Siberian Exile and Its Reformation during Reign of Peter Great (XVII—XVIII)

Abstract

The history of the formation and development of the Siberian criminal exile, the main link in the all-Russian system of execution of punishment in the Russian Empire during the 18th— 19th centuries is discussed in the article. It is shown that the exile to Siberia appeared already at the end of the 16th century, however, during this period, called “Moscow”, it did not yet have a proper organization. The study provides examples that convincingly prove that it was only under Peter I and thanks to his efforts that the Siberian exile began to acquire a legal and organized character, began to play an important role in the protective and punitive system of the state. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time an attempt was made to comprehensively study the transformations of Peter the Great in the field of legal regulation of the system of hard labor and exile, which is shown on the example of Siberia in the 17th—18th centuries. It is shown that it was under Peter that criminal exile and hard labor became not only forms of punishment for criminals, but also the main way to use free labor in the construction of strategically important facilities for the country located on the borders of the Russian Empire.