During the eighteenth century, postal affairs were in the hands of the Senate, but in 1809 they were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1830 a Main Postal Administration was established as a separate government organ, and it was superseded from 1865 to 1868 by a new Ministry of Post and Telegraph. After 1868 the postal system again became part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The turmoil of the Russian Revolutions and Civil War greatly affected the postal system. Services had to be reestablished gradually as outlying areas were subdued by the Bolsheviks. At the center, a new ministry, The People’s Commissariat of Post and Telegraph (Narkompochtel) was established, but it was not until the mid-1920s that services were restored across the country. In 1924 the “circular-post” was set up, whereby horse-drawn carts were used to distribute mail and sell postal supplies along regular routes. Within a year, the network had 4,279 routes with more than 43,000 stopping points, and it covered 275,000 kilometers (170,900 miles). Permanent village postmen emerged in larger settlements as well in 1925, and they became responsible for home delivery when that aspect of the postal service was created in 1930.
In 2002 the postal system was divided administratively into ninety-three regional postal departments with 40,000 offices and 300,000 employees. However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the postal system has declined dramatically. Letters routinely take weeks to arrive, and a sizeable number of customers are beginning to bypass the postal system in favor of private courier services. In order to remain profitable, many post offices have had to branch out into a wide array of services, including offering Internet access or renting some of their space to other retail outlets. The Russian government has also begun to consider the idea of merging the regional departments into a single joint-stock company to be called “Russian Post.” See also: MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rowley, Alison. (2002). “Miniature Propaganda: Self-Definition and Soviet Postage Stamps, 1917-1941.” Slavonica 8:135-157. Skipton, David, and Michalove, Peter. (1989). Postal Censorship in Imperial Russia. Urbana, IL: J. H. Otten.
(1739-1791), prince, secret husband of Catherine II, statesman, commander, imperial viceroy, eccentric.
Grigory Potemkin’s life contains many mysteries. His year of birth and paternity are both disputed. His father, Alexander Vasilievich Potemkin (c. 1690-1746), an irascible retired army officer from the Smolensk region, courted young Daria Skuratova (1704-1780) while she was still married. Grigory was the fifth born and sole male of seven children. A Moscow cousin provided care for the family after the father’s death. At school in Moscow, Potemkin displayed remarkable aptitude in classical and modern languages and Orthodox theology. Clerical friends led him to consider a church career. Potemkin entered the Horse Guards while continuing school at age sixteen. In 1757 he was one of a dozen students presented at court by Ivan Shuvalov, curator of Moscow University. Despite a gold medal, his academic career ceased with expulsion for laziness and truancy. He began active service with the Guards in Petersburg, participating in Catherine’s coup of July 1762, for which he was promoted to chamber-gentleman and granted six hundred serfs. Accidental loss of an eye-mistakenly blamed on his patrons, the Orlov brothers-lent mystique to his robust physique and ebullient personality. He became assistant procurator of the Holy Synod in 1763 and spokesman for the non-Russian peoples at the Legislative Commission of 1767-1768. On leave from court for active army service in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, he fought with distinction under Field Marshal Peter Rumyantsev from 1769 to December 1773. At Petersburg he dined at court in autumn 1770, enhancing a reputation for devilish intelligence and wit, hilarious impersonations, and military exploits.
After Catherine’s break from Grigory Orlov in 1772-1773, she sought a fresh perspective amid multiple crises. In December 1773 she invited Potemkin to Petersburg to win her favor. Installation as official favorite swiftly followed. He sat beside her at dinner and received infatuated notes several times per day. He was made honorary sub-colonel of the Preobrazhensky Guards, member of the Imperial Council, vice-president (later president) of the War Department, commander of all light cavalry and irregular forces, and governor-general of New Russia, and given many decorations capped
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by Catherine’s miniature portrait in diamonds- only Grigory Orlov had another. Potemkin helped to conclude the war on victorious terms, to oversee the end of the Pugachev Revolt, and to craft legislation strengthening provincial government against renewed disorders.
Apparently the lovers arranged a secret wedding in Petersburg on June 19, 1774. They spent most of 1775 in Moscow to celebrate victories over the Turks and Pugachev, ceremonies that Potemkin choreographed. Catherine supposedly gave birth to Potemkin’s daughter, Elizaveta Grigorevna Temk-ina (a tale debunked in Simon Montefiore’s biography). From early 1776, despite elevation to Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Potemkin drifted away as a result of persistent quarrels over power and rivals. In New Russia he supervised settlement and arranged annexation of the Crimea, finally accomplished with minimal bloodshed in 1783 and renamed the Tauride region. This was part of the Greek Project that Potemkin and Catherine jointly pursued in alliance with Austria and that foresaw expulsion of the Turks from Europe and reconsti-tution of the Byzantine Empire under Russian tutelage. The couple constantly corresponded about all matters of policy and personal concerns, especially hypochondria. She regretted his ailments however petty, but when she fell into depression from favorite Alexander Lanskoi’s death in 1784, Potemkin rushed back to direct her recovery. He planned the flamboyant Tauride Tour of 1787 that took her to Kiev, then by galley and ship to the Crimea, and then back via Moscow. This inspired the myth of “Potemkin villages,” a term synonymous with phony display. He was awarded the surtitle of Tavrichesky (“Tauride”) during the tour.
The Turks declared war in August 1787, Potemkin taking supreme command of all Russian forces in the south. He panicked for some weeks when the new Black Sea fleet was scattered by storms and Ottoman invasion threatened, but Catherine kept faith in his military abilities, and Potemkin led Russia to land and sea victories that eventually won the war in 1792. He missed the final victory, however, dying theatrically in the steppe outside Jassy on October 16, 1791. See also: CATHERINE II; PUGACHEV, EMELIAN IVANOVICH; RUSSO-TURKISH WARS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, John T. (1989). Catherine the Great: Life and Legend. New York: Oxford University Press. Madariaga, Isabel de. (1981). Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great. New Haven: Yale University Press. Montefiore, Simon Sebag. (2000). Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Raeff, Marc. (1972). “In the Imperial Manner.” In Catherine the Great: A Profile, ed. Marc Raeff. New York: Hill and Wang.
The Potemkin Mutiny that took place during the 1905 Russian Revolution on board of battleship Knyaz Potemkin Tavricheskiy of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on June 14-25, 1905.
The Potemkin, commissioned in 1902, was commanded by Captain Golikov. On June 14, while at sea on artillery maneuvers, its sailors protested over the quality of meat that was brought on board that day for their supper. The ship’s doctor inspected the meat and declared it fit for human consumption.
The sailors, dissatisfied with this verdict, sent a deputation, headed by Grigory Vakulenchuk, a sailor and a member of the ship’s Social Democrat organization, to Golikov. There was a confrontation between the delegation and Commander Gilyarovsky, the executive officer, who killed Vakulenchuk. This sparked a revolt, during which Golikov, Gilyarovsky, and other senior officers were killed or thrown overboard. Afanasy Ma-tushenko, a torpedo quartermaster and one of leaders of the ship’s Social Democrats, took command.
On June 15, the Potemkin arrived at Odessa, where the crew hoped to get support from striking workers. At 6 A.M., the body of Vakulenchuk was brought to the Odessa Steps, a staircase that connected the port and the city. By 10 A.M., some five thousand Odessans gathered there in support of the sailors. The gathering was peaceful throughout the day, but toward evening there was rioting, looting, and arson throughout the harbor front. By 9:30 P.M., loyal troops occupied strategic posts in the port and started firing into the crowd.
