Russia under the Old regime

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parts, the decree fully concentrated the struggle against subversion in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior. Two kinds of special situations were provided for: 'Reinforced Safeguard' (Usiknnaia Okh-rana) and 'Extraordinary Safeguard' (Chrezvychainaia Okhrana), corresponding to what in western practice was known as Minor and Major States of Siege. The power to impose Reinforced Safeguard in any part of the empire was entrusted to the Minister of the Interior and Governors General acting with his concurrence. Extraordinary Safeguard required the approval of the tsar and cabinet. The conditions under which either state could be imposed were not clearly specified.

Under 'Reinforced Safeguard', the milder of the two states, Governors General, ordinary governors, and governors of cities could do any or all of the following: imprison any resident up to a period of three months and fine him up to 400 rubles; forbid all social, public, and private gatherings; close down all commercial and industrial enterprises either for a specified period or for the duration of the emergency; deny individuals the right to reside in their area; and hand over troublemakers to military justice. They were furthermore empowered to declare any person employed by the zemstva, city governments or courts as 'untrustworthy' {neblagonadezhnyi) and to order his instantaneous dismissal. Finally, organs of the local police and gendarmerie were authorized to detain for up to two weeks all persons 'inspiring substantial suspicion' from the point of view of state security. When it deemed it necessary to have recourse to Extraordinary Safeguard, the government appointed a Commander-in-Chief who, in addition to all the powers enumerated above, enjoyed the right to dismiss from their posts elected zemstvo deputies (as distinct from hired employees) or even to shut down the zemstva entirely, as well as to fire any civil servants below the highest three ranks. The latter provision was not casually inserted. Ignatev, the Minister of the Interior when this decree came out, considered bureaucrats and their children to harbour some of the most subversive elements in the country, and suggested periodic 'purges' of unreliable elements from the civil service. Under Extraordinary Safeguard, the Commander in Chief could also suspend periodical publications and close for up to one month institutions of higher learning. He could jail suspects for up to three months and impose fines of up to 3,000 rubles. The same edict also substantially increased the powers of the gendarmes in areas under either Reinforced or Extraordinary Safeguard.

The significance of this legislation can perhaps be best summarized in the words of a man who, as head of the Department of the Police from 1902 to 1905, had a great deal to do with its enforcement, namely A. A. Lopukhin. After his retirement he published a remarkable pamphlet in