His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery or H.I.M. Own Chancellery () began as personal chancellery of
Paul I and grew into a kind of
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
's office, run by
Count Arakcheyev from 1815 and until the death of
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...
.
Under
Nicholas I, the Chancellery was transformed into a large administrative body, on par with the
Committee of Ministers and the
Governing Senate
From 1711 to 1917, the Governing Senate was the highest legislative, judicial, and executive body subordinate to the Russian emperors. The senate was instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the R ...
. Since 1826, the Chancellery was divided into several sections (
sl. otdeleniye):
*First Section – preparation of the Majestic Decrees and Orders, control over its execution, gubernatorial and ministerial reports, petitions to the Sovereign, state service and its awards and decorations. It was run by Stats-Secretary of His Majesty.
*Second Section – codification of the Imperial Legislation, publication of the codes.
Mikhail Speransky was the first head of the Section.
*
Third Section – political crimes, censorship, religious sects, aliens,
Gendarmes, headed by General Benckendorf, who had been commander of the Guards under Alexander. He suggested formation of a ministry of police and the overhaul of the whole system. They also exercised an increasingly repressive influence on education, especially after Uvarov's resignation.
*
Fourth Section, 1828 – former Chancellery of Dowager Empress
Maria Fedorovna; charity issues such as education of females, orphanage, disabled persons, healthcare
*Fifth Section, 1836 – state-owned
serfs
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...
of
St. Petersburg gubernia
A governorate (, , ) was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in the Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics, and i ...
. Created to improve the poor administration of the state peasants. The aim was to make them more efficient producers, both for the benefit of the state as a whole and as an example for landowners to follow with their serfs.
Pavel Kiselyov, another German who had been in Russian service since 1812, was placed at the head of the new section.
*Sixth Section, 1842 –
Caucasian civil matters and development
Starting with 1880, the latter five sections were transferred to the corresponding
Ministries
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian mi ...
and in 1882 the First Section effectively became the Chancellery itself, serving as personal office of the
Tsar
Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
again.
Government of the Russian Empire
1815 in the Russian Empire
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