Nikolai Pavlovich Romanov, the future Emperor Nicholas I, was born on July 6 (June 25, O.S.) 1796 in Tsarskoe Selo. He became the third son of Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna. Nicholas was not the eldest son and therefore did not claim the throne. It was assumed that he would devote himself to a military career. At the age of six months, the boy received the rank of colonel, and at the age of three he already sported the uniform of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment.
The responsibility for the upbringing of Nikolai and his younger brother Mikhail was assigned to General Lamzdorf. Home education was the study of economics, history, geography, jurisprudence, engineering and fortification. Special emphasis was placed on the study of foreign languages: French, German and Latin. The humanities did not give Nikolai much pleasure, but everything related to engineering and military affairs attracted his attention. As a child, Nikolai mastered playing the flute and took drawing lessons, and this acquaintance with art allowed him in the future to be considered a connoisseur of opera and ballet.
In July 1817, Nikolai Pavlovich's wedding took place with Princess Frederica Louise Charlotte Wilhelmina of Prussia, who after baptism took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna. And from that time on, the Grand Duke began to take an active part in the arrangement of the Russian army. He was in charge of engineering units, under his leadership were created schools in companies and battalions. In 1819, with his assistance, the Main Engineering School and schools for guards ensigns were opened. Nevertheless, the army disliked him for being too pedantic and picky about trifles.
In 1820, a turning point took place in the biography of the future Emperor Nicholas I: his elder brother Alexander I reported that in connection with the refusal of the heir to the throne, Constantine, the right to reign passed to Nicholas. For Nikolai Pavlovich, the news came as a shock, he was not ready for this. Despite the protests of his younger brother, Alexander I secured this right with a special manifesto.
However, on December 1 (November 19, O.S.), 1825, Emperor Alexander I suddenly died. Nicholas again tried to abandon the reign and shift the burden of power to Constantine. Only after the promulgation of the tsarist manifesto, indicating the heir to Nikolai Pavlovich, he had to agree with the will of Alexander I.
The date of the oath before the troops on Senate Square was December 26 (December 14, O.S.). It was this date that became decisive in the performance of the members of various secret societies, which went down in history as the Decembrist uprising.
The revolutionaries' plan was not implemented, the army did not support the rebels, and the uprising was suppressed. After the trial, five leaders of the uprising were executed, and a large number of participants and sympathizers went into exile. The reign of Nicholas I began very dramatically, but there were no other executions during his reign.
The royal wedding took place on August 22, 1826 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, and in May 1829 the new emperor assumed the rights of the autocrat of the Polish kingdom.
The first steps of Nicholas I in politics were quite liberal: AS Pushkin returned from exile, VA Zhukovsky became the heir's mentor; Nikolai's liberal views are also indicated by the fact that the Ministry of State Property was headed by PD Kiselev, who is not a supporter of serfdom.
Nevertheless, history has shown that the new emperor was an ardent supporter of the monarchy. Its main slogan, defining state policy, was expressed in three postulates: autocracy, Orthodoxy and nationality. The main thing that Nicholas I was striving for and what Nicholas I was striving for with his policy was not to create something new and better, but to preserve and improve the already existing order.
The emperor's desire for conservatism and blind adherence to the letter of the law led to the development of even greater bureaucracy in the country. In fact, a whole bureaucratic state was created, the ideas of which continue to live to this day. The most severe censorship was introduced, a unit of the Secret Chancellery, headed by Benckendorff, was created, which led a political investigation. A very close supervision of the printing business was established.
During the reign of Nicholas I, some changes also affected the existing serfdom. They began to develop uncultivated lands in Siberia and the Urals, the peasants were sent to their uplift regardless of their desire. Infrastructure was created on the new lands, the peasants were supplied with new agricultural equipment.
The first railway was built under Nicholas I. The track of Russian roads was wider than European ones, which contributed to the development of domestic technology.
The reform of finance began, which was supposed to introduce a unified system of calculating silver coins and banknotes.
Concern about the penetration of liberal ideas into Russia occupied a special place in the tsar's policy. Nicholas I strove to destroy all dissent not only in Russia, but throughout Europe. The suppression of all kinds of uprisings and revolutionary riots did not do without the Russian tsar. As a result, he received the well-deserved nickname "gendarme of Europe".
All the years of the reign of Nicholas I were filled with military operations abroad. 1826-1828 - Russian-Persian war, 1828-1829 - Russian-Turkish war, 1830 - suppression of the Polish uprising by Russian troops. In 1833, the Unkar-Iskelesi treaty was signed, which became the highest point of Russian influence on Constantinople. Russia received the right to block the passage of foreign ships to the Black Sea. True, this right was soon lost as a result of the conclusion of the Second London Convention in 1841. 1849 - Russia was an active participant in the suppression of the uprising in Hungary.
The culmination of the reign of Nicholas I was Crimean War... It was she who was the collapse of the political career of the emperor. He did not expect Great Britain and France to come to Turkey's aid. The policy of Austria also caused fear, the unfriendliness of which forced the Russian Empire to keep an entire army on the western borders.
As a result, Russia lost influence in the Black Sea and lost the ability to build and use military fortresses on the coast.
In 1855, Nicholas I fell ill with the flu, but, in spite of malaise, in February he went to a military parade without outerwear ... The emperor died on March 2, 1855.
All-Russian Emperor Nicholas 1 ascended the throne on December 14 (26th according to the new style), 1825. The period of his reign lasted almost 30 years, until his death, which followed on February 18 (March 2), 1855. The years of the reign of Nicholas 1 were accompanied by the almost constant participation of Russia in hostilities, the strengthening of the monarchy and the development of the bureaucracy. The main goal of this ruler's policy was to preserve the existing order. Nicholas 1 had a negative attitude to the reforms, which carried something progressive. Reforms, of course, were carried out (for example), but for such a long reign there were not very many of them.
Main features of the board
Only the first time the emperor had signs of liberality. A.S. Pushkin was allowed to return from exile, and the poet V.A. Zhukovsky. Later, during the reign of Nicholas 1 in Russia, there was a transfer of army orders into civilian life. The king admitted that he was comfortable among the military people, because in their society there was order, discipline and subordination. It was order that he wanted to see in all government bodies. Under Nicholas 1, bureaucracy and police power were strengthened, because he was convinced that this would not allow revolutions in the country.
Wars in the era of Nicholas 1
All the time while the emperor was in power, Russia was conducting military operations in its own and foreign territories. Here are just some of the events of that time:
- War with Persia 1826-1828;
- Russian-Turkish confrontation in 1828-1829;
- Suppression of the uprising in Poland in 1830;
- Participation in the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1849 (assistance to the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph);
- Crimean War of 1853-1856
In 1817, a military operation began, associated with the annexation of regions to Russia North Caucasus... The war ended in 1864, when the country was already ruled by the son of Nicholas Alexander 2.
Major events during the reign
The reign of Nicholas 1 began from a dramatic moment. The date for taking the oath at Senate Square in St. Petersburg was chosen for the speech by members of secret communities. It went down in history as an uprising of the Decembrists, in which the troops did not support the rebels. Five instigators of this protest event were executed, but later in the era of Nicholas I no executions were carried out.
Trying to see what was happening with his own eyes, the monarch traveled a lot around the country. As a result, a road network began to form in Russia, and the first railway appeared, connecting St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo. There were many opponents of the appearance of a new transport, even among the closest circle of the ruler. They believed that the locomotive would destroy all forests in its furnaces, and in winter, due to icing, the trains would slip. However, history has proven otherwise.
The main military operation during the reign of Nicholas 1 is called the Crimean War of 1853-1856. It is believed that it was the finale of the emperor's political career. The arrival of Great Britain and France to help Turkey, as well as the meanness of the Austrian emperor, came as a surprise to Russia. The country did not suffer territorial damage, but its prestige was greatly undermined.
Outcomes
The reign of Nicholas 1 is an era of absolute flourishing of the monarchy in its bureaucratic form and the struggle against the spread of revolutionary sentiments in society. The suppression of the uprisings in Poland and Hungary endowed the Russian tsar with the reputation of the gendarme of Europe.
His reign ended for Russia with a rise in industrial production and a collapse in foreign policy. The Crimean War showed its technical backwardness from Western states and led to political isolation.
The fifteenth Russian autocrat from the Romanov dynasty, was born in 1796. Since he was the third son in the family of Emperor Pavel Petrovich, no one prepared him for the reign. Nikolai, like other great dukes, received an excellent military education. His interests included engineering, fortification, drafting. But the humanities of the future sovereign were of little interest.
Nikolai's family, including his older brother Alexander, from an early age saw him as more of a military man than a politician, so he practically did not involve him in state affairs. But Nikolai Pavlovich's guard knew perfectly well: stern and extremely hot-tempered, he more than once began to discipline her.
After the sudden death of Emperor Alexander I and the unauthorized renunciation of the crown of Konstantin Pavlovich, the second elder brother, Nicholas "ascended" to the throne. On the day when the newly-made autocrat decided to declare himself one, the Decembrists came to Senate Square, unwilling to swear allegiance to the new sovereign. The consequences of the rebellion, which left a serious imprint on the entire reign of Nikolai Pavlovich, are well known.
Russia under Nicholas I
Despite the fact that attempts on the life of the tsar were punishable by quartering according to the laws then existing, Nicholas I replaced this execution by hanging. Some contemporaries wrote about his despotism. At the same time, historians note that the execution of five Decembrists was the only one in the entire thirty years of the reign of Nicholas I. For comparison, for example, under Peter I and Catherine II, executions were numbered in the thousands, and under Alexander II - in hundreds. They also note that under Nicholas I, no torture was used against political prisoners.
Nicholas I. (wikipedia.org)
The centralization of power has become the most important area of domestic policy. To carry out the tasks of political investigation in July 1826, a permanent body was created - the Third Section of the Personal Chancellery - a secret service, which had significant powers. The first of the secret committees was also created, the task of which was, firstly, to consider papers sealed in the office of Alexander I after his death, and, secondly, to consider the issue of possible transformations of the state apparatus.
Some authors call Nicholas I a "knight of autocracy": he firmly defended the foundations of absolutism and thwarted attempts to change the existing system, despite the revolution in Europe. After the suppression of the uprising of the Decembrists, he launched large-scale measures in the country to eradicate the "revolutionary infection".
Nicholas I announces an uprising in Poland to his guards. (wikipedia.org)
Nicholas I focused on discipline within the army, since then licentiousness reigned in it. He emphasized so much that the minister during the reign of Alexander II wrote in his notes: “Even in the military business, which the emperor was engaged in with such passion, the same concern for order and discipline prevailed; military purpose, but only outward harmony, behind a brilliant appearance at parades, pedantic observance of countless petty formalities that blunt the human mind and kill the true military spirit. "
During the reign of Nicholas I, meetings of commissions were held to alleviate the situation of serfs. So, a ban was introduced to exile peasants to hard labor, to sell them one by one and without land, the peasants received the right to ransom from the estates being sold. A reform of the management of the state village was carried out and a "decree on obliged peasants" was signed. These transformations became the foundation for the abolition of serfdom.
One of the greatest merits of Nikolai Pavlovich can be considered the codification of law. Attracted by the tsar to this work, Mikhail Speransky performed a titanic work, thanks to which the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire appeared.
Nicholas I in the general general uniform. (wikipedia.org)
The state of affairs in industry by the beginning of the reign of Nicholas I was the worst in the entire history of the Russian Empire. By the end of the reign of Nicholas I, the situation had changed a lot. For the first time in the history of the Russian Empire, a technically advanced and competitive industry began to form in the country. Its rapid development has led to a sharp increase in the urban population.
For the first time in the history of Russia, under Nicholas I, intensive construction of paved highways began.
He introduced a moderate system of incentives for officials, which he largely controlled. Unlike previous reigns, historians have not recorded large gifts in the form of palaces or thousands of serfs, granted to any nobleman or royal relative.
Nicholas I at construction work. (wikipedia.org)
An important aspect of foreign policy was the return to the principles of the Holy Alliance. The role of Russia in the fight against any manifestations of the “spirit of change” in European life has grown. It was during the reign of Nicholas I that Russia received the unflattering nickname "gendarme of Europe."
Russian-Austrian relations were hopelessly spoiled until the end of the existence of both monarchies.
Russia under Nicholas I abandoned plans to divide Ottoman Empire, which were discussed under the previous emperors (Catherine II and Paul I), and began to pursue a completely different policy in the Balkans - the policy of protecting the Orthodox population and ensuring its religious and civil rights up to political independence.
During the reign of Nicholas I, Russia took part in the wars: the Caucasian War of 1817 - 1864, the Russian-Persian War of 1826 - 1828, the Russian-Turkish War of 1828 - 1829, and the Crimean War of 1853 - 1856.
As a result of the defeat of the Russian army in the Crimea in 1855, at the beginning of 1856, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed, according to the terms of which Russia was prohibited from having naval forces, arsenals and fortresses on the Black Sea. Russia became vulnerable from the sea and was deprived of the opportunity to conduct an active foreign policy in this region. Also in 1857, a liberal customs tariff was introduced in Russia. The result was an industrial crisis: by 1862, pig iron smelting in the country fell by a quarter, and cotton processing decreased by 3.5 times. The rise in imports led to a drain on money from the country, a deterioration in the trade balance and a shortage of funds in the treasury.
Death of Nicholas I
At the beginning of March 1855, a manifesto appeared in the printed editions of Russia, which amazed not only Russian readers, but the whole world: “Emperor Nicholas I died”. The official cause of death was pneumonia, which Nikolai Pavlovich earned while taking the parade in a mild form. And yet what happened did not fit into the minds of his contemporaries: the physically strong emperor, a real Spartan, who rarely complained of illness, suddenly fell, and even so lightning fast.
Rumors spread. The first thought is suicide. Allegedly, Nikolai, who did not manage to recover from the defeat in the Crimean War, took poison. The second - the emperor was poisoned by his doctor, the German Martin Mandt. It’s hard to say how it really was. Apparently, the failures - both inside and outside the country - severely crippled Nikolai Pavlovich.
Russian society perceived the death of the emperor in different ways. Some, believing that the country had lost the “fearless knight”, “the worker on the throne,” sincerely grieved. Others, who never forgave Nicholas the reprisals against the Decembrists, breathed a sigh of relief, hoping in the depths of their hearts that his son, Alexander II, would be able to build a "new" Russia.
Rise to power
After the childless Emperor Alexander the First, the Russian throne, by virtue of the laws of succession to the throne, was to pass to his brother, Konstantin Pavlovich, who bore the title of Tsarevich. But back in 1819, Emperor Alexander, in a confidential conversation, informed his younger brother, Nikolai Pavlovich, that he was soon to ascend the throne, since he decided to abdicate and retire from the world, and brother Constantine also renounces his rights to the throne. After this conversation, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich began to diligently fill in the gaps in his education by reading. But, having no official paper on the abdication of his brother, Grand Duke Constantine from the rights to the succession to the throne, Nikolai Pavlovich, having learned about the death of Alexander, was the first to take the oath to Emperor Constantine. But then, during an extraordinary meeting of the State Council, a sealed package was opened, laid there by Emperor Alexander the First back in 1823, with a handwritten inscription: "Keep until my request, and in the event of my death, disclose before any other action, in an extraordinary meeting ". Similar sealed packages were kept, just in case, also in the synod, the Senate and the Moscow Dormition Cathedral; their content was not known to anyone. The opened packages contained:
1) a letter from Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich to the late Tsar on January 14, 1822 about his voluntary abdication from the Russian throne, with a request to confirm this intention by his imperial word and the consent of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna;
2) the answer of Alexander I of February 2 of the same year about consent to the request of Konstantin Pavlovich both from his side and from the Empress-mother;
3) the manifesto of August 16, 1823, confirming the right to the throne, on the occasion of the voluntary abdication of the Tsarevich, for the Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich. But after opening and reading, the Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich himself still refused to proclaim himself emperor until the final expression of the will of his older brother. Confirmation by Constantine of his previous abdication was received in St. Petersburg on December 12, and on the same day a manifesto on the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas I followed.
Governing body
From the very beginning of his reign, Nicholas I declared the need for reforms and created a "committee on December 6, 1826" to prepare the reforms. A large role in the state began to play "His Majesty's Own Chancellery", which was constantly expanding with the creation of many departments.
Nicholas I instructed a special commission under the leadership of M.M. Speransky to develop a new Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. By 1833, two editions were printed: "The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire", starting with the Cathedral Code of 1649 and up to the last decree of Alexander I, and "The Code of Laws of the Russian Empire". The codification of laws carried out under Nicholas I streamlined Russian legislation, facilitated the conduct of legal practice, but did not bring about changes in the political and social structure of Russia.
Emperor Nicholas I, in his spirit, was an autocrat and an ardent opponent of the introduction of a constitution in the country and liberal reforms. In his opinion, society should live and act like a good army, regulated and by law. The militarization of the state apparatus under the auspices of the monarch is a characteristic feature of the political regime of Nicholas I.
He was extremely suspicious of public opinion, literature, art, education fell under the censorship, and measures were taken to restrict periodicals. As a national dignity, official propaganda began to extol like-mindedness in Russia. The idea of "The people and the tsar are one" was dominant in the education system in Russia under Nicholas I.
According to the "theory of official nationality" developed by S.S. Uvarov, Russia has its own way of development, does not need the influence of the West and should be isolated from the world community. Under Nicholas I, the Russian Empire was called the "gendarme of Europe" for keeping the peace in European countries from revolutionary uprisings.
In social policy, Nicholas I emphasized the strengthening of the estate system. To protect the nobility from "littering", the "December 6 Committee" proposed to establish an order according to which the nobility was acquired only by inheritance. And for service people to create new classes - "bureaucratic", "eminent", "honorable" citizens. In 1845, the emperor issued the "Decree on entitlements" (the indivisibility of noble estates during inheritance).
Serfdom under Nicholas I enjoyed the support of the state, and the tsar signed a manifesto in which he stated that there would be no changes in the position of serfs. But Nicholas I was not a supporter of serfdom and secretly prepared materials on the peasant question in order to make things easier for his followers.
The most important aspects of foreign policy during the reign of Nicholas I were the return to the principles of the Holy Alliance (Russia's struggle against revolutionary movements in Europe) and the Eastern question. Russia under Nicholas I participated in the Caucasian War (1817-1864), the Russian-Persian War (1826-1828), the Russian-Turkish War (1828-1829), as a result of which Russia annexed the eastern part of Armenia , the entire Caucasus, received the eastern coast of the Black Sea.
During the reign of Nicholas I, the most memorable was the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Russia was forced to fight against Turkey, England, France. During the siege of Sevastopol, Nicholas I was defeated in the war and lost the right to have a naval base on the Black Sea.
The unsuccessful war showed the backwardness of Russia from the advanced European countries and how unviable the conservative modernization of the empire turned out to be.
Nicholas I died on February 18, 1855. Summing up the results of the reign of Nicholas I, historians call his era the most unfavorable in the history of Russia, since the Time of Troubles.
Nikolai Pavlovich Romanov, the future Emperor Nicholas I, was born on July 6 (June 25, O.S.) 1796 in Tsarskoe Selo. He became the third son of Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna. Nicholas was not the eldest son and therefore did not claim the throne. It was assumed that he would devote himself to a military career. At the age of six months, the boy received the rank of colonel, and at the age of three he already sported the uniform of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment.
The responsibility for the upbringing of Nikolai and his younger brother Mikhail was assigned to General Lamzdorf. Home education consisted of the study of economics, history, geography, law, engineering, and fortification. Special emphasis was placed on the study of foreign languages: French, German and Latin. The humanities did not give Nikolai much pleasure, but everything related to engineering and military affairs attracted his attention. As a child, Nikolai mastered playing the flute and took drawing lessons, and this acquaintance with art allowed him in the future to be considered a connoisseur of opera and ballet.
In July 1817, Nikolai Pavlovich's wedding took place with Princess Frederica Louise Charlotte Wilhelmina of Prussia, who after baptism took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna. And from that time on, the Grand Duke began to take an active part in the arrangement of the Russian army. He was in charge of engineering units, under his leadership educational institutions were created in companies and battalions. In 1819, with his assistance, the Main Engineering School and schools for guards ensigns were opened. Nevertheless, the army disliked him for being too pedantic and picky about trifles.
In 1820, a turning point took place in the biography of the future Emperor Nicholas I: his elder brother Alexander I reported that in connection with the refusal of the heir to the throne, Constantine, the right to reign passed to Nicholas. For Nikolai Pavlovich, the news came as a shock, he was not ready for this. Despite the protests of his younger brother, Alexander I secured this right with a special manifesto.
However, on December 1 (November 19, O.S.), 1825, Emperor Alexander I suddenly died. Nicholas again tried to abandon the reign and shift the burden of power to Constantine. Only after the promulgation of the tsarist manifesto, indicating the heir to Nikolai Pavlovich, he had to agree with the will of Alexander I.
The date of the oath before the troops on Senate Square was December 26 (December 14, O.S.). It was this date that became decisive in the performance of the members of various secret societies, which went down in history as the Decembrist uprising.
The revolutionaries' plan was not implemented, the army did not support the rebels, and the uprising was suppressed. After the trial, five leaders of the uprising were executed, and a large number of participants and sympathizers went into exile. The reign of Nicholas I began very dramatically, but there were no other executions during his reign.
The royal wedding took place on August 22, 1826 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, and in May 1829 the new emperor assumed the rights of the autocrat of the Polish kingdom.
The first steps of Nicholas I in politics were quite liberal: AS Pushkin returned from exile, VA Zhukovsky became the heir's mentor; Nikolai's liberal views are also indicated by the fact that the Ministry of State Property was headed by PD Kiselev, who is not a supporter of serfdom.
Nevertheless, history has shown that the new emperor was an ardent supporter of the monarchy. Its main slogan, defining state policy, was expressed in three postulates: autocracy, Orthodoxy and nationality. The main thing that Nicholas I was striving for and what Nicholas I was striving for with his policy was not to create something new and better, but to preserve and improve the already existing order.
The emperor's desire for conservatism and blind adherence to the letter of the law led to the development of even greater bureaucracy in the country. In fact, a whole bureaucratic state was created, the ideas of which continue to live to this day. The most severe censorship was introduced, a unit of the Secret Chancellery, headed by Benckendorff, was created, which led a political investigation. A very close supervision of the printing business was established.
During the reign of Nicholas I, some changes also affected the existing serfdom. They began to develop uncultivated lands in Siberia and the Urals, the peasants were sent to their uplift regardless of their desire. Infrastructure was created on the new lands, the peasants were supplied with new agricultural equipment.
The first railway was built under Nicholas I. The track of Russian roads was wider than European ones, which contributed to the development of domestic technology.
The reform of finance began, which was supposed to introduce a unified system of calculating silver coins and banknotes.
Concern about the penetration of liberal ideas into Russia occupied a special place in the tsar's policy. Nicholas I strove to destroy all dissent not only in Russia, but throughout Europe. The suppression of all kinds of uprisings and revolutionary riots did not do without the Russian tsar. As a result, he received the well-deserved nickname "gendarme of Europe".
All the years of the reign of Nicholas I were filled with military operations abroad. 1826-1828 - Russian-Persian war, 1828-1829 - Russian-Turkish war, 1830 - suppression of the Polish uprising by Russian troops. In 1833, the Unkar-Iskelesi treaty was signed, which became the highest point of Russian influence on Constantinople. Russia received the right to block the passage of foreign ships to the Black Sea. True, this right was soon lost as a result of the conclusion of the Second London Convention in 1841. 1849 - Russia was an active participant in the suppression of the uprising in Hungary.
The culmination of the reign of Nicholas I was the Crimean War. It was she who was the collapse of the political career of the emperor. He did not expect Great Britain and France to come to Turkey's aid. The policy of Austria also caused fear, the unfriendliness of which forced the Russian Empire to keep an entire army on the western borders.
As a result, Russia lost influence in the Black Sea and lost the ability to build and use military fortresses on the coast.
In 1855, Nicholas I fell ill with the flu, but, in spite of malaise, in February he went to a military parade without outerwear ... The emperor died on March 2, 1855.