OFFICIALS ON THE OFF-ROAD: FEATURES OF THE ROAD TRADITION OF RUSSIA IN THE 19th CENTURY AND THE SYSTEM OF STATE ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

The road tradition of Russia and the circumstances of road movements in the Russian Empire have been studied by historians and other specialists only recently. However, this topic is important because it allows better understanding how traffic was organized in pre-revolutionary Russia, what difficulties and dangers it was associated with. This paper draws attention to an important aspect of the Russian road tradition - the impact of traffic conditions on the ability for officials, courier officers, police officers, and other officials to arrive at the appointed place on time. Otherwise, the control over the events in the provinces was unattainable: in the conditions of autocracy (before the invention of telegraph, telephone, and before the widespread use of railways) the personal presence of a power official was required. We have a variety of sources on this topic. Firstly, these are narrative sources - journalism, memoirs and correspondence. In addition, in Russia in the 19th century valuable statistical information was collected. Statistical data on this topic are closely related to geographical, ethnographic and local lore information (partly published, partly archived). This paper also examines the attempts of local authorities to force the peasants who lived near highways to repair the roadway and bridges. It is concluded that the poor arrangement of communication routes which was characteristic to the Russian Empire in the 19th century prevented state and public administration, from the nationwide level to the provincial and county ones. On the other hand, this situation stimulated the search for other opportunities to develop the communications, delivery of dispatches, movement of people, and transportation of goods. Apparently, such situation also explains a rapid and successful development of railways in Russia from the middle of the 19th century.