certificates of political reliability, opinions on the charters of various societies.

On January 1, 1898, the most important cases of the Third Office were transferred to the Special Department. He began to be in charge of domestic and foreign agents, to conduct secret surveillance of the correspondence of his subjects, senior dignitaries of the state, members of the imperial family suspected of unwanted connections. A special department monitored the political mood of all layers of Russian society, the activities of political parties and other organizations, registered works of the illegal press, and was in charge of political investigations. The special department had seven sections: general and correspondence, for the affairs of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, for the affairs of the Bolshevik and Menshevik parties, for the bourgeois organizations of the national outskirts of Russia, for the analysis of codes, investigative, for certificates of political reliability.

The fourth office of the Police Department monitored the progress of political inquiries in the provincial gendarmerie departments, supervised the workers' and peasants' movement, and the legal structures of self-government. The fifth office was in charge of public and secret supervision. The sixth office monitored the production, storage and transportation of explosives, factory legislation and its implementation, and the issuance of certificates of political reliability to persons entering the state and zemstvo service. The seventh casework duplicated the Fourth. The eighth office was in charge of the criminal investigation and detective department. The ninth office was engaged in counterintelligence and supervision of prisoners of war. The police department had public and secret agents, a special fund not subject to state control.

Gendarmerie provincial departments in all cities of the empire conducted political investigations, made arrests, and conducted investigations into state and political affairs. The gendarmes fought against the mass peasant and labor movement, searched for revolutionary organizations, escorted especially dangerous criminals, and reported to the Tsar about the mood in society. One hundred and fifty gendarme teams operated in Russia, gendarme regiments in the army, and a life guard gendarme half-squadron.

Security departments operated successfully in twenty-seven cities of the Russian Empire, arousing hatred among revolutionaries. The most powerful were St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev and Warsaw. The security departments were in charge of the search, the gendarmerie departments were conducting the investigation. Security departments conducted political investigation of revolutionaries, gendarmerie departments carried out arrests and investigations based on materials collected by Security departments.

In 1881, Emperor Alexander III signed the “Regulations on Emergency Protection,” which allowed the authorities to declare a state of emergency at any time and anywhere in the Russian Empire. The famous thief and embezzler, Prince V. Meshchersky, wrote in the newspaper “Citizen”, published with the money of the monarch: “Stop the flogging, power will disappear. Just as a Russian man needs salt, just as a peasant needs black bread, so he needs rods. And if a person is lost without salt, so will the people be lost without rods.”

All the highest government posts in Russia were occupied by members of the imperial family and their associates. Corruption in the state has become the norm - who will touch the relatives or associates of the emperor? The revolutionary underground in its newspapers regularly and in detail informed its subjects about the illustrious bribe-takers. The authorities did not punish anyone.

On October 17, 1888, a royal train crashed near Borki station near Kharkov. The emperor and his family miraculously survived, but twenty people died. Rumors that this was an attempt by Narodnaya Volya members were denied by the famous lawyer A.F., who conducted the investigation. Horses. During the construction and operation of the railroad, government contractors stole everything they could and couldn't. Construction standards were not observed, there was a constant theft of materials, instead of sand, the embankment for the rails was made of unsuitable slag, sleepers were laid from rotten wood.

To the question of Alexander III about the causes of the tragedy A.F. Koni replied: “The bureaucratic structure of our government, which is very far from real life, is to blame.” On the document announcing two reprimands for crimes against the imperial family, Alexander III wrote: “How? A reprimand and nothing more? And it's all? So be it!" No one remembered the twenty who died in the disaster. It is surprising that the October Revolution occurred only in 1917. Alexander III himself died six years later from the consequences of this train accident.

Alexander III restored the principle of the superiority of the nobility over the people - “Constitution? For the Russian Tsar to swear allegiance to some brutes?” The emperor strengthened censorship, prohibited non-nobles from receiving education, resumed control over legal proceedings, transformed zemstvos that had lost their independence, and intensified Russification on the outskirts of the empire. Alexander III turned on the fuse, and a huge bomb blew up the entire reigning dynasty along with the Russian dynasty. The revolutionaries immediately called Russia a “prison of nations.” The counter-reforms of the authorities sent the entire intelligentsia of the empire into opposition, who were overcome by disbelief in the presence of common sense in the autocracy. The Russian Empire was flying at full speed into the catastrophic year 1917.

At the end of the 19th century, Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Government S. Witte tried to save the unsalvageable. His reforms, as usual accompanied by counter-reforms, nevertheless helped Russia turn into an industrial power. The rapidly growing Russian economy has created a new, wealthy class of industrialists and bankers. Cities grew with electricity, telephones, and cars. Achievements scientific and technological progress served by engineers, mechanics, technicians, and skilled workers. There were already a lot of them and they did not want to live in the old way. The new Russians looked to the West, where real power in the state belonged to the entire people, bankers, entrepreneurs, and industrialists. Instead of making this class its ally, the degenerating royal power, as usual, turned it into its enemy.

All methods of combating the impending revolution were well known to the Security Departments. Their ideologist was the head of the Moscow security department and the head of the Special Department of the Police Department, Colonel S. Zubatov. It was he who created a wide network of dozens of security departments throughout Russia. S. Zubatov hired only masters of his craft, used new equipment and new methods of detective work. The security operated with the help of special agents - surveillance spies and secret agents “in the surveyed environment.”

The spies kept an eye on their clients and reported daily in writing about the actions of those under surveillance, who had pseudonyms. If a revolutionary client was very dangerous, he would be followed by several spies. The reports of the spies had to be very accurate, and the loss of the client must be reported. Notebooks of external surveillance of G. Rasputin, which caused enormous harm to the Romanov dynasty, have been preserved, naturally with the consent of the dynasty itself. The detectives assigned the pseudonym “Dark” to the high-profile adventurer. The nickname always consisted of one word, by which it was possible to immediately determine the impression that the client makes on others, his appearance and even character:

“At seven o’clock in the evening, Dark arrived in car No. 1592 to Count Sheremetev’s house No. 4 on Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane, entrance No. 2, with two unknown people and an unknown woman. The dark one was drunk, the unknown people were also noticeably drunk. The first three went to the mentioned entrance, and the unknown woman drove away in a car without observation. Fifteen minutes later the car returned, and fifty minutes later one of the unknown people got out and drove away without supervision. At nine o'clock in the evening they took Dark out of the entrance, completely drunk, put him in a cab and drove along Nikitskaya, Mokhovaya, Volkhonka, to the Prechistinsky Gate, from where they took the boulevards to the Nikitsky Gate and home, house No. 4. They never saw his exit again. At eleven thirty minutes in the evening a second unknown person came out, completely drunk.”

In the capital's St. Petersburg security department, there were about a hundred spies who had pocket albums with photographs of famous revolutionaries. In the department's registry there were thousands of cards with photographs and signs of all the characters of the revolutionary parties, arranged in alphabetical order. Filers were accepted for service with great selection. The instructions of the Police Department to the heads of the external surveillance service of Security departments have reached our time:

“A police officer must be politically, morally reliable, firm in his convictions, honest, sober, courageous, dexterous, developed, quick-witted, enduring, patient, persistent, frank, but not a talker, disciplined, self-possessed, accommodating, serious and conscientious about the matter. and the responsibilities assumed, good health, especially strong legs, with good eyesight, hearing and memory, such an appearance that would give him the opportunity to not stand out from the crowd and would eliminate the memory of those being observed.

Persons of Polish and Jewish nationality cannot be agents. The need for an unconditionally truthful attitude to the service in general, and to the information given in particular, must be explained to the officers. The harm of their concealment, exaggeration and generally false testimony must be explained to them, and the agents must be pointed out that only the totality of unconditionally accurately transmitted information leads to the success of observation, while distortion of the truth in reports and the desire to hide failures in work lead to a false trail and deprive filler of the opportunity to distinguish himself.

It is necessary to hire filers with great caution. Excessive tenderness towards the family or weakness towards women are incompatible qualities with the secret service. They need to know the passageways, taverns, pubs, gardens, squares with their exits, the departure and arrival of trains, tram routes, parking places for cab drivers, their taxis, educational and other institutions, class times, factories and factories, start and end times of work, uniforms for officials and students.

The officer must dress in accordance with the conditions of service; usually the way middle-income residents in a given area dress, without standing out with their suit and shoes. If a meeting between the person being observed and agents is inevitable, then under no circumstances should you make eye contact, since eyes are the easiest to remember.

In addition to the most important ones being observed on foot, mounted observation is assigned through a spy disguised as a cab driver. The appearance of a cab driver outside their usual parking place draws the attention of the janitors and watchmen, who usually drive them so that the horses do not spoil. The filer should always be ready for answers and quickly grasp the type of janitor. Judging by the type of janitor, the driver tells one that he is waiting for a doctor who has come to see a sick person, tells another in confidence that he is waiting for a gentleman who is staying with someone else’s wife, and offers a drink to a third. The public responds “busy.”

Surveillance of places where there is supposed to be a bomb laboratory, a weapons depot, or a printing house is carried out with extreme caution. In such cases, foot observation often leads to failure and it is necessary to observe from an apartment rented opposite and set up mounted surveillance.”

The Security considered information from secret employees to be the most important sources of information. They were divided into several groups, with to varying degrees usefulness:

Gendarmes of all members, ready to inform, report;

Bailiffs, police officers, stationed at police stations at the disposal of the Security Service;

Officials of Security Departments;

Directly secret employees, who were divided into several groups: members of party organizations, heads of printing houses, publishers; provocateurs, instigators of revolutionary actions, simultaneously reporting everything to the Security; persons who did not belong to revolutionary parties, but gave the Security interesting information about a certain area - owners, clerks of small shops and workshops, teahouse keepers, rural clerks.

The leading officers of the Security were called police intellectuals. These experts on the revolutionary movement each had up to twenty secret employees. Only the officer-curator knew them by sight, and they knew only him alone, meeting in the safe houses of the Security.

The Corps of Gendarmes had collections of all the bombs used by the revolutionaries, textbooks and instructions on conducting searches in laboratories and handling explosive materials - the revolutionaries often left decoy bombs for the gendarmes. The registration of cases and persons in the Guard was ideal. Anyone suspected of political or revolutionary activity was placed on a special registration card, of which there were more than a million. Socialist-Revolutionaries were listed on red cards, Social Democrats on blue cards, anarchists on green cards, students on yellow cards, and leaders of various social groups and movements on white cards.

The most valuable secret employees were considered to be people who infiltrated the party under the guise of revolutionaries, with the predetermined goal of covering the situation from within the party itself. The security never spared effort to introduce its agents into political parties, who never knew about each other, and almost always achieved success thanks to their excellent knowledge of human character. Arrests took place, with rare exceptions, when everything was already known about the underground group and its connections had been established. Agents provocateurs operated in the underground, in revolutionary parties, organized and failed assassination attempts on government officials, directed revolutionaries and their sympathizers along the wrong path, distorted the meaning of the revolutionary movement, and undermined its strength.

The head of the Moscow security department, S. Zubatov, decided to legalize the labor movement, bring it into line with the law, leaving the revolutionaries without their main striking force. The revolution was about to be rendered harmless for the tsarist system. Economic concessions and improved material conditions quickly alienated the proletariat from the socialist movement. Colonel Zubatov suggested that the revolutionaries come out of the ever-dangerous underground and begin an open and legal struggle for the prosperity of Russia. The number of his supporters quickly increased. On the day of the abolition of serfdom, sixty thousand workers took part in a demonstration in St. Petersburg, laying wreaths at the monument to Alexander II.

The revolutionaries realized the danger that S. Zubatov’s activities posed and compromised him with the government, somehow informing him that the colonel was bringing the revolution closer. The authorities were afraid of Zubatov's growing influence, arrested and exiled the last hope of the empire. Everything as usual.

The next attempt to save the empire and dynasty at the beginning of the 20th century was made by P. Stolypin, the head of government under the “person of the emperor.” In a country shaken by the revolutionary events of 1905–1097, Stolypin spoke before the finally created State Duma: “Our Fatherland must turn into a rule of law state. Until the written law defines the responsibilities and protects the rights of individual Russian subjects, these rights and responsibilities will depend on the interpretation and will of individuals.” Many subjects of the empire already wanted to live in a legal state.

The key problem in Russia was land, and P. Stolypin found ways to solve it.

The peasants had communal ownership of the land they owned. The centuries-old way of life protected the peasant from crop failures, drought, natural disasters, and envious neighbors with the help of mutual responsibility and mutual assistance. The community half-supported the family of a deceased or deceased peasant, paid arrears, and helped build peasant houses. Everyone was equal in the community; you could work well, poorly, or not work at all. It was almost impossible to get rich by working. Everyone was given equal amounts of good and bad land. The striping was monstrous - one peasant plot could be located in dozens of places. The plots changed every few years. For three years the peasant fertilized and tended the land, and then received the terrible allotment of a lazy and idle man. The cultivated meadows were replaced by swamps.

On November 9, 1906, P. Stolypin signed a decree from the tsar, which finally gave peasants the right to leave the community and receive a plot of land as private property. They were obliged to give their personal allotment in one piece - a cut. Now peasants could build their own farms. Stolypin declared in the Duma: “I place my bets not on the wretched and drunk, but on the strong and strong.”

About two million families managed to leave the peasant communities. The majority of peasants who remained in the community were hostile to those who left it. On average, for paperwork for exit, the trublnik gave a bribe in the amount of a barrel of vodka. New farms were often burned down and livestock were mutilated. The peasants - Otrubniks - went beyond the Urals, to Siberia, to empty lands. Many joined revolutionary organizations.

The Stolypin government immediately provided benefits to those leaving - they forgave arrears, were exempt from taxes for five years, and provided an interest-free loan. A Resettlement Administration was created to help people on the long journey. Several million peasants managed to leave for the Urals. After a trip to Siberia, Stolypin wrote in delight that in a few years it would become the main supplier of grain in the world.

During the agrarian reform, twenty percent of peasant farms left peasant communities. There were many more people wanting to leave. The peasants themselves called the Land Management Department that helped them the Land Management Department. According to fake reports, officials received big money, benefits, and loans for fake settlers. For reports, they simulated the “construction” of fake villages. During inspections, officials pay neighboring peasants for a few days to pretend a happy life beyond the Urals for pennies. The fake new peasants successfully traveled across the vast Siberia ahead of the inspectors, who, however, knew everything well. Officials told the real settlers that Stolypin did not give them money. The gendarmes and the Security reported everything that was happening to Stolypin, who brought reports to the emperor, which he did not read. According to custom, no one was punished. The army of Russian revolutionaries grew rapidly.

When arresting underground members, the Guard liquidated not only the most active and dangerous revolutionaries, but also gave way to its secret employees, removing from their path to the top of the party leadership those revolutionaries who were higher in position in the party.

The Special Security Service monitored all the latest inventions, monitored the filing of patents in all countries of the world, fearing that revolutionaries might use new weapons and explosives against the Russian government before the gendarmes came up with protection against them. Security controlled air traffic, fearing terrorist attacks. The Security Instructions on undercover activities seemed to cover everything:

General instructions

The main and only indication of political investigation is internal, top secret and permanent agents, and its task is to examine criminal revolutionary communities and incriminate them in order to bring their members to justice. All other means and forces of the investigative agency are only auxiliary, which include:

1. Gendarmerie non-commissioned officers and police supervisors in the investigative agencies, who, as officials, carry out clarifications and inquiries, but secretly, “under a plausible pretext.”

2. External surveillance agents, spies who, conducting external surveillance, develop information from internal agents and check them.

3. Random applicants, factory owners, engineers, officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, factory inspection, others.

4. Anonymous denunciations and popular rumor.

5. Material obtained during searches, distributed proclamations, revolutionary and opposition press.

It should always be borne in mind that one, even a weak, secret officer located in the environment under investigation will provide disproportionately more material for the detection of a state crime than a society in which the heads of the search may officially move. What society gives will always become the property of the investigative agency through the governor, the prosecutor's office, police officials and others with whom the heads of the investigation are constantly in contact. Therefore, no one and nothing can replace a secret employee in a revolutionary environment.

Acquisition of internal agents

Among the arrested, you can acquire employees by assigning your own to the arrested person. the right person, who, having gained trust, can subsequently persuade a person held in the same cell with him to openly testify. This method yielded great results when their own people joined serious criminals. The conversation should be conducted in the form of a serious conversation, always face to face. It is not recommended to resort to intimidation.

Practice has shown that a person can be persuaded to work as a secret employee on the following grounds:

Interested in full rehabilitation, in the presence of incriminating material obtained through searches or undercover materials;

Impact of beliefs;

Take advantage of discord in the party and quarrels between individual party officials;

Financial interest.

When inducing people to work together, one should not promise more than what can be fulfilled. From the very beginning, complete trust should be achieved, which is a major guarantee of successful work.

Most suitable for agenting;

already involved or suspected in political cases;

lonely people in difficult financial conditions;

those arrested with evidence;

destined for deportation.

Until a person is finally inclined to work, in no case should he be introduced to the methods available to the investigative agency to prevent the failure of internal agents. Experience has shown that police officials and prison governors are often willing to cooperate in a secret search if the cases obtained through their assistance are attributed to them and subsequently flattering representations are made to their superiors. In the matter of political investigation and acquisition of internal agents, only one reward system gives the best results.

Introduction of internal agents

When starting to work with an employee, it should be instilled in him for consistent performance that:

neither the police nor anyone except the leading agent should know that he is working on a political investigation;

Under no circumstances can a sext come to the institution in charge of the search, which always entails the failure of the employee, since these institutions are under the supervision of revolutionaries;

when giving information, the employee must accurately indicate its source;

The employee must bring the literature he receives to meetings, as well as all party letters, seals, and documents that are in his custody in trust of the revolutionaries; the last items, when used, must be immediately returned to the employee and so quickly that their return does not affect his reputation in the party;

the employee is certainly prohibited from: changing clothes, putting on makeup, following, questioning, treating his comrades, improving his living situation with money received from the investigative agency, down to the smallest detail;

an employee who is in a revolutionary environment to prosecute it according to the law cannot himself commit crimes and incite with him;

any untruth and provocation, even to a weak degree, will entail the termination of the search work and, in addition, the employee can answer according to the law;

the employee does not have the right to take for storage prohibited items - bombs, weapons, literature - without the knowledge of the person in charge of the search.

To maintain secrecy, no small details should be neglected, since absent-mindedness and negligence very often led to very serious failures. When explaining secret techniques to a sex worker, you should never introduce him to the organization of the investigative agency, its personnel, always keeping in mind that the relationship with the employee is always only temporary.”

The Security itself believed that a secret employee could work effectively for more than three years.

THE DEATH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

author Monusova Ekaterina

“Province of the Russian Empire” Those who like to listen to news or today’s chronicles of events are probably very familiar with the name “Sklifosovsky Institute”. Muscovites who find themselves in serious trouble often end up in his hospital wards. How many people know

author Sever Alexander

Migration throughout the Russian Empire Since the mid-fifties of the 19th century, the resettlement of Jews outside the Pale of Settlement began. The first were allowed to choose a place of residence for merchants of the 1st guild along with their families in 1859. 108 families took advantage of this offer.

From the book Interrogations of the Elders of Zion [Myths and personalities of the world revolution] author Sever Alexander

Pogroms in the Russian Empire Among certain circles, there is a strong opinion that the government of the Russian Empire did everything to not only provoke Jewish pogroms, but also to encourage their participants. But the facts indicate the opposite process.

From the book Military Cunning author Lobov Vladimir Nikolaevich

In the wars of the Russian Empire, the wars of the period under review are characterized by a significant increase in the scale of military operations, first of massive and then of multi-million-strong armies. For Russia and its armed forces, these were Narva and Poltava, the victories of P. A. Rumyantsev, A. V. Suvorov

From the book Executioners and Executions in the History of Russia and the USSR (with illustrations) author

Executions in the Russian Empire In Russia, the death penalty as a punishment is mentioned in a number of ancient monuments, for example in the Brief Russian Truth (XI century). The chronicles contain references to the execution of robbers on the orders of Vladimir Monomakh. In 1069, Izyaslav executed 70 people

From the book Executioners and Executions in the History of Russia and the USSR author Ignatov Vladimir Dmitrievich

From the book Auxiliary Historical Disciplines author Leontyeva Galina Aleksandrovna

Seals of the Russian Empire State Seals. Images on state seal during this period they do not essentially change. The main figures remain the double-headed eagle and the horseman slaying the serpent with a spear. All changes have a private, unprincipled

From the book History of Ukraine from ancient times to the present day author Semenenko Valery Ivanovich

Under the rule of the Russian Empire By the middle of the 19th century, nine Ukrainian provinces were part of the Little Russian, Kyiv, Novorossiysk-Bessarabian general governorates of Russia. Over the century, their population tripled - from 7.7 to 23.4 million people, including

From the book Russian Entrepreneurs and Philanthropists author Gavlin Mikhail Lvovich

Barons of the Russian Empire Three sons of Grigory Dmitrievich - Alexander Grigorievich, Nikolai Grigorievich and Sergei Grigorievich on March 6, 1722 were elevated by Peter the Great to the noble baronial dignity of the Russian Empire "as a reward for help and labor, and for merits

From the book Behind the Scenes of History author Sokolsky Yuri Mironovich

Gold of the Russian Empire Russia's gold reserves were kept for many years in the capital, in the safes of the Ministry of Finance. After the Germans captured Riga in 1917 and there was a threat of their attack directly on Petrograd, the Provisional Government relocated the gold

From the book Wonders of the World author Pakalina Elena Nikolaevna

Monuments of the Russian Empire St. Isaac's Cathedral St. Isaac's Cathedral - one of the largest churches in St. Petersburg - has long been the main cathedral of the city. During its history, it experienced three births. At the beginning of the 18th century. a small wooden church was erected,

Structure of the police apparatus Tsarist Russia was complex and branched. It was headed by the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The highest commanding officer of this department was the comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the head of the police; The director of the department reported to him. All types of police were subject to the department: external, detective (criminal), river, horse, zemstvo (rural). The exception was the political and palace police.

Political police (secret police) was under the jurisdiction of the III Department of “His Majesty’s Own Chancellery”. The functions of the political police were carried out by the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, which was subordinate to the chief of gendarmes, who was also a comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs. This position was often occupied by a guards general who was also the tsar's adjutant general, which provided him with direct access to the tsar. It should be emphasized that the head of the gendarmerie was not a professional gendarme, but a person close to the tsar. This has been the case since the time of Nicholas I, the organizer of the gendarmerie, who put his favorite, Count Benckendorff, at its head.

D palace police, whose function was the external protection of the palaces, the king and the grand dukes, was under the authority of the minister of the imperial court.

The police department's personnel consisted primarily of civilian officials who wore uniforms assigned to the Ministry of the Interior. A small number of external police officers usually worked in the department's apparatus. Middle and senior ranks of the police could have military and civilian ranks, depending on how they entered the police service - from the army or from civil service. Both of them wore uniforms assigned to the external police, with the only difference being that those with a military rank wore military-style shoulder straps, an oval officer's cockade and a silver woven officer's sash, and those with civilian ranks wore narrow official shoulder straps with official stars, a civilian round cockade and a fabric sash.

If the police department united all police services throughout the empire, then on a city scale this was carried out by the police department of a given city. It was headed by the mayor. In St. Petersburg and Moscow, this post was occupied by guards generals.

Sotsky, Saratov province

Police uniforms

The mayor wore the uniform of the regiment in which he was assigned, or the uniform of a general in the royal retinue.

The immediate head of the provincial police was the chief of police. Police chiefs were listed by police, and not by regiment, and wore a police uniform, usually had the rank of colonel to major general, and if they were officials, then state and actual state councilor.

The police chief, if he was a major general or an actual state councilor, wore a round astrakhan cap like a kubanka, white with a red bottom, and if he was a colonel or state councilor, then black with a green bottom, a silver double-headed eagle was mounted on the cap, above it was an officer's or official's badge. The caps are dark green, with red edging (two on the band, one on the crown), the visor is black lacquered. There was no strap on the police caps.

Outerwear was a light gray overcoat of the same cut as an army one.
Police officers with the rank of major general and above wore a general's overcoat with red piping on the side, collar, cuffs, strap and with the same red lapels made of cloth. In winter, the overcoat could be lined with a quilted warm lining; for officers - gray, for generals - red. A black astrakhan collar was required for a warm overcoat, but there could be warm overcoats without fur collars.
Police officers in the ranks of generals sometimes wore overcoats with capes and beaver collars (similar to the military “Nikolaev” overcoats).

The everyday uniform of police officers and generals was a dark green frock coat of the general army type with a collar of the same color and red piping along the side, collar, cuffs and rear flaps - “leaves”. The frock coat had a standing starched collar and round cuffs. An even more common uniform was a general-army uniform with straight cuffs, like those of the infantry. There were red piping along the side of the jacket, cuffs and pocket flaps.

Police officers wore trousers of three styles: trousers and trousers - with boots or trousers untucked - with boots. The tunic and frock coat could be worn at your choice - with boots or with boots, and the ceremonial uniform only with trousers and boots. Boots were always worn with spurs, but boots were not always worn.

The ceremonial uniform of police officers and generals remained unchanged from the time of Alexander III until 1917. And the cut of the army dress uniform, which was simultaneously introduced and similar to it, changed after the Japanese War of 1904 - 1905. The police uniform began to look like an anachronism.

The police ceremonial officer's uniform was the same color as the frock coat, with a same-color collar, but without buttons and was fastened on the right side with hooks. There were red piping on the collar, sides and cuffs. It was almost as long as a frock coat; at the back, from the waist down, there were ironed folds.

The collar and cuffs of the general's uniforms were decorated with complex silver embroidery of a special design. On officer uniforms there was sewing only on the front of the collar, on the cuffs there were columns, but not of a military type, but repeating the pattern of sewing on the collar - something like commas.

Parade uniform worn both with shoulder straps and with epaulettes - silver, on a red lining with red edging and gaps. Police officers with a military rank had army-standard epaulettes entirely made of silver, with gold stars; civilian ranks had only silver stars, and the field of the epaulette was cloth, in the color of the uniform, with a white nickel-plated trim along the wide end of the epaulette.

The ceremonial uniform was necessarily worn with a belt (sash); for military ranks it was silver, for civilians it was cloth, in the color of the uniform, with red piping along the edges and along the interception (buckle).

Police officers and generals wore an infantry-style saber on a silver belt. With a frock coat and white jacket, sometimes a sword. On the saber of the police military officials there were infantry style lanyards with a barrel tassel. The lanyard ribbon was black with silver double stitching around the edges. Those who have the Order of St. Annas of the 4th degree wore a lanyard on an “Annen ribbon” - crimson, with a yellow border around the edges. Civilian police officers wore a silver lanyard with an “open” tassel on a silver round cord instead of a ribbon.

Police officers usually wore a revolver in a black lacquered holster only with their jacket or over their overcoat; On ceremonial occasions, a silver sash served as a belt, and on other occasions, a black leather belt. The revolver cord was of a general army officer type.
In the summer, police officers pulled a white cover over the crown of their cap and put on a white cotton double-breasted jacket without piping, a style that the army had not worn since the Russo-Japanese War. Police officers were also entitled to gray capes with a hood of a general officer cut and color. The cape had buttonholes and shoulder straps. The buttonholes are dark green, with red edging; The same buttonholes are on overcoats. Silver buttons with a double-headed eagle. Officers and generals wore white suede gloves.

In 1915 - 1916, individual police officers, imitating the army, began to wear service jackets and khaki caps.

Beginning in 1866, all cities were divided into police stations. The police station was headed by the local police officer. Police stations, in turn, were divided into districts, which were in charge of district guards. The lower ranks of the police who performed guard duty were called policemen.

In addition to the police, the station staff consisted of officials who were in charge of passports, the office and maintained the police telegraph. The officials wore the uniform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Bailiffs and police officers (assistant bailiffs) wore the uniform described above. If the local police officer had the rank of officer, then he wore an officer's uniform. But most often they had the rank of senior non-commissioned officer or sergeant major. In this case, their uniform was different from that of police officers.
The main difference was the color and cut of the uniform - black, double-breasted with hooks; there are red edgings along the collar, side, and cuffs; Along the collar and cuffs there was also a silver convex “forged” braid. The policeman's ceremonial uniform was of the same color and cut, but the cuffs had columns of silver braid. On top of the uniform, the soldiers wore a belt made of black cloth with red edging along the length and along the interception (buckle). Black patent leather belts with a nickel-plated single-prong buckle were worn with the overcoat.

About the hammers they wore black trousers with red piping, hard-lined boots with patent leather tops; On the street, police officers, unlike the military, had the right to wear galoshes. The backs of the galoshes had special slots for spurs, bound with copper plates.

In winter, they wore a black astrakhan hat of the same type as that worn by police officers, but on the bottom instead of braid there were red edgings (crosswise and along the edge of the bottom). On it is the silver coat of arms of the city. Above the coat of arms is a cockade. The police officer wore the same cap as police officers: on the band there was a coat of arms, on the crown there was a cockade; The overcoat was of an officer's cut and color; in winter it could be insulated, with a black astrakhan collar.

Desyatsky. Petersburg

The guards were armed with infantry-style officer's swords on a silver belt with an officer's lanyard on a black ribbon, as well as a Smith and Wesson revolver or a revolver in a black lacquered holster. The holster was attached to the belt. The revolver had a silver neck cord, like an officer's. An indispensable attribute of the police officer was a whistle on a metal chain hanging on the right side of his uniform. The shoulder straps are black, narrow, with red edging and silver braid on the sides and in the middle. For length of service in the police, stripes were placed on shoulder straps (like non-commissioned officers - across the shoulder strap, closer to the button). In winter, the soldiers wore camel light brown, with silver braid, army-style hoods and black cloth earmuffs. In summer, a white cover was pulled over the cap. The summer uniform was a white cotton uniform made of eraser, the same cut as the cloth one, but without braid or piping. Instead of an overcoat, they wore a coat made of gray rubberized fabric, the same cut as the overcoat. In Chekhov's story "Chameleon", the police officer constantly puts on and takes off just such a coat.

Middle-aged or elderly people were usually appointed as district guards. They walked around with beards or sideburns and certainly with a mustache. The chest was almost always covered with medals; on his neck is a huge silver medal, similar to a ruble, “For Diligence” with the profile of the Tsar.

In St. Petersburg and Moscow, police officers often wore orders and medals granted by foreign monarchs. The Emir of Bukhara and the Shah of Persia were especially generous in this regard.

The lower ranks of the city police, city police, were recruited from soldiers and officers who had served their compulsory and extended service.

Policemen wore a black merlushka round hat with a black cloth bottom, red piping crosswise and around the circumference, or a black cap with three red piping (two along the band, one on the crown), with a black lacquered visor, without a chin strap. In summer, a light Kolomyankov cover was put on the crown. On the crown of the cap and on the fur hat of the policemen there was a nickel-plated metal round ribbon with sharp ends. The number of this policeman is stamped on the ribbon. Above the ribbon is the city's coat of arms.
The policeman's overcoat was made of black overcoat cloth with a hook fastening, black buttonholes and red piping, and a light metal button with a double-headed eagle on the buttonholes.

Policeman's uniform almost no different from the military uniform, but was black. The trousers were also black. On the uniform, the policemen wore a sash made of the same material as the uniform, with red piping along the edges and along the interception, or a black tightening belt with a metal buckle with one tooth. In the summer, policemen wore a uniform of the same cut, but from Kolomyanka. They also wore military-style tunics, without pockets or cuffs, and fastened with four buttons on the left side. Tunics were sewn from kolomyanka or from light mustard-colored cotton fabric. Leather belts were worn with tunics and overcoats. Shoes - infantry style yuft boots. The policemen did not wear a cord.
The badge, which was fastened to the left chest, indicated the policeman's street number, the number and name of the precinct, as well as the city.

The policemen carried their personal weapons (a Smith and Wesson revolver or a revolver) in a black holster attached to their belts. In the period from 1900 to 1917, the revolver was worn either on the right or on the left side: before the 1914 war - on the left, and before the revolution - on the right. Attached to the revolver was a red woolen cord with a copper intercept at the neck. On the side of the overcoat or uniform on a metal chain hung a whistle made of horn.
The policemen also wore a soldier's infantry type saber with a brown wooden handle and a black scabbard, copper metal parts. On this saber, popularly nicknamed the “herring,” hung a leather lanyard of a soldier’s infantry type. They wore the saber on the left side on a black belt. In addition to the saber and revolver, the policeman’s belt had a leather bag fastened with a buckle.

St. Petersburg and Moscow policemen, standing at intersections with a lot of traffic, held staffs in their hands - short white wooden sticks with brown handles; they used them to stop traffic (adjusting traffic - with modern point vision - the police were not involved). The wands hung on the left side of the belt in front of the saber in a black leather case. In big cities, policemen wore white thread gloves. In the rain, black oilcloth capes with a hood were worn over an overcoat or uniform.

The policemen's shoulder straps were of a special style. On the shoulder near the sleeve were sewn almost square “cards” made of black cloth, trimmed on all sides with red piping. Attached to them were insignia in the form of transverse stripes of yellow woolen braid with two red stitches along the edges. These stripes could be from one to three or not at all. From the shoulder to the collar there was a red braided woolen cord, crossing the “card” and secured at the collar with a shoulder button. Brass rings were attached to the cord. Their number corresponded to the stripes on the “card”.

In cases of "riots" the policemen were additionally armed with rifles with fixed bayonets. In days February Revolution In 1917, policemen were even armed with machine guns, from which they fired at revolutionary soldiers and workers from attics and roofs.

In addition to police officers assigned to a specific area and performing guard duty, there was also a so-called police reserve, directly subordinate to the mayor or chief of police. The reserve was taken to the streets in extraordinary cases - strikes, demonstrations, revolutionary performances, passages of the Tsar, members of the Tsar's family or foreign monarchs. The policemen who belonged to the police reserve wore the same uniform as ordinary policemen, but without breast badges.
There were also units of mounted policemen, called mounted police guards.

Konno-police guards was available only in capitals and large provincial cities. She was subordinate to the mayor (where he was) or to the provincial police chiefs. This guard was used as a strike force to disperse demonstrations and strikers, was deployed during royal passages along the streets, and also carried out patrol service (usually mounted policemen rode in fours or twos when patrolling).
The uniform of the mounted police guard combined elements of the police and dragoon uniforms: like police, black uniforms, shoulder straps, buttonholes, badges on caps and hats; the cut of the uniforms, with six buttons at the back, the weapons, the style of winter hats and boots with spurs, like those of the dragoons.

The officers of the mounted police guard wore greatcoats, jackets, similar in cut to the uniform of army officers, gray-blue trousers with red piping, reminiscent of cavalry uniforms, caps with a chin strap, winter “dragoon” hats made of black astrakhan. The front of the hats had a wedge-shaped cutout into which a cockade was inserted, and on ceremonial occasions a black plume made of horsehair. The bottom of the cap is black, with a narrow silver braid crosswise and along the edge. The galloon at the back ended in a loop. The officer's dress uniform was double-breasted, of the general army type, with a button fastening. The color, edging, and sewing of the uniform are the same as those of ordinary police.

Mounted police officers wore cavalry swords more curved than infantry ones, with a cavalry lanyard ending in a tassel. Revolvers, revolver cords and belts were the same as those worn by ordinary police officers.

Mounted policemen (private and non-commissioned officers) wore the same caps as ordinary policemen, but with chin straps. Winter “dragunk” hats are the same as those worn by officers, but with a red edging instead of braid and not made from astrakhan wool, but from merlushka.
The rank and file of the mounted police were armed with dragoon sabers with bayonet sockets on the scabbard and a revolver hanging on the right side of the belt in a black holster with the handle forward. A red woolen cord was attached to the revolver. Shortened dragoon rifles were rarely carried by mounted police. They wore them behind their backs, with the strap thrown over their left shoulder.
Most often, mounted police used a rubber whip with a wire inserted inside. The blow of the whip was so strong that it cut through the thickest coat like a knife. The “weapons” also served as the wide croup of huge bay horses, specially trained to “besiege” the crowd. "Get on the sidewalk!" - professional shout of mounted police.

When wearing ceremonial uniforms and headdresses with sultans, the mounted police wore white suede gloves.

Policemen. Petersburg. 1904

Provincial (county) police

The structure of the police organization in small (district) towns, villages and hamlets was different than in capitals and provincial towns. The district police department was headed by police officer 15. This position was usually occupied by a police officer with the rank of captain to colonel. Subordinate to him were the police of the given district city and the peripheral - the district mounted police guard. Geographically, each county was divided into two to four camps, at the head of each was a police officer - a police officer with the rank of staff captain or captain, less often a lieutenant colonel. The closest assistant to the bailiff was a police constable.

Among the rank and file were called Cossack non-commissioned officers. According to Dahl, “order” is order, routine, legal or usual course, structure. Hence the constable is the person who keeps order. The rank and file of the district police were also called by the ancient word "guards".
The guards were representatives of the mounted police and were recruited from local residents who had served in active military service in the artillery or cavalry. In their appearance they looked more like soldiers than policemen. Their gray military overcoats contributed to this impression.

The guards' caps were dark green with orange trim. On the band there is a badge with the image of the coat of arms of the province, on the crown there is a small soldier's cockade.
In the summer, the guards wore a light Kolomyanka tunic without pockets, belted with a drawstring belt (or long double-breasted white tunics), grayish-blue trousers, the same as those worn by cavalry soldiers, and high yuft boots with spurs.
In winter, they wore cloth tunics or double-breasted dark green uniforms of the same cut as the mounted police guards, but with orange piping. The guards' shoulder straps were made of twisted orange cord, like those of police officers, but without cards at the sleeves. The buttons are smooth, without embossing.

The weapons were checkers of the same type as those used by policemen, and a revolver in a black holster. The revolver cord was the same color as the shoulder straps. In special cases, the guards were also armed with dragoon rifles or carbines.

The saddle of the horses was of the general cavalry type, but the headband usually had no mouthpiece, but only one snaffle (rein). The guard's equipment was complemented by a whip or whip.
In winter, in severe frosts, as well as in the northern part of the country and in Siberia, guards wore black long-haired hats, hoods, and sometimes short fur coats.

The guards' horses were of different colors, short, and reminiscent of peasant horses in their type. And the guards themselves, who lived in the villages and were engaged in agricultural work in their free time, were similar to the peasants - they wore long hair, “out of shape,” often had beards and were not distinguished by their brave appearance.
District police officers - police officers, police officers and their assistants - wore the same uniform as city police officers, with the only difference being that their shoulder straps and buttons were “golden” (copper), and the edges were orange. In the 90s, the metropolitan police were assigned red edgings, and only the provincial ones retained orange ones.

Police officers and police officers traveled around their “possessions” in winter in sleighs, and in summer in cabs or tarantasses drawn by three or a pair of horses with bells and bells. Police officers were assigned a coachman, and police officers often had a guard as a coachman. Police officers and police officers traveled, accompanied by an escort of several mounted guards.

Policemen in provincial and district towns differed little in appearance from those in the capital. Only their buttons, badges on hats and badges were copper, not silver plated.

Detective police

The detective police, as its name suggests, was engaged in detective work, that is, criminal investigation. In addition to the special detective police department, there were detective police offices at the police units. Each unit had detective rooms. The overwhelming majority of the detective police apparatus were officials. They wore their police official uniform only in the office. Operational work was carried out by them in civilian clothes (cab drivers, footmen, tramps, etc.). In addition to the administrative investigative and operational apparatus, the detective police had a large staff of informants in the person of janitors, doormen, tavern floor workers, peddlers and simply criminal elements. Like all police services, the detective police also engaged in political investigation, carrying out orders from the secret police or the gendarmerie.
Among the leadership of the detective police there were also police officers who wore the uniform assigned to the external police without any special distinctions.

External protection of numerous bridges and embankments in St. Petersburg-Petrograd was carried out by special river police. The personnel of the river police was made up of sailors and naval non-commissioned officers of long-term service. The officers were also former naval officers who, for one reason or another, left service in the navy.

The river police had rowing and motor boats. In addition to the usual police functions, she carried out rescue service. The cap and overcoat of the river policemen were the same as those of the land policemen, but the river policemen wore trousers over their boots, like sailors. In the summer they wore white cotton naval-style tunics made from matting. With a white tunic, a white cover was pulled over the cap. In winter they wore blue cloth tunics and naval style pea coats. Instead of a sword, each of them had a heavy cleaver with a copper handle. On the other side, on the river policeman’s belt, hung a revolver in a black holster. The belt was black, long, with one pin; buttons - silver plated; on the breastplate there is the inscription: “St. Petersburg River Police” and the policeman’s personal number.

River police officers wore exactly the same uniform and weapons as naval officers, with the only difference being that their piping was red, and the buttons, shoulder straps and epaulettes (on the dress uniform) were silver, not gold. The exception was the officers of the economic and administrative staff, who wore naval official shoulder straps - “Admiralty” (narrow, special weaving, with the same arrangement of stars as on official buttonholes).

Palace Police

The palace police carried out the external protection of the royal palaces and palace parks. Privates and non-commissioned officers were recruited here from among former soldiers of the guards regiments, who were distinguished by their tall stature and gallant bearing.

The palace police had a special uniform.
Fights wore sea green with red piping, a special type of cockade (with a black double-headed eagle on a golden background) on the crown. In winter, black lambskin hats with a sea-green bottom, with galloon for officers and piping at the crown for privates; white suede gloves.

Overcoats private and officers They were double-breasted, officer cut, gray, somewhat darker than the officers' ones. The uniforms were the same style as those of the regular police, but not black, but sea green. The shoulder straps of privates and non-commissioned officers were made of silver cord with red stripes, while those of officers were the same as those of ordinary police. Sea green buttonholes with red piping. The buttons are silver plated, with a double-headed eagle.

The weapons consisted of a saber and a revolver in a black holster. The neck cord for the revolver was silver for officers and silver with red stripes for privates and non-commissioned officers.

The palace police were subordinate to the minister of the court. It was headed by the chief of police (adjutant general or major general of the royal retinue). The police guarding a particular palace was headed by a special palace police chief - usually an aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel, who was operatively subordinate to the commandant of the palace, in whose hands the command of both the military and police security of a given palace was concentrated. If the military guard of the palace changed all the time (individual guards regiments alternately sent corresponding military outfits led by officers), then the police guard of each given palace was constant in its personnel.
The external military guard posts were duplicated by the military police, who actually controlled all the entrances and exits of the palace.

After the overthrow of the autocracy, the palace police were eliminated and the guards of the palaces, as the center of the most valuable monuments of art and culture, were carried out by soldiers of the suburban garrisons.

Bailiff of the Admiralty unit. Petersburg

Gendarmerie captain. Petersburg

Gendarmerie

The most powerful security system of the tsarist regime was the gendarmerie - the political police of the empire. She was subordinate to the local provincial authorities, and in fact controlled them and directed their activities “to protect the foundations” of the empire, in turn, subordinate only to the “center” in the person of the chief of gendarmes, the commander of a separate corps of gendarmes, who was directly subordinate only to the tsar.

The gendarmerie, like the police, had its own varieties: the gendarmerie of the capital and provincial departments, the railway gendarmerie (each railway had its own gendarmerie department), the border gendarmerie (it served as border guards and control over entry into and exit from the empire) and, finally, the field gendarmerie, which carried out the functions of the military police (the serf gendarmes, who performed the same functions in the fortresses, can also be counted among them).

The uniform of all gendarmes, excluding field and serfs, was the same.
The personnel of the gendarmerie consisted mainly of officers and non-commissioned officers; there were almost no privates, since the junior ranks were recruited mainly from those who had completed extended service in cavalry units (the gendarmes were considered to belong to the cavalry, although there were very few actual cavalry units of the gendarmerie). The officers had military cavalry ranks: cornet instead of second lieutenant, staff captain instead of captain. Among the non-commissioned officers there was also a cavalry rank: sergeant instead of sergeant major.

The recruitment of officers in the gendarmerie was carried out in a very special way. All other military formations were served by officers who were released into one or another regiment from cadet schools or transferred from other regiments during military service. Gendarmerie officers were officers of the Guards (mainly) cavalry, forced to leave the regiment for one reason or another (unseemly stories, debts, or simply lack of the necessary funds to continue their expensive service in the guard).

When joining the gendarmerie, the officer was formally listed as military service, but there was no way back to the regiment for him. Despite all the power of the gendarmerie - the most trusted and all-powerful apparatus of the tsarist power - the gendarmerie officer found himself outside the society to which he belonged by birth and previous service in the army. The gendarmes were not only feared, but also despised. They despised first of all those circles (the aristocracy, the highest bureaucratic nobility, officers), whose social and property interests were protected by the gendarmerie. This contempt, of course, was not caused by the progressive views of the ruling noble-bureaucratic environment. It was, first of all, contempt for people who were forced to leave the environment from which they came; it was directed at one or another individual serving in the gendarmerie, and not at the institution as a whole.

The transfer of a guards officer to the gendarmerie was associated with the need to hush up one or another ugly story in which he was involved, or to improve his financial situation: gendarmes received salaries significantly higher than officers in the regiments, and in addition, they had at their disposal various special appropriations, the expenditure of which was not required to be accounted for.

From their guards past, gendarmerie officers retained an external gloss (which distinguished them from the police) and dapperness. This was also helped by the uniform, which was similar in cut to the guards uniforms.

Since the rank-and-file gendarmerie was recruited from long-term non-commissioned officers, his age ranged from thirty to fifty years. Gendarmes carried out guard duty at stations and piers (station gendarmes), made arrests, and escorted those arrested. At political trials, gendarmes stood guard at the dock.
Unlike city gendarmes, they were not on duty at posts, but appeared on city streets only in exceptional cases, usually on horseback with rifles over their shoulders. Such cases, in addition to the dispersal of demonstrations and strikes, included celebrations with the participation of high-ranking or even the highest persons, and so on.

Gendarmerie officers. Petersburg

Uniform of gendarmerie ranks

Gendarmerie officers wore caps with a dark blue band and blue crown. The blue color was a special turquoise shade, it was called “gendarme blue.” The piping on the cap was red, the cockade was a regular officer's one.

The gendarme's everyday uniform was a regular cavalry-type tunic with triangular cuffs. The shoulder straps on it are silver with red edging and blue clearance. With high boots, they wore shorts or semi-breeches, gray, with red edging, and untucked trousers with boots. There were always spurs on boots and boots - on boots they were heel-toed, screw-type, without a belt.

Like the cavalrymen, all gendarmes wore cavalry swords and lanyards, and on ceremonial occasions, curved broadswords in nickel-plated sheaths.

A distinctive feature of the gendarme uniform was silver aiguillettes on the right shoulder (in military units only adjutants wore aiguillettes).
Gendarmerie officers wore blue double-breasted frock coats with a blue collar and red piping. With a frock coat there were usually untucked trousers. The frock coat could have both shoulder straps and epaulettes.

The ceremonial uniform of the gendarmes was double-breasted, dark blue, with a blue collar and triangular cuffs. The embroidery on the collar and cuffs was silver.
The gendarmes wore a uniform with shoulder straps or epaulettes (metal, scaly and even silver), as well as with a silver belt of the general officer type and a lyadunka (cartridge belt for revolver cartridges), slung on a silver belt over the left shoulder. On the silver lid of the bottle there is a golden double-headed eagle. The ceremonial uniform was worn only with trousers and boots.

The headdress was a black astrakhan hat with a cutout in the front - a dragoon. Its bottom was blue, with silver braid. A metal double-headed eagle was attached to the front of the dragoon, and under it was an officer's cockade, somewhat smaller in size than on the cap. The cap was crowned with a white horsehair plume.
In full dress uniform, gendarmerie officers carried a revolver in a black lacquered holster. The revolver hung from a silver neck cord. From edged weapons they had a hussar saber - a curved broadsword in a nickel-plated sheath with a cavalry lanyard. The broadsword was attached to a silver belt belt.

With a jacket, gendarme officers carried a broadsword or an ordinary cavalry saber. If a broadsword was worn, then the indispensable attributes were a lyadunka and a silver officer’s belt.
With a frock coat they wore a saber on a silver shoulder belt or a sword.
The gendarme's overcoat was of the general officer type with blue buttonholes and red piping.
Before the World War, gendarmerie officers sometimes wore “Nikolaev” overcoats in winter.
Gendarmerie officers almost never removed the badges of cadet corps, cadet schools and badges of their former regiments; often sported chain bracelets with cut flat links.

The non-commissioned officers of the gendarmerie had caps of the same colors as the officers, but with a soldier's cockade. The gendarme's daily uniform consisted of: a military-type tunic with a fastener of four buttons on the left side (the shoulder straps on the tunic are red with blue piping); gray narrow trousers, boots with spurs, a drawstring belt with a single-prong buckle; red wool aiguillettes with copper tips on the right shoulder.

Parade uniform The non-commissioned officer's coat was of the same style and color as the officers'. He was wearing a dark blue cloth belt with red piping. On the left sleeve of the tunic of the uniform and overcoat there were silver and gold triangular chevrons, indicating length of service in long-term service - in the army or in the gendarmerie, service in which was considered long-term. Almost every gendarme had a large neck medal "For Diligence". The ceremonial headdress of the privates was the same as that of the officers, but not from astrakhan fur, but from merlushka, and on the bottom instead of silver there was a red edging.

The gendarmes were armed with cavalry sabers on a brown belt, a revolver or a Smith and Wesson revolver. A revolver in a black holster hung from his belt, attached to a red woolen neck cord. The gendarmes' overcoat is of a general cavalry type, with buttonholes like those of officers. It had one row of fake buttons and was fastened with hooks. In full dress uniform, gendarmes carried broadswords instead of swords.

In preparing the article, materials from the book by Y. N. Rivosh were used
"Time and Things: An Illustrated Description of Costumes and Accessories in Russia
late XIX - early XX centuries." - Moscow: Art, 1990.

Gendarmerie, as having military organization police, originated in France in 1791. There it was part of the armed forces, but, in addition to the Minister of War, it was also subordinate to the Ministers of the Interior and Justice. The French innovation was appreciated and adopted by some other states, in particular Austria and Prussia. In Russia, gendarme teams first appeared in 1792 in the Gatchina troops of Paul I, then still heir to the throne, and functioned as military police until 1796. In the Russian army, this concept was revived during the Foreign Campaigns of 1813–1814. One trustworthy officer and five privates selected from each cavalry regiment were supposed to maintain order on the march and bivouacs; their duties included combating looting, escorting the wounded to dressing stations, etc. “The people of these commands,” read the order of Commander-in-Chief M.B. Barclay de Tolly dated June 10, 1815, “are called gendarmes, and they must be distinguished from others by a red bandage on their right hand.” However, these teams were soon abolished, and the Borisoglebsky Dragoon Regiment was renamed the gendarme regiment. To help him, at the end of 1815, a half-squadron of the Life Guards was created under the Guards Corps. In addition, since 1810, there was an Internal Guard Corps in Russia, which was engaged in training recruits and assisting provincial authorities in capturing robbers, suppressing unequal unrest, and collecting taxes and arrears. In 1817, gendarmerie units were formed within the corps to serve in both capitals, provincial and main port cities. In total, by 1826 in Russia there were 59 gendarmerie units and units of various purposes with a total number of 4099 people. These military formations, deprived of a single center, scattered throughout the empire, drew the attention of A.Kh. Benkendorf. In a project submitted to Nicholas I on the organization of centralized political investigation, he proposed subordinating these units and divisions to the chief of the “higher police”: “This chief would receive information from all the gendarmes scattered in all cities of Russia and in all units of the troops.” The idea of ​​​​putting both the country and the army under constant political control at once found the support of the emperor, and almost simultaneously with the appointment of Benckendorff as head of the Third Department on June 25, 1826, he entrusted him with the post of chief of gendarmes. Although at first only part of the gendarmes was organizationally subordinate to the head of state security, and the solution of economic, food, military and investigative issues remained outside his competence, nevertheless, the beginning of a new powerful centralized structure was laid. First of all, Benckendorff obliged the heads of the gendarmerie units to submit reports and reports on incidents once a month, and also, as the chief of the gendarmes, took personnel matters into his own hands. The new structure was formalized by a decree of April 28, 1827 on the establishment of the Corps of Gendarmes. The entire territory of the European part of Russia was divided into 5 gendarmerie districts with 8–11 provinces in each, and each district in turn was divided into 4–6 departments (there were 26 in total). The district was headed by a gendarme general, and the department was headed by a gendarme staff officer with the rank of major to colonel. Since 1835, the corps headquarters was located in St. Petersburg. The total number of this paramilitary structure by the end of 1828 was 4278 people, including 3 generals, 41 staff officers, 160 chief officers, 3617 lower ranks and 457 non-combatants. In this regard, the following fact is curious: back in 1823, the leader of the Southern Society of Decembrists, Colonel P.I. Pestel calculated that after the overthrow of the autocracy, the revolutionary dictatorship would need 112,900 gendarmes to maintain its power in Russia. The number of the tsarist gendarmerie never even remotely approached this figure: in 1836 there were 5164 people on its staff, in 1857 - 4629, 1866 - 7076, 1880 - 6708, 1895 - 9243, 1914 g. – 13,645 and in 1917 – 15,718. Only on this basis can we raise the question of correcting the usual stereotype of progressive revolutionaries who sought to “liberate” the people from the military-police oppression of reactionary tsarism. The new department was conceived and created as an elite unit. Competent and most developed soldiers from other branches of the military were specially selected for lower rank positions. The procedure for selecting officers was even more strict. In addition to being of noble origin, a desire to serve in the Corps of Gendarmes and reaching the age of 20, they had to undergo a special test. Any official penalty, and even more so evidence of political unreliability, became an almost insurmountable obstacle to joining the gendarmerie. Each officer of the corps gave a special signature that “that I did not belong and will not belong to any Masonic lodges and secret societies, thoughts, boards and others, under whatever name they existed.” Subsequently, a course of study, examinations and a probationary period were introduced for those entering the corps. Such a strict selection was due to the fact that Nicholas I saw his local representatives in the gendarmerie officers, and Benckendorff never ceased to remind his subordinates of their high purpose: “Everyone will see in you an official who, through my medium, can bring the voice of suffering humanity to the throne of the Tsar and will immediately place a defenseless and voiceless citizen under the highest protection of the sovereign emperor.” The attitude of society towards the new elite unit was ambivalent. On the one hand, the royal trust and the power resulting from it, coupled with a much higher salary than in the army, attracted many officers to the Corps of Gendarmes. For example, in 1871, 142 army officers submitted applications for transfer to gendarmes, of whom 21 were selected, and only 6 people were allowed to take classes. The number of people wishing to become gendarmes almost always exceeded the number of available vacancies. On the other hand, society quickly established a view of the gendarme as a spy and informer; cases of refusal of such “shameful” service by those persons who were invited to gendarme service were also not isolated. When, after his appointment as chief of gendarmes, Benckendorff asked Nicholas I for instructions for the corps entrusted to him, the Tsar handed him his handkerchief with the words: “Here are the instructions for you. The more you wipe away your tears with this handkerchief, the better.” Even if this story is a legend composed later, as some researchers insist, it nevertheless characterizes the king and his associate as people capable of such a way of thinking. At the same time, it shows that the sphere of activity of the gendarmes as local representatives of the emperor was seen by Nicholas I as so vast that he considered it pointless to try to squeeze it into the framework of any instructions. But still, without such a document, not a single institution can function, and, sending the gendarmerie colonel I.P. Bibikov and agent of the Third Department, Lieutenant I.V. Sherwood for a political survey of the southern provinces, January 13, 1827. Benckendorff gave them instructions, the text of which later became standard. The first and most important point of this instruction demanded from the subordinates of the chief of gendarmes: “Pay special attention to abuses, riots and acts contrary to the law that can occur without exception in all parts of the administration and in all states and places.” The second paragraph obliged “to ensure that the peace and rights of citizens cannot be violated.” Based on the third point, the gendarme on the spot received the right to communicate with those local authorities in whose jurisdiction he noticed disturbances, to “anticipate them” and only in those cases if all his “persuasions” “will be in vain”, to report them to the Third department. The instructions specifically drew the attention of the gendarmes to the following: “The purpose of your position should be, first of all, the prevention and removal of all evil.” A very vague understanding of the fight against “all evil” gave the gendarmerie officers wide administrative scope, and their subordination to the distant chief of the district and the even more distant chief of the gendarmes reliably ensured their independent position in the field. The secret agents of the Third Section and local units of the Corps of Gendarmes covered the entire country with a network of regular political investigation. In a letter to Benkendorf dated August 14, 1826, the manager of the office of the Third Department, M.Ya. von Fock states the scale of this process: “The surveillance activity is growing every day, and I barely have enough time to receive and record all the statements.” Society instantly felt total surveillance for those times, and already the next month, September 24, 1826, critics “strongly rebelled” against the system introduced by Nicholas I: “You cannot sneeze in the house, make a gesture, say a word, without someone immediately finding out about it.” sovereign." Attributed to M.Yu. Lermontov's famous poem of 1841 reflected the general opinion regarding the pervasive surveillance of the gendarmes who wore uniforms blue color: Goodbye, unwashed Russia. Country of slaves, country of masters. And you, the blue uniforms, And you, the people devoted to them. Perhaps, behind the wall of the Caucasus I will hide from your pashas, ​​from their all-seeing eyes, from their all-hearing ears. After the suppression of the Polish uprising on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire, in 1832, the sixth gendarmerie district was formed, which was under dual subordination - the chief of the Corps of Gendarmes and the governor. In its main features, the gendarmerie structure took shape on July 1, 1836, when the Corps of Gendarmes was reorganized into the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (a separate corps in Russia XIX V. was considered a military unit, in its legal status equated to the army) and the Siberian Gendarmerie District was added to the six existing districts. All seven districts were no longer divided into departments; instead, departments of gendarmerie staff officers were formed in each province, as a result of which the network of detective agencies became even denser. The economic support of the gendarmerie units from the Internal Guard Corps became the responsibility of the chief of gendarmes, and the so-called “duty” of the corps was replaced by headquarters. At the same time, the “Regulations on the Corps of Gendarmes” were adopted. Finally, in December 1837, the eighth gendarmerie district was formed - the Caucasian, and in 1842 the Borisoglebsky regiment was transferred to the gendarmerie. The unification of the Third Department and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes into a single vertical of political investigation for many years was ensured by the fact that both structures were headed by the same leader - A.Kh. Benckendorff (died 1844). However, the actual union of both departments turned out to be so successful that the personal union acquired the character of a tradition and all of Benckendorff’s successors in the Third Department were also simultaneously appointed chiefs of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. When the first structure was liquidated, the gendarmerie came under the authority of the Police Department, which became the successor to the Third Department as the leading state security agency. Developed by A.H. Benckendorf internal structure The separate corps of gendarmes existed unchanged until its reorganization undertaken by P.A. Shuvalov in 1867. To further increase the network of gendarmerie authorities, the previous district system of territorial division was preserved on the outskirts of the empire (Siberia, the Caucasus and the Kingdom of Poland), and in the rest of Russia the provincial gendarme departments became the main structural units. The activities of the ranks of the Corps of Gendarmes were regulated by special instructions. For example, the secret instruction of February 14, 1875 stipulated that it (this activity) “is presented in two forms: in the prevention and suppression of various types of crimes and violations of the law and in comprehensive monitoring. The first of these types of activities is based on existing legislation, and all actions of the gendarmerie officials in this regard are determined by law on May 19, 1871. The second type ... cannot obey any specific rules, but, on the contrary, requires a certain scope and then only meets restrictions when material obtained by observation is transferred to legal grounds and is subject to evaluation, i.e. is already the subject of the first type of activity.” The same document emphasized that the main task of the employees of the gendarmerie department was to, by monitoring “the spirit of the entire population and the direction of the political ideas of society,” reveal and pursue any attempts “to spread harmful teachings tending to shake the fundamental foundations of the state, public And family life " The law of May 19, 1871, to which the instructions refer, gave the gendarmes the right to “conduct inquiries into state crimes,” and the gendarmes could do this “both at the suggestion of the prosecutor of the judicial chamber, and directly,” in the latter case placing the prosecutor only in fame. To ensure the fulfillment of the functions assigned to them, the offices of the gendarmerie departments began to be divided into the following parts: general management, investigative, investigative, political reliability and monetary. When a new type of transport - railway - began to rapidly develop in Russia, it was also placed under the control and protection of this department. In 1861, the first railway gendarmerie police department appeared in the country, and by 1895 their number increased to 21. They had branches at all railway junctions. Initially, these departments were under the authority of the Minister of Railways, but in 1866 the Chief of Staff of the Corps P.A. Shuvalov seeks to transfer them under his command, reintroducing all gendarmerie units and departments into the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. During his leadership of this department (until 1874), measures were taken to improve the educational level of the gendarmes, as well as their material maintenance. In this updated form, the Separate Corps of Gendarmes existed until the February Revolution of 1917, when it was liquidated. Commanders (commanders) of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (in May 1896 - January 1898 - Comrade Minister of the Interior - Assistant Chief of Gendarmes): 1882–1887. – Orzhevsky P.V. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); April 1887 – 1895 – Shebeko N.I. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); May 1896 – February 1897 – Frese A.A. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); February 1897 – April 1900 – Panteleev A.I. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); April 1900 – September 1902 – book. Svyatopolk Mirsky P.D. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); September 1902 – January 1904 – von Wahl V.V. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); January 1904 – May 1905 – Rydzevsky K.N. (comrade Minister of Internal Affairs); May – October 1905 – Trepov D.F. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); December 1905 – September 1906 – Dedyulin V.A.; November 1906 – February 1909 – Baron Taube F.F.; March 1909 – September 1911 – Kurlov P.R. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); January 1912 – January 1913 – Tolmachev V.A.; January 1913 – August 1915 – Dzhunkovsky V.F. (Comrade Minister of the Interior); October 1915 – February 1917 – gr. Tatishchev D.P. Chiefs of staff of the OKZH: April 1830 - September 1831 - acting. duty officer of the KZH (Corps of Gendarmes - Author's note) Dubelt L.V.; September 1831 – April 1835 – duty officer of the KZ Dubelt L.V.; April – June 1835 – etc. Head of the SOCZH (headquarters of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes - Author's note) Dubelt L.V.; June 1835 – August 1856 – head of the SHOKZH (since March 1839 – head of the SHOKZH and manager of the III Department) Dubelt L.V.; August 1856 – August 1861 – Timashev A.E.; August–December 1861 – gr. Shuvalov P.A.; October 1861 (approved in December 1861) – July 1864 – Potapov A.L.; July 1864 – May 1871 – Mezentsev N.V.; December 1871 (approved in April 1872) – March 1882 – Nikiforaki A.N.; March–July 1882 – Kozlov A. A.; July 1882 – December 1883 – Kantakouzin M.A.; January 1884 – February 1893 – Petrov N.I.; March 1893 – November 1896 – Mezentsev S.N.; November 1896 – October 1903 – Zuev D.P.; October 1903 – January 1905 – Dedyulin V.A. January 1905 – October 1907 – Savvich S.S.; October 1907 – July 1913 – Gershelman D.K.; August 1913 – not earlier than October 1916 – Nikolsky V.P.