14 Appearing in 1892, this book carried on the traditions of the state school. In contrast to most of the earlier studies of the reformation of the Russian administration, Miliukov’s study is based on an impressive amount of archival materials, which explains why it is still considered a fundamental work on the history of Russia during the reign of Peter the Great. Miliukov’s principal thesis is that it was the Great Northern War that occasioned the reform activities in Russia. The very first years of the war threw the administration into a crisis, the direct cause of which was the sharp rise in military expenditures.^* The central administrative apparatus was unequal to the task of producing sufficient funds to cover the mounting needs of the state, and for this reason eight guberniia treasuries were established in 1708—09 for the collection of taxes. According to Miliukov, it was hoped that this would make funds available for military needs right at the source of taxation, and that the army would not have to wait for the time-consuming transfer of monies via the central treasuries in Moscow.'*- The result was that the so-called prikaz administration began to deteriorate and a vacuum arose at the center.*'* Miliukov explained that the organization of the colleges, which began in 1718, was brought about quite simply by the fact that “some sort of central state organs had to be introduced to fill the vacuum; there could be no choice between the old ones and new ones, since by this time the old ones were no longer in existence. Miliukov offered a careful account of how the collegial reform was prepared. The Swedish administrative system was selected as a model and was followed faithfully in the beginning. In view of Russia’s stage of economic development, however, the Swedish system could not be adopted without alterations. Miliukov stated that the collegial principle of decision making “was a much too delicate exotic product for [Russia] and remained, in reality, a dead letter. According to Miliukov, Peter preferred the Swedish system because it was considered the most advanced in all of Europe. In many respects, Miliukov sketched a very accurate picture of the Swedish administration when he wrote that, “as a pattern for an absolutist-bureaucratic order, it was without a doubt unique in its class after the reforms of Charles XI, outdistancing by far even the French organization, which had to reckon with too many living remains of the feudal system. ’’ 44 ” 45 ” 4») Ibid., 52S. ■'=' Ibid., 531. « Ibid., 536. Ibid., 420. Ibid., loc. cit. Ibid., 536.
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