The establishment of the Order of Secret Affairs (the year of formation approximately 1653), initiated by Alexei Mikhailovich Quiet, pursued two goals. On the one hand, it was used as an individual office of the sovereign. On the other hand, the Order of Secret Affairs acted as a state body that received cases from other departments of management. According to some historians, the new institution can be seen as the first department of the secret services. This statement is supported by the fact that the order of the Secret Affairs was not subordinated to the Boyar Duma, and the decisions it made always went around the opinion of such an important Supreme Council.
The essence of the activity
Based on the data provided by Grigory Karpovich Kotoshikhin, an official of the Embassy Department during his stay in Moscow, the order of the Secret Affairs consisted of one clerk and ten clerks. An interesting historical fact is that the Duma people, as well as the boyars, did not have the right to be included in its composition. This was due to the fact thatthe activities of this organization were directly aimed at monitoring their activities. The clerks performed a number of special assignments of national importance. For example, they were included in the composition of embassy delegations to different countries, and in the event of hostilities they were sent with governors. The task of the "agents" was to carefully monitor the activities of the governors and ambassadors and to report the observations directly to the sovereign in a timely manner. At the same time, ambassadors who were interested in friendship with clerks often bribed them.
Reasons for appearance
Like his son in the future, Alexei Mikhailovich tried to expand his field of activity as much as possible. Lively curiosity and indefatigable activity always aroused in him the desire to be aware of all matters of national importance, regardless of their scale and significance, and to take maximum part in all these areas. But, unlike his fearless offspring, the Quietest King was timid by nature and highly sensitive, and was not distinguished by directness in making decisions. The story of Patriarch Nikon showed that it was difficult for him to fulfill the duties of a ruler. The need to hide this part of his essence can explain his desire to organize this special state body. The closest foreign analogue can be recognized as the French Secret Chancellery, which operated during the reign of Louis XV, with the difference that the sphere of its interests extended much further than the field of foreign policy relations.
Evaluation of contemporaries and development
During travels and campaigns, the king was accompanied by a whole staff of employees of the Secret Order, consisting of secretaries, clerks and clerks and clerks. Over time, this organization has lost its mobile character. The Order of Secret Affairs became a permanent service at court, and these changes took place as the competence of the body expanded. The number of objects of the political life of the state under the jurisdiction of the new state institution has increased rapidly. The Order of the Secret Affairs aroused legitimate concern among contemporaries who had the opportunity to observe its growing influence. So, for example, Tatishchev compared it with the Inquisition, while Leclerc and Kono - with a "bloody tribunal." According to modern historians, the creation of the Order of Secret Affairs was the first attempt to form a secret organization. It is even believed that this department is the prototype of such structures as the tsarist secret police or even the NKVD. At the same time, the Order of Secret Affairs was also a tool of centralization.
The duality of the functioning of the "secret service" of the king
But such a narrow interpretation of the role of the order can be attributed rather to the impressionability of contemporaries. History has not retained hints of his repressive activities even during the era of peasant revolts, for example, during the suppression of the uprising of Stepan Razin. Such errors in defining the range of tasks of the first "special service" can be explained both by the wide scope of activities and by the halo of secrecy that inevitably surrounded everything.government institutions of this kind. In this you can see the personal attitude of Alexei Mikhailovich to his offspring. He even compiled a special alphabet for the order, but in general, the sovereign, apparently, later had a very vague idea of the meaning of the institution's activities.
The participation of the king in the activities of the secret service
The uncertainty of the situation led to the fact that the register of the order was soon filled with a wide variety of cases, whose composition was determined not so much by the scope of the true purpose of the state body, but by the impulsiveness and enthusiasm of the king. It is not surprising that the jurisdiction of the "bloody tribunal" was the place of discharge from abroad of fruit trees and parrots for the royal poultry houses and the organization of the service of signalmen in the event of a fire.
Conclusion
The formed Order of Secret Affairs (the year of formation is indicated at the beginning of the article) had the authority to interfere in domestic and foreign policy (with the full approval of the king). Thus, it can be determined that the main activities of the organization extended in two directions. Firstly, it was an independent body for the consideration of cases that were not within the competence of any other state institutions. And secondly, the department independently intervened in the functioning of all offices. Particular attention was paid to the personal correspondence of the king, known for his passion for studying and editing all written circulars that came out from the pen of his secretaries.
