Northwestern Krai (Russian: Северо-Западный край ) was a krai of the Russian Empire (unofficial subdivision) in the territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (present-day Belarus and Lithuania ). The administrative center was in Vilna (now Vilnius ). Northwestern Krai together with the Southwestern Krai , which was composed of the territories formerly belonging to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (now present-day Ukraine ), formed the Western Krai .
17-582: It included six Governorates : 54°N 26°E / 54°N 26°E / 54; 26 This Russian history –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Belarus location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Lithuanian location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Governorate (Russia) A governorate ( Russian : губе́рния , romanized : gubérniya , pre-1918 spelling : губе́рнія , IPA: [ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə] )
34-408: A Department of Heraldry , which managed matters relating to the rights of the nobles and honorary citizens. Count Ivan Musin-Pushkin , Boyar Tikhon Streshnev , Prince Petr Golitsyn , Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov , Grigoriy Plemiannikov, Prince Grigory Volkonsky [ ru ] , General Mikhail Samarin , Quartermaster general Vasiliy Apukhtin and Nazariy Melnitskiy . As an ober-secretary
51-452: A governor of an oblast or a krai . The Russian Empire had nine governorates in modern-day Ukrainian territories: Chernigov , Kharkov , Kherson , Kiev , Podolia , Poltava , Volhynia , Yekaterinoslav , and Taurida . Additional lands annexed from Poland in 1815 were organized into the Kholm governorate in 1912. After the events of 1917, which led to the declaration of independence of
68-525: A word borrowed from Latin gubernator , in turn from Greek kyvernítis ( Greek : κυβερνήτης ). Selected governorates were united under an assigned governor-general such as the Grand Duchy of Finland , Congress Poland , Russian Turkestan and others. There were also military governors such as Kronstadt , Vladivostok and others. Aside from governorates, other types of divisions were oblasts (region) and okrugs (district). This subdivision type
85-860: The Ukrainian People's Republic , these governorates became subdivisions, which also annexed Ukrainian-inhabited parts of Mogilev , Kursk , Voronezh and Minsk governorates in 1918. By the end of the Soviet–Ukrainian War in 1920, the Bolsheviks had made them part of the Ukrainian SSR . Soviet Ukraine was reorganized into 12 governorates, which were reduced to nine in 1922 upon the Soviet Union 's founding, and then replaced with okruhas in 1925. The West Ukrainian People's Republic in former Austro-Hungarian Empire territory
102-710: The Soviet Union into particular territorial units was subject to numerous changes, especially during the 1918–1929 period. Because of the Soviet Union's electrification program under the GOELRO plan , Ivan Alexandrov directed the Regionalisation Commission of Gosplan to divide the Soviet union into thirteen European and eight Asiatic oblasts , using rational economic planning rather than "the vestiges of lost sovereign rights". Eventually, in 1929,
119-403: The subdivision was replaced by the notions of oblast, okrug , and raion . Oblast as a unit was used even before the revolution, although unlike governorates it designated remote areas that usually incorporated huge swaths of land. In post-Soviet states such as Russia and Ukraine, the term Guberniya is considered obsolete, yet the word gubernator was reinstated and is used when referring to
136-492: The term governorate general ( генерал-губернаторство , general-gubernatorstvo ) was in use to refer to the actual territory being governed. The office of governor general had more administrative power and was in a higher position than the previous office of governor. Sometimes a governor general ruled several governorates. By the ukase of the Russian Senate of December 31, 1796, the office of governorate general
153-617: Was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire . After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in the Byelorussian , Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics, and in the Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 until 1929. The term is also translated as government or province . A governorate was headed by a governor ( губернатор , gubernator ),
170-613: Was also applied to subdivisions of the Kingdom of Poland ("Russian Poland") and the Grand Duchy of Finland . After the February Revolution , the Russian Provisional Government renamed governors into governorate commissars . The October Revolution left the subdivision in place, but the governing apparatus was replaced by governorate soviets ( губернский совет ). Actual subdivisions of
187-463: Was based on population size, and the term guberniya was replaced by the synonym of Russian origin: namestnichestvo ( наместничество ), sometimes translated as "viceroyalty", other times as " vicegerency ". The term guberniya , however, still remained in use. These viceroyalties were governed by namestniki ( наместник ) (literal translation: "deputy") or " governors general " ( генерал-губернатор , general-gubernator ). Correspondingly,
SECTION 10
#1732773112835204-532: Was created by the edict ( ukase ) of Peter the Great on December 18, 1708 "On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them", which divided Russia into eight governorates . In 1719, governorates were further subdivided into provinces ( Russian : провинции , romanized : provintsii ). Later the number of governorates was increased to 23 . By the reform of 1775, subdivision into governorates and further into uezds ( Russian : уезды ),
221-486: Was demoted to the previous level of governorate, and Russia was again divided into governorates, which were subdivided into uezds, further subdivided into volosts ( волость ); nevertheless several governorates general made from several governorates existed until the Russian Revolution of 1917 . The governorate ( Russian : губе́рния , Polish : gubernia , Swedish : län , Finnish : lääni ) system
238-547: Was first set at nine and, in 1712, increased to ten. Any disagreements between the Chief Procurator and the Senate were to be settled by the monarch. Certain other officials and a chancellery were also attached to the Senate. While it underwent many subsequent changes, it became one of the most important institutions of imperial Russia, especially for administration and law. The State Council , created by Alexander I ,
255-544: Was instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire . It was chaired by the Procurator General , who served as the link between the sovereign and the Senate; he acted, in the emperor's own words, as "the sovereign's eye". Originally established only for the time of Peter's absence, it became a permanent body after his return. The number of senators
272-721: Was not subdivided into governorates, and would be annexed by the Second Polish Republic from 1920 until the Soviet invasion of 1939 . There is another meaning of the word as it denoted a type of estate in Lithuania of the until 1917. Governing Senate From 1711 to 1917, the Governing Senate was the highest legislative, judicial, and executive body subordinate to the Russian emperors . The senate
289-531: Was supposed to inherit the executive power of the Senate. An envisioned parliament was to inherit legislative power, but that never happened. In the 19th century, the Senate evolved into the highest judicial body in Russia. As such, it exercised control over all legal institutions and officials throughout the country. The Senate was composed of several departments, two of which were Courts of Cassation (one for criminal cases, one for civil cases). It also included
#834165