En
Ru
Press law of the Emperor Alexander II
On April 6 (18), 1865 Alexander II approved the opinion of the State Council ‘On donation of some facilitation and conveniences to the national press’ and ‘On some changes and amendments to the current censor decrees’. This was the final document of the censor reform which had been prepared and implemented during the first decade of the Emperor’s reign.
Under the Emperor’s decree of January 14 (26), 1863 the Ministry of Domestic Affairs took charge of the press in the area of literature and journalism in the Russian empire. After that the Minister of Domestic Affairs P. A. Valuev created a Committee for revision of censor legislation. The object of the Committee was to ‘provide the governmental power with defensive and repressive means which did not appear in the previous censor laws’. Addressing the Commission, its chairman prince D. A. Obolensky noted that ‘the freedom of press in Russia should also develop in proportion to liberal reforms regarding other institutions’.
In summer of 1863 Obolensky commission developed a new bill on the press which consisted of 336 clauses. One of the sections of the bill included ‘The statute on the preliminary censorship’. According to the bill the Main Administration for the Press was now the central control and governing instance. In November of 1864 the bill of Regulations on Press was submitted to the State Council. It was carefully considered by the grand duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Ministers Committee president prince P. P. Gagarin, baron M. A. Korff, count V. N. Panin, princes V. A. Dolgorukov and A. M. Gorchakov, Public Education Minister, A. V. Golovin, D. N. Zamyatin, Justice Minister, D. A. Milyutin, Minister of War. After long discussions which had lasted for several months the bill was approved by the Emperor Alexander II and took effect from September 1 (13), 1865.
Exempted from the preliminary censorship were time editions, works of 10 sheets minimum, translations of 20 sheets minimum and also the government, academic and research editions issued everywhere along with edition in ancient classic languages and translations from them.
By the end of the first decade of Alexander II reign, the role of press as one of the most important mean of mass media and social governing increased enormously. The cooperation between central departments of the Russian empire and the press was based on similar ideological and political views of the administration and particular lines of press which was also backed by financial interest of publishers. During the reform period the governmental backing of private newspapers and magazines was becoming more and more widespread.
Lit.: Антонова Т. В. Борьба за свободу печати в пореформенной России 1861-1882 гг.: Автореф. дис. … док. ист. наук. Саратов, 1993; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://opentextnn.ru/old/censorship/russia/dorev/libraries/book/index.html@id=613; Бенина М. А. Законодательство о печати во 2-й половине 1850 – начале 1880-х гг. // Книга в России, 1861-1881 / Под общ. ред. И. И. Фроловой. М., 1968. Т. 1; Головачёв А. А. Закон о. печати и провинциальная печать // Десять лет реформ, 1861-1871 гг. Спб.,1872; Добровольский Л. М. К истории цензурной политики русского правительства во второй половине XIX века // Учёные записки / Ленинградский педагогический институт. 1948. T. 67. C. 260–264; Жирков Г. В. История цензуры в России XIX-XX вв.: Учеб. пособие. М., 2001; Лемке М. К. Эпохa цензурных реформ, 1859-I865 годов. CПб., 1904; Макушин Л. М. Закон о печати 6 апреля 1865 г. // Известия Уральского государственного университета. 2010. № 1 (71). С. 94-104; Патрушева Н. Г. Учреждение Главного управления по делам печати (1865 г.) и начало его деятельности // Книжное дело в России во второй половине XIX – начале XX в. Вьп. 4. Л., 1989. С. 27–34; Патрушева Н. Г. Цензурная реформа в России 1865 г.: Автореф. дис. … канд. ист. наук. Л.,1990; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://opentextnn.ru/censorship/russia-until-1917/library/patrusheva-n-g-cenzurnaja-reforma-v-rossii-1865-g/; Розенберг В. А., Якушкин B. E. Русская печать и цензура в прошлом и настоящем. М., 1905; Фирсов В. Р. Государственное законодательное регулирование деятельности библиотек. Глава 2. СПб., 2000; Чeрнуха В. Г. Правительственная политика в отношении печати, 60-е – 70-е годы XIX века. Л., 1988.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Берви-Флеровский В. В. Свобода речи, терпимость и наши законы о печати. СПб., 1869;
Мсерианц З. М. Законы о печати. М., 1868;
Сборник постановлений и распоряжений по цензуре с 1720 по 1862 г. СПб., 1862;
Скабичевский А. М. Очерки истории русской цензуры: 1700-1863 г. СПб., 1892;
Устав о цензуре: Утверждён 22 апреля 1828 г. СПб., 1829;
Энгельгардт Н. А. Очерки истории русской цензуры в связи с развитием печати (1703-1903). СПб., 1904.