Today, a passport is a type of document that is considered mandatory in all countries. Without it, a person is like without a name. Although each state sets its own rules for registration, the order of information changes, the format of the passport itself varies, there are still common features. Who and when came up with this document? Why has it become so important today? The prerequisite for the increase in importance was changes in laws, social order and form of government. About the features of documentation in the Russian Empire and the appearance of a passport on its territory - in this article.
Origin of the word
The word "passport" comes from Italy, where, in order to identify the identity of a visitor, it was necessary to write out a paper indicating his last name, first name, patronymic. "Passa" means to come somewhere, or to arrive, and "porto" is a port or harbour. To allow a person to enter or leave the country, it was necessary to find out the identity and certify in writing.
This is how securities appeared, allowing you to leave or return to the country. In Germany and France, this word has long been used to refer to all documents that perform this function. Soon, such a large empire as Russia also needed to regulate the movement of people, to document their powers. The passport of the Russian Empire appeared as a separate type of document and was mandatory for those who travel somewhere. In fact, now this function is performed by international passports, which may not be available to citizens who are not going to leave the country. What contributed to the change?
Need for documents in the Russian Empire
Until the 18th century, there was no need to issue a passport of a citizen of the Russian Empire. This word was called all the documents that were issued to those who came to Russia. But in the 18th century, the same book appeared that now comes to mind at the mention of a passport. And those papers that were needed for the guests of the country began to be called “passing letters” or “traveling letters”. On them it was possible to cross the border of two principalities, voivodships and enter the provinces.
Charters were issued only by the tsar, then the Siberian, Posolsky and other orders began to deal with this, after which such work began to be trusted to the voivodeships. The nobles belonged to the privileged class, and therefore if they were still issued letters, then a passport was not needed - their name spoke for itself. The peasants did not need to confirm their citizenship, they could not go anywhere. Without such a documentmove around:
- doctors;
- clergy (except for itinerant monks);
- earls, barons, princes;
- nobles;
- officers;
- officials;
- teachers at universities and gymnasiums;
- merchants of the 1st and 2nd guilds.
But in 1703, the construction of a new capital began and the needs of the empire increased.
Passport of the Russian Empire
Due to the large construction of St. Petersburg, the metallurgical plant of the Urals, warships on the Volga and the shipping canal near Lake Ladoga, many craftsmen and specialists were required. For their registration and free movement around the country, they were issued a passport of the Russian Empire (photo below). With him, they could cross the borders of different principalities and provinces. Along with this, Peter I tightened the law for the nobles - they also needed this document.
This system lasted until the first half of the 19th century. A little later, without a passport, which assured that its bearer was a citizen of the empire, it was impossible to even leave the city. In connection with the appearance of foreign masters, the empire introduced abshida passports - retired documents for those who were not going to leave for their homeland, but remained to live in Russia. It contained the profession, characteristics of the employee, identification data and the date when the bearer of the abshid was hired. Names were written in Russian, so that low-level illiterate police officers could not make mistakes due to ignorance of the language.
New features coming
Soon, people from different classes, professions and categories began to receive a passport of the Russian Empire. There were so many citizens that it was difficult for the government to understand the rights of everyone. The functions of the document were reduced, and Catherine II issued a decree that one had to pay for the presence of such a book. Previously, it was considered inapplicable: to sell or somehow pay low for your privileges, as if thereby betraying the Motherland. Even foreigners paid the duty, and veterinarians and doctors left the category of professions that needed “sovereign paper”. They could show a diploma of medical education, which gave them the right to cross borders.
In 1862, when entering Russia, guests of the country had to be noted in the “Book for recording testimonies”, and in 1894, the “Regulations on Residence Permits” removed the mandatory presence of a passport when staying at the place of residence or moving within the county. Men received the "sovereign's paper" at the age of 18, and women - at 21. Wives fit into the documents of their husbands, and minors - to their parents. In connection with the war of 1914, independent women were able to obtain passports without the permission of men.
Expires
There were indefinite passports of the Russian Empire. They belonged to honorary citizens, nobles and officers who left the empire for a long time on duty. Although the owners could then be retired, they had the right to use the document for their trips,because no expiration date has been set. Peasants were issued passports for a period of 6 or 3 months, and then they had to return, and the police to renew residence permits. This strongly emphasized the dependence of the common people and workers on higher ranks.
If the tradesman did not have a good reputation, he could issue a one-year document. But a craftsman or tradesman with a good reputation had passport books, urgent documents, the term of which expired after 5 years. Interestingly, the duty remained - it was paid by the owners every six months. In addition, there was a page for pasting passport stamps, and photographs were not considered mandatory - not everyone could afford them.
Replacement with a USSR passport
The need to regulate the rights granted by the "sovereign paper" is clearly seen in the last years of the existence of tsarist Russia. Resolutions were still issued in 1906, 1914, but by 1917 amendments were no longer needed. For the passport of the Russian Empire, the year of the collapse of the empire was one of the last. The provisional government soon recognized this document as an identity card, and by 1923 imperial documents had completely ceased to be valid.
Thus, 1917 was not only a year of great changes on the territory of the USSR and modern Russia, but it pushed the new state apparatus to create a single regulated document.
Appearance
The 1913 document had an unsightly cover without a coat of arms, but the 1903 passport books were endowed with the coat of arms of the empire. Bookhad 24 pages: 1 for the name of the owner in Russian, French and German, on the 2nd - the profession, on the 3rd - the date of issue. On pages 4 and 5 it is written in German and French about the purpose for which the citizen left the borders of the empire. On the 6th page there is a place for a photograph, and up to the 15th page, where the border guards put their stamp (up to the 19th page), there were empty sheets. On the 19th, 20th, 21st - a customs coupon, on the 22nd - decrees, rules and exceptions to the rules.
Now the passport cover of the Russian Empire exists as an original protection for a modern document, allowing you to feel a connection with previous generations who lived in Tsarist Russia. Authentic souvenir copies have the same style and spelling used in the pre-revolutionary state.
