The powers and competence of the Cabinet of Ministers in 1730-1741: the growth phases

The author of the article deals with one aspect of the development of the highest organ of state power as the Cabinet of Ministers during the whole period of its activity (1730-1741). The aim of the article is to identify the main stages of the Cabinet in terms of changes in its level of competence and authority. Besides, the author reveals the incorrectness of common notions about the same value of the supreme body for the entire period of its existence. In addition, it is noted that clear periodization of powers of the Cabinet during the period in the historical literature is under-represented. The author shows the process of expansion of the nature of the cases solved by it, as well as the degree of ist autonomy in making important policy decisions. This is done on the basis of the legislation of the first edition of «Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire», documents of record keeping and documentation of the highest authority. Its powers will expand because of the reduction of Empress's activity, and the cabinet-ministers treatment to the problem of solving the fiscal deficit and the collection of arrears, to the leadership of the military campaign in 1735-1739 and to other important issues that required the presence of the most powerful authorities. At the beginning, the Cabinet was the Empress's secretariat and retained these functions later. Then, the Cabinet also became the supervisory authority and the auditor. Next, Cabinet received some administrative functions (it became the mediator between the Empress and state structures, acquired its secondary tasks, was to send «orders» and «letters» to other organs). After this, the Cabinet was becoming to replace the Empress in the management, gaining control of the security forces, and soon starting to be an independent higher authority. Then, it began to act as the supreme military command and control authority also. By the end of Anna Ioannovna's reign and in the reign of Ivan Antonovich the Cabinet found its place in the empire's higher management fully: additional functions of vice-governor, the most extensive competence, responsibilities of the secretariat and personal control of the ruler's palace. Аs a result of the study the author makes a conclusion about crystallization of the absolute power of the Empress in the form of the Cabinet of Ministers; and defines a clear sequence of stages of its power's prerogatives growth and of increase of the scope of its competence, which consists of 7 stages.