Ministry of State Property
Encyclopedia
The Ministry of State Property, sometimes translated as the Ministry of State Domains, was the ministry
Ministry (collective executive)
A ministry refers to a collective body of government ministers headed by a prime minister or premier. Although the term "cabinet" can in some circumstances be a synonym, a ministry can be a broader concept which might include office-holders that do not participate in cabinet meetings...

 in the government of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 which controlled government-owned lands and any other government property, especially farms and agricultural land, and prior to the abolition of serfdom, the government peasants that worked the lands.

History

When Ministries were introduced in 1802, there was no original independent ministry to oversee state property. These powers and responsibilities were divided among the Ministry of Domestic Affairs and Ministry of Finance. Since 1811, control over government assets was exercised by the Department of State Assets of the Ministry of Finance, and later the Fifth Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery
His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery
His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancery or H.I.M. Own Chancery began as personal chancery of Pavel I and grew into a kind of regent's office, run by Count Arakcheyev from 1815 and until the death of Alexander I of Russia....

. After a nationwide crop failure and reconsideration of peasant and serf policy, an independent Ministry was created to take care of these issues, including reapportionment of land in the Tavria Governorate and encouragement of potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

 cultivation as an attempt to diversify Russia's crop.

Founding and expansion

The Ministry of State Property was founded on 26 December 1837. In 1843, a Forest Department was added together with the Foresters' Corps
Foresters' Corps
The Foresters' Corps was a special corps in the Land Forces of the Russian Empire, and from 1869, part of the Forests Department of the Ministry of State Property....

. In 1845, the Agricultural Department was first organized, and from 1848 to 1856 and 1874 to 1881 the ministry also included government horse breeding
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 facilities. In 1857, the Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...

 and several Nogai
Nogais
The Nogai people are a Turkic ethnic group in Southern Russia: northern Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, as well as in Karachay-Cherkessia and the Astrakhan Oblast; undefined number live in Chechnya...

 murzas petitioned the Ministry for more land in order to alleviate their poverty, on the basis that their ancestors were granted titles and deeds by Catherine II and they had a legitimate claim for ownership. However, the Ministry concluded that although the Tatars possessed proof of the noble status granted to their forefathers, those ancestors were long dead and claims based on their service had no significance. Faced with no guarantee of rights from the Russian government, the Nogai obtained permission to emigrate to Turkey
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, and between the fall of 1859 and 1860, some 35,000 Nogai had left the region, virtually the entire population.From 1873 to 1905, there was a Mountains Department, which was originally in the Finance Ministry. The Ministry also organized a Scientific Committee as a society devoted to horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

, agriculture and economics, as well as experimental agriculture .

Reorganization

On 21 March 1894, the ministry was reorganized into the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property. In May of 1905, the profile and status changed once again - the ministry was again reorganized into the General Administration of Land Use and Agriculture, which realized Pyotr Stolypin
Pyotr Stolypin
Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin served as the leader of the 3rd DUMA—from 1906 to 1911. His tenure was marked by efforts to repress revolutionary groups, as well as for the institution of noteworthy agrarian reforms. Stolypin hoped, through his reforms, to stem peasant unrest by creating a class of...

's agrarian reforms of the early 1900's. In October 1915, the General Administration was finally reverted to the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property.

Duties

The Ministry of State Property was charged with control of government assets (fiscal lands, articles of tribute, forests of the fiscal departments), general oversight of the carrying out of orders about forest preservation and the encouragement of forest cultivation, management of mountain and saltwater assets, protection of mineral water
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...

 sources and management of Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 mineral waters, management of handicrafts, custody of certain groups of people, management and organization of peasants, which would enhance their welfare. In 1858, there were an estimated 19 million state peasants under the administration of the Ministry of State Property, which represented almost half of the total rural population.

The Minister of Agriculture and State Property was the chief manager of mountain assets, which he had power over through the Mountains Department, where he headed the most powerful mountain management body, the Mountains Council , as well as the Mountain Scientific Committee, and local mountains jurisdictions.

Ministers

The first Minister of State Property was Pavel Kiselyov
Pavel Kiselyov
Count Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselyov or Kiseleff is generally regarded as the most brilliant Russian reformer during Nicholas I's generally conservative reign.- Early military career :...

, from 1837 to 1856. From 1872 to 1879, the position was held by Pyotr Valuyev, from 1881 to 1893 by Mikhail Nikolayevich Ostrovsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Ostrovsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was a Russian statesman who served as Minister of State Property under the reign of Alexander III.-Early life and career:...

, from 1893 to 1905 by Alexey Sergeyevich Yermolov
Alexey Sergeyevich Yermolov
Alexey Sergeyevich Yermolov was a Russian politician.Yermolov was born in 1847 , in 1866 graduated from the Imperial Lyceum, in 1871 received the Kandidat of agricultural sciences degree from the Petersburg Agricultural Institute...

, and from 1908 to 1915 by Alexander Krivoshein
Alexander Krivoshein
Alexander Vasilyevich Krivoshein was a Russian monarchist politician.- Life :Graduate in law of St. Petersburg University. Worked in the Ministry of Justice and later in the Ministry of the Interior . Assistant Head of the Department of Peasant Colonization , and Head...

. From 1837 to 1917 there were a total of 18 ministers.

The House of the Ministry of State Assets was located on Saint Isaac's Square, 42 Bol'shaya Morskaya Ulitsa.

Structure

The Ministry of State Assets contained the following departments (among other short-lived temporary ones) :
  • Ministry of State Property
    • Minister of Agriculture and State Property
    • Deputy Minister of Agriculture and State Property
    • Councils:
      • Minister's Council (Cabinet)
      • Agricultural Council
      • Mountains Council
    • Scientific Committee
      • Agricultural Bureau
    • Departments:
      • Department of Forests (from 1843)
        • Foresters' Corps
          Foresters' Corps
          The Foresters' Corps was a special corps in the Land Forces of the Russian Empire, and from 1869, part of the Forests Department of the Ministry of State Property....

        • Special Forests Committee
      • Department of Agriculture (from 1845)
        • Agricultural Statistics Division
        • Land Schools Division
        • Agricultural Economy Division
        • Shrubs Committee
      • Department of Land Use and Rural Industry (from 1866)
      • Department of Mountains
        Department of Mountains
        The Department of Mountains was the central governing body of the Mining-metallurgical Okrugs of the Russian Empire. These Okrugs, or "regions", were administrative subdivisions of the Empire relating to mining and mountain industry and the regulation thereof. From 1811 to 1863, it was called the...

         (1873-1905)
        • Geological Committee
        • Mountain Industry Council
        • Mountain Special Committee
    • Chancellery
      • Archives
      • Legal Advisory Section

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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