Policemen of the Tsar Local Police in an Age of Upheaval
Founded by Peter the Great in 1718, Russia's police were key instruments of tsarist power. In the reign of Alexander II (1855-1881), local police forces took on new importance. The liberation of 23 million serfs from landlord control, growing fear of crime, and the terrorist violence of the clo...
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Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Book Chapter |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Central European University Press
2022
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Series: | Historical Studies in Eastern Europe and Eurasia
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | DOAB: download the publication DOAB: description of the publication |
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Summary: | Founded by Peter the Great in 1718, Russia's police were key instruments of tsarist power. In the reign of Alexander II (1855-1881), local police forces took on new importance. The liberation of 23 million serfs from landlord control, growing fear of crime, and the terrorist violence of the closing years challenged law enforcement with new tasks that made worse what was already a staggering burden. This book describes the regime's decades-long struggle to reform and strengthen the police. The author reviews the local police's role and performance in the mid-nineteenth century and the implications of the largely unsuccessful effort to transform them. From a longer-term perspective, the study considers how the police's systemic weaknesses undermined tsarist rule, impeded a range of liberalizing reforms, perpetuated reliance on the military to maintain law and order, and gave rise to vigilante justice. While its primary focus is on European Russia, the analysis also covers much of the imperial periphery, discussing the police systems in the Baltic Provinces, Congress Poland, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Siberia. |
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Physical Description: | 1 electronic resource (235 p.) |
ISBN: | 9789633865767 9789633865750 |
Access: | Open Access |