The Case of Pavlo Polubotok (1723)
Peter I's establishment of the First Little Russian Collegium to seize governance from the hetman's administration: the collegium was created "as the highest appellate instance and the administrative-controlling organ of the Russian state structure in Ukraine"[1]. It was accompanied by the arrest of acting hetman Polubotok and the officers for defending the autonomy: "the officers submitted to Emperor Peter I yet another petition to close the Little Russian Collegium. After this, interrogations of Polubotok began in the Secret Chancellery, and on November 10, 1723 he was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress"[2], where the hetman died. The arrest order itself was never published as a separate act - the case was run by the Secret Chancellery; the circumstances were retrospectively set out in Empress Catherine I's manifesto of 8 February 1725: "it was ordered that the General Starshyna - Polubotok, Chernysh and Savych - be in St. Petersburg to answer for it"[3].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0009 | Russian Empire | 2 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The introduction of the collegium as a parallel organ of power to seize judicial and fiscal functions from the hetman's administration: it acted "as the highest appellate instance and administrative-controlling organ"[1], and "the Little Russian Collegium for the first time channeled Ukrainian finances into the tsar's treasury in full"[1].
The arrest of the acting hetman and officers in St. Petersburg for petitions defending autonomous rights. Peter was preparing a demonstrative reprisal: "Peter I planned to hold a show trial of Polubotok and his associates, accuse them of 'high treason,' and liquidate the Ukrainian autonomy. A special General Court was created for this purpose"[4]. Only the prisoner's death derailed the plan: the hetman "died on December 21, 1724 (O.S.) of pneumonia"[4].
References
- Российская империя (ПСЗРИ); №4651 от 8 февраля 1725 г. «О мерах, принятых к отвращению притеснений... Малороссийским народом» (дело П.Полуботка, И.Черныша, С.Савича). (1830). Полное собрание законов Российской империи. Собрание первое. Том VII (1723-1727).
- Д. О. Сєров, Т. Г. Таїрова-Яковлева (УІЖ, 2015, № 6). (2015). Смерть П. Полуботка в Петербурзі.