Russia had been territorially divided in 1708, in order to create a more flexible system of control by the central power, into eight guberny, or governments, each under a governor appointed by the tsar and vested with administrative, military, and judicial authority.

These guberny in 1719 had been dissolved into fifty provintsy, or provinces, which in turn had been subdivided into districts.

The census of 1722, however, is followed by the substitution of a poll tax for the previous hearth tax; and this provokes a wave of popular discontent, against which Peter decides to distribute the army regiments (released from active service by the Peace of Nystad) in garrisons throughout the country and to make their maintenance obligatory on the local populations.

Thus comes into being the “regimental districts,” which do not coincide with the administrative.

The regimental commanders, with their own sphere of jurisdiction and their own requirements, add another layer to the already complex system of local authority.