The first persons of the provincial administration: the features of interaction in the late 19th – early 20th century 

Georgiy V. Garbuz, Candidate of historical sciences, associate professor of the sub-department of the history of Russia, state and law, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: ggarbuz@rambler.ru 

94(47).083 

DOI

10.21685/2072-3024-2021-4-3 

Background. The interaction of the local administrative apparatus heads has a decisive influence on the government policy effectiveness in the regions. The study of the historical experience of official relations allows us to determine their impact on the effec-tiveness of the state administration work on the ground in various periods of the development of our country. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that determined the specifics of the relationship between the top officials of the provincial administration at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. Materials and methods. The tasks set in the work are solved by applying the comparative historical method to the analysis of documents extracted from the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive, as well as memoirs of the provincial administration heads published in Russia and abroad. Results. The materials of administrative correspondence on personnel issues from archival funds and memoirs of individual representatives of the provincial administration, as well as publications concerning the problems of relations within the provincial administrative apparatus in this era, are studied. The factors that had a significant impact on the official relations of governors and vice-governors were identified. Conclusions. The administrative system of late imperial Russia formed the conditions under which governors and vice-governors turned from colleagues into rivals, which negatively affected the work of the entire local apparatus. A characteristic feature of their relations was tension, the overcoming of which largely depended on the combination of circumstances and the goodwill of the top officials of the provincial administration. 

Key words

governors, vice-governors, provincial administration, official relations, admi-nistrative system, distribution of powers 

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