The Formation of the Internal Security System in the Asian Periphery of the Russian Empire in the Last Third of the 18th Century

The article examines the formation of the internal security system on the Asian outskirts of the Russian Empire in the last third of the 18th century — a period of large-scale transformations under the reign of Catherine II. The author analyses the institutional foundations of law enforcement in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, regions characterised by low population density, ethnic and confessional diversity, underdeveloped infrastructure, and the absence of a landowning nobility that was a key element for maintaining order in the European part of the country. Particular attention is paid to the description of the pre-reform security system and the key innovations introduced by the Governorate reform of 1775 and the Police Ordinance of 1782. The new security model combined the principles of legality and crime prevention with traditional mechanisms of social control. The article highlights the key changes: the establishment of the institutions of gorodnichy (city commandants) and zemsky ispravnik (district police chiefs), the separation of police, judicial, and fiscal functions, and the involvement of the local population in maintaining public order. The study concludes that by the end of the 18th century, a relatively unified and structured internal security system had been formed on the Asian outskirts. This system met the objectives of imperial administration and remained in place for nearly a century.

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