Resistance, Repression, and Reformthe district, level.6() In the principal towns an officer of the local garrison
appointed 'police-master'; he too had a :;mall squad of soldiers at his beck
call, which apparently was distinct from the force available to the voivod
Figures for 1755 show that, of 836 provincial officials in the first t
grades for whom data are available, 532 (63 .6 per cent) entered on this sta~
their career either directly from the armed forces or after attending militar
naval schools; for those in 'middle-ranking positions', numbering 294,
figure was as high as^250 (84.0 per cent).^62 A survey taken in^1773 showed
of 365 voivodes and assistants (holding ranks VI and VIII) only^58 had n
served in the military, whereas 163 (57 .2 per cent) had spent more tha1
years in the forces.^63 During the latter part of Catherine ll's reign the situa
improved: the range of educational opportunities expanded, and so did
number of provincial civil-service jobs. Of a larger sample of 1,520 provi1
officials who entered before 1794, 533 (35.1 per cent) were ex-military, althc
the proportion was still as high as 73 per cent among those in the 'mic
ranking' category.64
The reforms of 1775-85 defined local officials' functions more preci:
with some regard to the principle of separation of powers; a number of r
were filled by candidates of the local gentry instead of being governr
appointments; and a new office of governor-general or namestnik
established. The governor-general had authority over several (usually
provinces, each of which continued to be administered by a governor,
assisted by several executive bodies. At the district level the rural police '
(ispravnik) became the most important official.^65 Although an elected f
tionary, this successor to the voivode seems to have exercised his powe1
much the same way. He was still likely to be a former officer who had rece
no specialized training for his new job. Such men regarded their posts ;
sinecure rather than a challenge'^66 or as welcome relief after the rigou1
campaigning against the Turk. It was precisely at this moment ( 1774) tha
government was confronted with an eftlux of officers from the ar
forces-the second in a dozen years. One need not leap to the conclusion
this was the principal motive for the reform, but it was certainly a contribu
one. Data are available for^105 men who in^1788 held either of two provin
level pos~s that carried economic and judicial responsibilities respecti•
Seventy-eight of them had previously served in the armed forces, and^23
61> Troitsky, Russkiy abso(i•utizm, p. 172; Petrov, Russk111•a voyennuya si/11, ii. 171.
61 Yeroshkin, /storiya gos. 11chrezhdeniy, pp. 121-2.
62 Troitsky, Russkiy 11bso/v111izm, pp. 276-8; er. Pintner, "Evolution', p.^210 for sligh1l
ferent figures.
6J Givens, 'Nobiliar Carei:r Patterns', pp. 115-17.
64 Pintner, 'Evolution', pp. 211-12. The data are not exa..:tly rnmparnble, because the
figures contain no rubric for direct .:ntrants from educational institutions. They do not su
Pintner's statement that 'the pauern of^1755 hold' until the end of the eighteenth l'entury'.
61 For discussion of the reforms see de Madariaga, Ca1heri11e, pp. 277-91, 296,^5
LeDonne, Ruling Russia.
66 Givens, 'Nobiliar Career Pauerns·, p. 117.