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PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — A. V. Rozhina. INSURANCE OF CHURCH REAL ESTATE IN RUSSIA 1860–1870: THE FIRST EXPERIENCE OF ALEXANDER NEVSKY LAVRA

The study of insurance of church real estate commenced in the late 19th century, yet this subject remains under-researched. The church was a prominent socio-cultural institution within the Russian Empire during the 19th century. The article presents the findings of a study conducted on the insurance of buildings at Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which was undertaken in conjunction with an initiative to establish economic provisions for the compensation of expenses incurred in the event of a fire. In the 1860s and 1870s, the following structures were insured: the buildings of Lavra in Saint Petersburg, located on Nevsky Prospekt, Shlisselburg Prospekt, the embankment of the Black River, the embankment of the Great Neva, the music hall, the stable yard on Blackcrake Street and the brick factory. A thorough analysis of archival materials and published legislative acts has been conducted, revealing the features of insurance of church real estate in commercial societies on a voluntary basis. The acceptance of ‘on a risk’ of church property proved to be a lucrative undertaking for insurance companies. Initially, two companies claimed to insure the Lavra property: the Russian Insurance Company and the Saint Petersburg Insurance Company. This occurred during the 1970s. In the 19th century, the insurance of real estate was conducted by the Commercial Insurance Society. Insurance played a pivotal role in the preservation of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra property, as evidenced by the compensation paid in the event of fires, thereby enabling the restoration of damaged structures. The practice of insuring church buildings on a voluntary basis in the late 19th century was highly relevant, as it facilitated the effective organisation of the process of mutual insurance of church real estate on a mandatory basis at the beginning of the 20th century. An examination of the insurance business and acceptance ‘on fear’. The buildings belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church contribute to our understanding of the specifics of economic development in Russia during the years of the Great Reforms. They also demonstrate the search for solutions to economic mechanisms that protect property from fire.

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PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — A. T. Urushadze. THE CAUCASUS GOVERNANCE REFORM OF 1844–1845 IN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSIONS AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE

The article is devoted to the reform of the administration of the Caucasus in 1844–1845. This transformation was connected with the appointment of M. S. Vorontsov to the post of the Caucasian governor with broad administrative rights and privileges. The article offers a new approach to the analysis of this historical event. Firstly, it is emphasized that the expansion of the rights of the head of the regional administration occurred as early as 1842. Secondly, it is argued that after deciding to appoint Mikhail Vorontsov to the Caucasus, Emperor Nicholas I was forced to formulate special conditions for this appointment. This came as a surprise to State Secretary M. P. Posen, who supervised the transformation of the regional administration. The administrative rights and prerogatives of the Caucasian governor were determined as a result of a discussion about the contents of the supreme rescript to the Caucasian governor. The article is based on both published and archived historical evidence.

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PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — T. V. Andreeva. M. M. SPERANSKY AND “SANNIKOV LAND”: THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS OF F. P. WRANGEL AND P. F. ANJOU. 1820–1824

T. V. Andreeva. M. M. Speransky and “Sannikov Land”: The Polar Expeditions of F. P. Wrangeland P. F. Anjou. 1820–1824 // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 4, 2025, pp. 133–147. DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_4_133 Abstract: In the early 19th century, the Russian Empire confronted a significant geopolitical challenge: theexploration of its northern territories. This undertaking was informed by the findings of domestic geographical surveys conducted during the 17th and 18th centuries. A notable example of this endeavour was the ‘Great Northern Expedition’, which took place from 1733 to 1743 under the direction of V. J. Bering. It is evident that since the onset…

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PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — V. A. Shkerin. A DISPUTE BETWEEN TWO GENERALS ABOUT SERFDOM

Those who participated in the Decembrist movement from its inception and disassociated themselves from it no later than the dissolution of the Union of Welfare (1821) were, in general, not subjected to retribution. Those who were released during the investigation (frequently even without personal participation in it) or emerged from the trial completely cleared of suspicion accounted for half of all the defendants (290 people). It is evident that a considerable proportion of individuals belonging to the secret society who evaded retribution and were subsequently punished indicates that one of the primary outcomes of the Decembrist movement was the edification of liberal-oriented figures during the second quarter and the middle of the 19th century. The article examines the attitudes of two generals and major administrators of the Nicholas I era towards the problem of exploitation of the labour of serfs. One such individual is V. A. Glinka, the chief head of the Ural mining plants, who, during his youth, was a member of the Decembrist Union of Prosperity society. The second is the director of the Imperial Military Academy and proprietor of metallurgical enterprises in the Urals, I. O. Sukhozanet, who is most renowned for personally directing the artillery bombardment of the Decembrist rebels on 14 December 1825. Sukhozanet advanced the argument that the manufacturer’s right to “baptised property” should be defended, proposing that for enlightened nobles, the management of serfs constituted a form of public service, an obligation to “direct the masses of uneducated people to strict subordination”. Glinka, however, was diametrically opposed to this. Without delving into the broader discourse on the prospects of serfdom, he advocated for stringent legislative oversight of the duties and rights of factory workers, thereby curtailing the prerogatives of the breeders.

PHJ № 2 (46) 2025 — L. P. Marney. DEVELOPMENT OF THE MONETARY AND CREDIT SYSTEM OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 19 TH CENTURY IN PROJECTS OF M. M. SPERANSKY AND D. A. GURYEV

In the early 19 th century, two Russian statesmen, Secretary of State Mikhail Speransky and Minister of Finance Dmitry Guryev, proposed financial reforms with a particular emphasis on the development of the monetary system, a key component of the economic security of the Russian Empire. This strategy, which sought to enhance financial management, mobilise material resources, strengthen monetary circulation and stabilise the Empire’s financial system, had been in development since 1802, when the Ministry of Finance was established, and continued until 1823, when the subsequent finance plan was formulated. Despite the presence of certain discrepancies and idiosyncrasies, the finance plans devised by Speransky and Guryev constituted a unified programme for the development of the Russian financial system. The objective of this programme was to consolidate all revenue streams within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, to ensure the autonomy of the monetary system, to facilitate the implementation of administrative and political reforms, and, in general, to enhance the resilience and stability of the Russian Empire’s economic and political systems.

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PHJ № 1 (33) 2022 — I. V. Zimin, A. A. Zhuravlev. REVIEW OF THE BOOK: GRAND DUCAL RESIDENCES OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN 1826–1917: CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS. STUDY AND DOCUMENTS / COMP. A. A. EFIMOV. ST. PETERSBURG, ISTORICHESKAYA ILLUSTRATSIYA, 2020. 288 P.

Review of the collection of research and documents prepared by the group of authors consisting of A. A. Efimov, S. S. Kurochkin and O. A. Lyubeznikov under the leadership of A. A. Efimov. The publication examines and publishes documents reflecting certain aspects of the participation of the august customers in the administration and financing of palace construction. Its main advantage lies in the introduction of archival documents into scientific circulation, which significantly supplement the history of the creation of a number of palaces of the members of the House of Romanov both in St. Petersburg and in the regions of Russia.

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PHJ № 1 (33) 2022 — M. M. Safonov. AME DE DENTELLES, OR NATALIA NIKOLAEVNA AND PAVEL ELISEEVICH

For the study of the death of Pushkin, P. E. Shchegolev did more than all the Pushkinists combined. He found, published and commented on the most important documents reflecting the course of the dueling history. The author of the article has consistently reviewed all editions of his famous book and its previous publications. This made it possible to identify the research techniques used by the outstanding researcher of Pushkin, which had a strong influence on Soviet Pushkin studies. The scientist interpreted the sources one-sidedly and biased, setting a biased goal at all costs to make N. N. Pushkin the main culprit of the poet’s death. Even in cases where P. E. Shchegolev knew that the sources were unreliable, but they served to accuse the poet’s wife, the outstanding researcher, whose contribution to Pushkin studies cannot be overestimated, did not stop to use them to create his own concept of the death of Pushkin. It was based on the projection of his own vision of the relationship between a creative person and just a beautiful woman on the relationship between Pushkin and Natalia Nikolaevna. While the true reason for the duel remained unknown to him.

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PHJ № 1 (33) 2022 — A. V. Zorin. DOCUMENTS OF THE 17TH–19TH CENTURIES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE RYLSK MUSEUM

The article is devoted to the documents of the 17th–19th centuries, kept in the collection of the Rylsk Museum of Local Lore. The collection includes a part of the family archive of the Polish noble families Tarnowski and Ustrzycki, as well as documents from the archives of the Sofroniev Molchensky Monastery. Among them are autographs of famous political and military leaders of both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia (Jan II Kazimierz, Stanisław August Poniatowski, Jan Klemens Branicki, Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Catherine II, etc.). Of particular interest is a handwritten fragment of an article by the founder of the Rylsk Museum, S. K. Repina, containing an exposition of the memoirs of Countess Urszula Tarnowska (“Xięnga czasu”).