230 GOVERNING RUSSIA'S PROVINCES
for their "liberties," i.e. freedom from compulsory state service. They
succeeded in 1762, and Catherine II had to ratify this "emancipation"
by the Charter to the Nobility of 1785. As a result, the Russian provin-
cial nobility was reluctant to assume administrative duties on behalf
of the government. Beyond the preservation of its freedom from com-
pulsory service and unquestioned mastery over the peasants, the nobility
had no social or political interests. The nobles were quite satisfied
with the status quo and did not wish to exert themselves further for
the benefit of either state or province.
The central government thus gained the impression that the local
nobility could not be counted upon in the performance of admin-
istrative tasks. It therefore preferred to deal with all problems through
the regular bureaucracy or special agents. The small number of officials,
though, stood in the way of the creation of an effective bureaucratic
machinery for provincial government. And so the paradoxical situation
arose that the provincial nobility did not develop the habit of taking
care of local affairs, while the central administration could not provide
the countryside with an adequate corps of officials. In these circum-
stances the government took action only when the need had become
crying; it acted by fits and starts, with little sense of continuity and
responsibility. In "normal times" the disadvantages of the system were
not felt too keenly, as important problems were pretty rare, and
things went their routine way. But they became tragically obvious
during the Pugachev Revolt. The rebellion threw the fear of doom
into the hearts of the Russian serf-owner and brought home to
Catherine II the need of transforming the local administration to
prevent a similar recurrence.
The government's efforts in this direction culminated in the Statute
on the Provinces (guberniia) of 1775. This law aimed at putting the
management of local affairs into the hands of the local nobility, under
the general supervision - but not direct interference - of the personal
representative of the monarch. The Province (guberniia) was headed
by a governor (or in some cases, a lieutenant of the sovereign or a
governor general) representing the monarch, who supervised and
controlled the proper functioning of the judiciary, fiscal, and police
aspects of administration. The governor was responsible to and in
direct communication with the Senate, whose decisions and orders he
transmitted and supervised. The actual management of local affairs
rested in the hands of various officers elected by the body of noble
landowners. It was Catherine's hope and intention that the system
would increase the nobility'S participation in the administration of the
