RB 29

413 terms. This is the case, for example, with the term kamer-revizion, which Kaiser refers to as the “Kammcr-Revision(-kollcgium).'' According to Kaiser’s interpretation; diese Zusaininensetzung ist nur in einem der ersten Ukaze Peters iiber die Errichtung der Kollegium belegt. Er bezeichnet wahrscheinlich sowohl das “KamerKollegium” wie auch das “Revisions-Kollegium.” But Kaiser’s conclusion in this case is clearly incorrect. The term kamerrevizion referred only to one college, namely the revizion-kollegiia, or revenue auditing college, and it was borrowed directly from the Swedish term for the corresponding college, that is, the kammarrevisionen. A renewed linguistic and historical study of Petrine legal terms and concepts would surely reveal a series of similar examples. Foreign administrators were recruited into Russian service to help set up the administrative system that had been borrowed from Sweden. Their task was twofold, for they were to facilitate the implementation of the new administrative routines and to train their Russian colleagues. In spite of the fact that the tsar made it very attractive for foreigners to enter Russian service, the recruiting campaign did not achieve the expected results. As an alternative, then, Peter turned to the foreigners already inside Russia, that is, to the Swedish prisoners of war, in his search for foreigners with administrative expertise. As things turned out, however, it proved even more difficult to convince Swedish officers and other Swedish prisoners to enter Russian service. This negative attitude on the part of Swedish prisoners of war is explained by the fact that they were careful to avoid any commitments which might prevent their return home upon the conclusion of peace between Russia and Sweden. Once having entered Russian service, there was a very real risk that a prisoner of war would not be allowed to leave Russia, and even if he were allowed to leave, it was common knowledge that he could face severe punishment at home for serving the enemy in any capacity. According to reports dating from 1720, therefore, there were only ten Swedish prisoners of war in the service of the Russian colleges, and of them only three came from Sweden proper. At the same time, the quota of foreign officials in the colleges amounted to some ten percent of the total administrative personnel. Many problems were encountered in implementing the reforms of 1718. Having foreigners introduce the new administrative routines proved to be ineffective, since these officials not only had a poor command of the Russian language, if they had any at all, but most of them knew very little about the Swedish administrative system they were charged with introducing in Russia. It soon became apparent that the newly established administrative organs would be unable to operate according to the Swedish •* Ibid., 116. Concerning the term kamer-revizion, see above, p. 85.

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