Foreign Affairs Collegium Regulations approved

13 (24) February 1720 was approved the Regulations of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs.

The Collegium of Foreign Affairs replaced the Embassy Department and the Embassy Office by decree of Peter I of 12 (24) December 1718, which stated its tasks of maintaining relations with foreign countries.

The final arrangement of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs took place 13 (24) February, 1720. On that day, Peter I sent to the Chancellor, Count G. I. Golovkin, the signed "Rules of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs," which became in fact its regulations. It confirmed the directors appointed December 15, 1717; approved the personnel and the structure of the Collegium; determined the duties of its officials.

The governing body, the Office, was a meeting of members of the Collegium. The Collegium was headed by the president, who had the title of chancellor, his deputy was vice-president. All cases were discussed with participation of the Collegium members and assessors, and the President of the Collegim had no rights of sole manager. In cases of special importance, when the need was to write a letter to a foreign country, or a rescript to ministers, resolutions, declarations, etc., all (or some) privy counselors were invited for a meeting to the Office of the Collegim. Sometimes the meeting was attended by the emperor himself; in this case the session was attended only by one advisor to the Collegium, the remaining counselors and assessors of the Collegium were not invited; the votes were submitted in writing for the most part, rarely verbally.

The executive body of the Collegium, the Office, was divided into two departments. 1st Department of Foreign Affairs included four dispatch offices: on the allied countries in the Northern War; on opponent countries; on neutral and other countries; as well as for technical support, business correspondence, translators, personnel.

2nd Department was in charge of administrative, financial and economic affairs. It was in charge of internal control, that is, postal affairs, opening and inspection of private mail, making copies of letters sent abroad, administration of the affairs of Ural Cossacks and Kalmyks, governing of Little Russia.

Subject to the Collegium were embassies, missions and other representative offices of the Russian empire abroad. The collegium was in charge of the correspondence (including personal correspondence of Russian emperors) with foreign governments. The Collegium of Foreign Affairs also supervised the issues of stay of foreign citizens in Russia, the issuance of foreign passports to Russian nationals, the provision of Russian citizenship to immigrants from abroad, as well as exclusion from the Russian citizenship. Under the jurisdiction of the Collegium was also the management of nomadic peoples and other, re-attached peoples on the outskirts of Russia.

The Collegium of Foreign Affairs belonged (along with the Military Collegium and the Admiralty Collegium ) to the so-called state collegia. The Collegium reported directly to the emperor, bypassing the Senate (in 1726-1730 it obeyed to the Supreme Privy Council, and in 1731-1741 - to the government). At the abolition of most collegia during the implementation of the provincial reform in 1775, the Collegium of Foreign Affairs retained.

With the establishment of ministries in 1802, the Collegium was subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During 1802-1812 it had been completing its work and handing it over to the Ministry.

At various times, the presidents of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs were: G. I. Golovkin (1717-1734), A. M. Cherkassky (1734-1742), A. P. Bestuzhev-Rumin (1742-1758), M. I. Vorontsov (1758-1763, 1765-1766), N. I. Panin (1763-1765, 1766-1781), I. A. Ostermann (1781-1797), A. A. Bezborodko (1797-1799), F. V. Rastopchin (1799-1801), A. P. Kurakin (1801-1802).

10 (22) April 1832, under a decree of the Emperor, the Collegium was abolished, becoming part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lit.: Высшие и центральные государственные учреждения России. 1801-1917. СПб., 2004. Т. 4; Государственные учреждения России в XVIII в. М., 1960; Министерство иностранных дел России. 200 лет служения отечеству. Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации. М., 2002; Турилова С. Л. Государственная коллегия иностранных дел: от Петра I к Екатерине II // Российская дипломатия: история и современность: материалы науч.-практ. конф., посвященной 450-летию создания Посольского приказа. М., 2001. С. 155-168; Турилова С. Л. Коллегия иностранных дел в XVIII в. [Электронный ресурс] // Генеральное консульство Российской Федерации в Монреале. Б. д.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Collegiums creation decree issued // On this day. 22 December 1717;

Полное собрание законов Российской империи, с 1649 года. Т. 6. (1720-1722). СПб., 1830.