CHAPTER IVREFORM OF RUSSIA'S FINANCES AND CENTRAL
ADMINISTRATIONSperansky's main task was to bring order into the "chaotic structure"
of the Empire and to give the imperial government a solid and modern
foundation. Working in close contact with Emperor Alexander during
the years 1808 to 1812, Speransky elaborated a series of concrete
measures to take care of the immediate practical needs of the admin-
istration and to prepare the ground for his long-range reform projects.
Both the short-range acts and the general reform plans played a
significant role in the history of Russian administration, and they must
be considered in some detail. Reversing the order in which these mea-
sures are usually treated by historians, it seems more useful to describe
and analyse first those reforms which were actually carried out. There
is no full treatment of Speransky's plans and acts in English, and as
they have been the object of much confusion and superficial inter-
pretation in Russian historical literature, it seems desirable to support
the analysis with detailed summaries of the legislation and projects
concerned, even at the risk of incurring the reproach of undue length
and tediousness. In the final analysis, Speransky's activity left an in-
delible mark on the methods and pattern of the imperial government
throughout the 19th century, and for this reason alone it deserves as
full a treatment as possible.
- FINANCES
When Speransky became the Emperor's main secretary and advisor,
Russia's financial situation stood first on the list of practical problems
that had to be dealt with immediately. The seriousness of the monetary
crisis cannot be blamed wholly on Alexander's foreign policy, even
though the costly and unsuccessful wars against France had contributed
a great deal to the deterioration of Russia's finances. The real origin