PROJECTS OF RESETTLEMENT OF FOREIGNERS TO RUSSIA AND THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE (SECOND HALF OF THE XVIII CENTURY)

Abstract

The resettlement of foreign colonists to Russia in the era of Catherine II was carried out in accordance with the Manifesto published in 1763 and contracts with foreigners concluded on its basis. Sources, examples and patterns for creation of legal and normative foundation of Russian colonization were presented by information about the similar experience of reception of settlers in other European states as well as by projects and suggestions for attracting immigrants written by foreigners. Since the beginning of the 1750s, with the active participation of Russian diplomatic representatives abroad, the Collegium of Foreign Affairs collected a complex of materials on British, Danish, Dutch immigration policy during the last quarter of the 17th - first half of the 18th century. Foreigners who were in the empire at that time (including those on state service), as well as professional recruiters specially hired for “colonist affairs” and intermediaries from potential settlers, presented their own projects of colonization to the Russian government. European manifestos and “privileges”, projects and memorials of private persons - foreigners, which were analyzed during the research, demonstrate that foreign experience was took into account and adopted by the authors of the Manifesto 1763. At the same time, the rights and privileges granted to the colonists by the Catherine’s government turned out to be broader and more legally stable. With all the reservations about the imperfections of mass contracts, in general, the position of immigrants in Russia of this period can be considered quite advantageous, in any case, it was declared this way at the level of legislative acts and administrative orders.

Keywords

• colonization
• immigration policy
• catherine ii
• contract
• foreigners in russia