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This is a brand new addition to the site. Created by Ilya Morozov. I am going to crosslink the pins and the picture of the blazons and crests. As I have several hundreds of them, it will take awhile.
Large Coat of Arms of Russian Empire was instituted on November 3, 1882. It is a black double-headed eagle in the gold shield under three imperial crowns. There is a blazon of Moscow of the eagle's chest. The shield is crowned with the helmet of Alexander Nevsky and supported by St. Andrey and archangel St. Gavriil. Motto: S nami Bog! (God with Us!). On the top of Large Coat of Arms there is a state gonfalon. Main shield is surrounded by fifteen shields with the blazons of Kingdoms and Principalities.
For the first time provinces have appeared in Russia in the beginning ofXVIIIth century. On December 18, 1708, Petr I has signed the Decree about division of thecountry into provinces: " Great Czar has specified... for the common benefit of the nation tomake provinces and to arrange cities among them".
The main reason of reform of 1708 was a necessity to change the system offinancing and food-material support of army (overland regiments, garrisons of fortresses,artillery and fleet were assigned to provinces and by means of the special commissionersreceived money and food). Originally provinces were 8, then their number has grown up to 23.
In 1775 Ekaterina II carried out the reform of province administration.In her "Regulations for Provinces Administration of Russian Empire" the following wasmarked: "Because of great extensiveness of some provinces, they are unsufficiently supplied,as with governments, as with people for administrative staff...". The statistical principlewas assumed as a basis of new administrative division - the amount of population of each provincewas limited (300 - 400 thousand souls, 20 - 30 thousand on district). Instead of 23 provinceswas created 50.
The Provisional Government, which came to power in the beginning of March,1917, saved the whole system of province establishments, only governors were replacedby the province commissioners. But in a parallel way the system of Soviets already has arisen.The socialist revolution saved sharing on provinces, however liquidated all old administrativesystem. The division on provinces completely disappeared in 30th years of XXth century.