Initial stage of use of forced labor of criminals by the state (beginning of the XVIII century)

At the beginning of the 18th century, when Emperor Peter I began to conceive and implement his grandiose plans to reform various areas of state activity, a need arose for a large number of labor forces. In view of its shortage, on the initiative of the emperor, convicted criminals, and above all those sentenced to hard labor, were purposefully involved in the construction of various facilities. The paper reveals the features of the formation of such a penitentiary policy, which in the future for a long time will become characteristic of the Russian penitentiary system.