3rd ed., reprint. and additional m. Higher school. 1983. 352 p.
The textbook of Professor N. P. Eroshkin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of History of State Institutions and Public Organizations of the USSR of the Moscow Historical and Archival Institute , is the third, significantly updated edition of his very valuable work (ed. 1st-1960).
The book pays the greatest attention to the state institutions of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries: five chapters are devoted to this period; three chapters fall on the 18th century; two reveal the history of the state apparatus during the formation of the Russian centralized state and the development of autocracy in the 17th century. Such a structure is appropriate. However, the most ancient period is relatively pale and too succinctly described (the chapter on the state system of the Old Russian state and Russian principalities in the IX-XV centuries). This period is the least studied in the literature, although it largely determined the features of the state development of our country in the following centuries, because it was in the military and political vicissitudes of the XII-XV centuries that the foundations of the type of state institutions that later turned out to be quite viable were formed.
An important role in the textbook is played by the introductory part, which contains a statement of the problem of the history of the state and state institutions. In comparison with the previous edition, the author gave clearer formulations of such concepts as "state institution", "state apparatus", etc., and highlighted the main directions of studying their history (internal organization, functions and relationships), which allows us to assess the place of each institution in the system of the state apparatus (pp. 8-9). Clarity in the formulation of a complex question, clarity in the definition of the subject and objectives of the course are characteristic of the entire textbook.
The book contains the main range of sources on the basis of which the history of state institutions of pre-revolutionary Russia is developed; the main issues of historiography of the problem are described in the volume necessary for the textbook. In the new edition, the historiographical sketch has been revised editorially and significantly deepened, and a brief description of foreign historiography has been added.
Keeping mainly the structure of the second edition (1968), the author revised some parts of the work, paying special attention to theoretical issues. Generalizing introductory subsections have become more meaningful. The conclusions of the chapters draw conclusions about the development of the state system and the state apparatus in the corresponding period. Thus, concluding the 6th chapter, N. P. Eroshkin sets out the final characteristics of the main features of the absolute monarchy in the XVIII century (p. 137). Chapter 8 summarizes the features that have emerged in the Russian state system in connection with its evolution towards a bourgeois monarchy (p. 250-251), illustrates and concretizes Lenin's definitions of "the first step on the road to a bourgeois monarchy", "the second step on the road to a bourgeois monarchy" (p. 194, 253-260), The characteristics of a very complex period in the history of Russian statehood in 1905-1914 have become more clear. A new element is a short, chapter-by-chapter history of the personnel of state institutions and bureaucratic procedures (pp. 72-73, 140-142, 195, etc.).
N. P. Eroshkin made interesting observations and generalizations about the order system (p. 36-37), "enlightened absolutism" (p. 72-73, 98), the estate system and its connection with the state apparatus (p. 125-129), bureaucratic centralism, and higher committees (p. 140, 153-155). Chapter 10 (the state apparatus and public organizations during the First World War) has become more compact and focused; it introduces the characteristics of a relatively little - known higher institution-the so-called "Higher education". A special meeting of ministers to unite all measures for supplying the army and navy and organizing the rear (p. 301), which represented the last and unsuccessful attempt of tsarism to improve the economy.
N. P. Eroshkin does not limit himself to considering only Russian statehood in the narrow sense of the word, but seeks to show, as far as possible, the peculiarities of governance in national suburbs: in Ukraine, in the Baltic States, Poland, Finland, in the Caucasus and in Central Asia. The author was faced with a very difficult task, first of all, because the necessary sources for this purpose have still been introduced into scientific circulation
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few. This is especially true for the management of multinational regions of inner Russia, for example, the Volga-Ural region, although it was here that a number of important administrative institutions were tested in the second half of the XVI and XVII centuries. The experience of that time in the further development of the management of a multinational empire was to some extent taken into account.
In general, while appreciating the textbook highly, we will make a few suggestions about the type of textbooks on the history of the state apparatus. Such a textbook, presenting general and theoretical material, at the same time should contain a certain minimum of factual information. This is important for the future archivist-practitioner, for the historian-researcher, and for secondary school teachers - for the student audience as a whole. It is not enough, for example, to say that the institute of district police officers was introduced in Russia (p.175). It would be good to note exactly when this happened (by what act and in connection with what events) and up to what time it existed, and finally, what were the functions and powers of the police officers. This is just one example; it is a matter of principle. It is also desirable that the textbook does not repeat the material of the usual manuals on the history of the USSR (if necessary, you can refer to them), and allocate the space available for additional special, informational to some extent, perhaps reference material. This is the task that the author could perform in the course of further work on the course.
The book is written with the pen of an experienced lecturer-teacher, it is easy to read. Since we are talking about a type of textbook that contains not only theoretical and didactic material, but also reference information (in general, the author coped with this task, as already noted), it is advisable to give in the appendix chronological tables, diagrams showing the structure of central and local government bodies, their subordination. Taking into account the experience of previous years, you should give such tables not on separate sheets, which are easily lost, but in the text. It seems that the Higher School publishing house could take into account the specifics of educational publications of this type in this case.
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