Interaction Between the Governor and the Governor-General (Military Governor) in the Local Administration of Southern Ukraine (Late 18th – Early 19th Century)

Abstract

The article examines the mechanism of administrative interaction between the Governor-General (Military Governor) and the governors of Southern Ukraine during the last third of the 18th century and the early 19th century. The study focuses on changes in the models of subordination of governors to Governor-Generals in different historical periods, driven both by the needs of imperial policy and by the personal influence of local administrators.

The aim of the research is to analyze the peculiarities of interaction and subordination of the governor to the Governor-General (Military Governor) within the system of Southern Ukraine during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and to reveal the role of these administrative relationships in the implementation of imperial policy in the region. Methods. The study applies the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity, and systematic analysis. Both general scientific and specialized historical methods are used. The article employs specific historical methods such as synchronistic, comparative-historical, and biographical approaches. A systems method was applied to study the functioning of local government bodies. Results. The results of the study show that the formation of the institutions of governor and Governor-General in the administration of Southern Ukraine, in accordance with general imperial regulations, took place in the Azov and Novorossiysk governorates in 1774–1775. From that time, models of administrative relations between these two institutions began to take shape. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive disclosure of the mechanisms and peculiarities of managerial interaction between governors and governors-general (military governors) of Southern Ukraine, their comparison in different periods during the last third of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.

Starting from 1783–1784, with the extension of the 1775 "Regulations on the Administration of Governorates" to Southern Ukraine and the appointment of G. Potemkin as President of the Military Collegium, the head of the military field office, V. Popov, began to play a key role in communications between the Governor-General and the rulers of vicegerencies and oblasts. With the appointment of P. Zubov as Governor-General, the head of the Katerynoslav vicegerency, I. Horvat, began to play an increasingly influential role in the governance of Southern Ukraine. While maintaining active communication with the Governor-General, he also actively expanded his influence in local administration.

At the end of the 18th century, with the replacement of the Governor-General by the position of Military Governor, interaction between the regional leader and governors acquired a more bureaucratic character.