The future Emperor Nicholas I, the third son of Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna, was born on July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796 in Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin).
As a child, Nikolai was very fond of military toys, and in 1799 for the first time put on the military uniform of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, of which he was listed as the chief from infancy. According to the traditions of that time, Nikolai began to serve at the age of six months, when he received the rank of colonel. He was trained primarily for a military career.
Baroness Charlotte Karlovna von Lieven was involved in the upbringing of Nicholas; since 1801, General Lamsdorf was entrusted with the supervision of Nikolai's upbringing. Other teachers included the economist Storch, the historian Adelung, and the lawyer Balugiansky, who failed to interest Nikolai with their subjects. He was good at engineering and fortification. Nikolai's education was limited mainly to the military sciences.
Nevertheless, from a young age, the emperor drew well, had a good artistic taste, was very fond of music, played the flute well, was a keen connoisseur of opera and ballet art.
Having married on July 1, 1817 to the daughter of the Prussian king Frederick-Wilhelm III, the German princess Frederick-Louise-Charlotte-Wilhelmina, who converted to Orthodoxy and became Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, the Grand Duke lived a happy family life, not taking part in state affairs. Before his accession to the throne, he commanded a guards division and served (since 1817) the duties of an inspector general for engineering. Already in this rank, he showed great concern for military educational institutions: on his initiative, company and battalion schools were established in the engineering troops, and in 1819 the Main Engineering School (now the Nikolaev Engineering Academy) was established; his initiative owes its appearance to the "School of Guards ensigns" (now the Nikolaev Cavalry School).
An excellent memory, which helped him to recognize by sight and remember even ordinary soldiers by name, won him great popularity in the army. The emperor was distinguished by considerable personal courage. When a cholera riot broke out in the capital, on June 23, 1831, he drove out in a carriage to a crowd of five thousand gathered on Sennaya Square and stopped the riots. He also stopped the unrest in the Novgorod military settlements caused by the same cholera. The emperor displayed extraordinary courage and determination during the fire in the Winter Palace on December 17, 1837.
The idol of Nicholas I was Peter I. Extremely unpretentious in everyday life, Nicholas, already being emperor, slept on a hard camp bed, covered with an ordinary greatcoat, observed moderation in food, preferring the simplest food, and almost did not drink alcohol. He was very disciplined, worked 18 hours a day.
Under Nicholas I, the centralization of the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, a code of laws of the Russian Empire was drawn up, and new censorship statutes were introduced (1826 and 1828). In 1837, traffic was opened on the first in Russia Tsarskoye Selo railway. The Polish uprising of 1830-1831 and the Hungarian revolution of 1848-1849 were suppressed.
During the reign of Nicholas I, the Narva Gate, the Trinity (Izmailovsky) Cathedral, the buildings of the Senate and the Synod, the Alexandrian Column, the Mikhailovsky Theater, the building of the Noble Assembly, the New Hermitage were erected, the Anichkov Bridge was reconstructed, the Blagoveshchensky Bridge across the Neva (Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge), the end pavement was laid on Nevsky prospect.
An important aspect of Nicholas I's foreign policy was the return to the principles of the Holy Alliance. The emperor sought a regime favorable to Russia in the Black Sea straits; in 1829, peace was concluded in Andrianopol, through which Russia received the eastern coast of the Black Sea. During the reign of Nicholas I, Russia took part in 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.
Nicholas I died on March 2 (February 18, O.S.), 1855, according to the official version - from a cold. Buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The emperor had seven children: Emperor Alexander II; Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, married Duchess of Leuchtenberg; Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, married Queen of Württemberg; Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna, wife of Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel; Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich; Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich; Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Nicholas I Pavlovich. Born on June 25 (July 6), 1796 in Tsarskoe Selo - died on February 18 (March 2), 1855 in St. Petersburg. Emperor of All Russia from 14 (26) December 1825, Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland.
The main dates of the reign of Nicholas I:
♦ 1826 - Establishment of the Third Section at the Imperial Chancellery - the secret police to monitor the state of mind in the state;
♦ 1826-1832 - Codification of the laws of the Russian Empire by M. M. Speransky;
♦ 1826-1828 - War with Persia;
♦ 1828 - Foundation of the Technological Institute in St. Petersburg;
♦ 1828-1829 - War with Turkey;
♦ 1830-1831 - Uprising in Poland;
♦ 1832 - Cancellation of the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, approval of the new status of the Kingdom of Poland within the Russian Empire;
♦ 1834 - The Imperial University of St. Vladimir was founded in Kiev (the university was founded by decree of Nicholas I on November 8 (20), 1833 as the Kiev Imperial University of St. Vladimir on the basis of the Vilnius University and the Kremenets Lyceum, closed after the Polish uprising of 1830-1831);
♦ 1837 - Opening of the first in Russia railway St. Petersburg - Tsarskoe Selo;
♦ 1837-1841 - The reform of the state peasants, carried out by Kiselyov;
♦ 1841 - It is forbidden to sell the peasants individually and without land;
♦ 1839-1843 - Financial reform of Kankrin;
♦ 1843 - Purchase of peasants by landless nobles is prohibited;
♦ 1839-1841 - Eastern crisis, in which Russia acted together with England against the coalition France - Egypt;
♦ 1848 - The peasants received the right to redeem themselves with land when selling the landlord's estate for debts, as well as the right to acquire real estate;
♦ 1849 - Participation of Russian troops in the suppression of the Hungarian uprising;
♦ 1851 - Completion of the construction of the Nikolaevskaya railway, which connected St. Petersburg with Moscow. Opening of the New Hermitage;
♦ 1853-1856 - Crimean War. Nikolai did not live to see its end - he died in 1855.
Father - Emperor Paul I.
Mother - Empress Maria Feodorovna.
Nikolai was the third son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. Born a few months before the accession of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich to the throne. Was the last of the grandchildren born during her lifetime. The birth of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich was announced in Tsarskoe Selo by cannon firing and bell ringing, and a messenger message was sent to St. Petersburg.
Received an unusual name for the Romanov dynasty. The court historian M. Korf even specially noted that the baby was named "unprecedented in our royal house." In the imperial house of the Romanov dynasty, children were not named after Nikolai. The sources do not contain an explanation for giving the name Nicholas, although Nicholas the Wonderworker was highly revered in Russia. Perhaps Catherine II took into account the semantics of the name, which goes back to the Greek words "victory" and "people".
Odes were written for the birth of the Grand Duke, one of which was written by G.R.Derzhavin. The namesake is December 6 according to the Julian calendar (Nicholas the Wonderworker).
According to the order established by Empress Catherine II, the Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich from his birth entered the care of the Empress, but the death of Catherine II that followed soon cut off her influence on the course of the Grand Duke's upbringing. His nanny was Charlotte Karlovna Lieven from Livonian. For the first seven years she was Nikolai's only mentor. The boy sincerely became attached to his first teacher, and during his early childhood "the heroic, chivalrous noble, strong and open character of nanny Charlotte Karlovna Lieven" left an imprint on his character.
Since November 1800, General M.I.Lamsdorf became the tutor of Nikolai and Mikhail. The choice of General Lamsdorf for the position of educator of the Grand Duke was made by Emperor Paul I. Paul I pointed out: "Just don't make my sons such rakes as German princes." In the highest order of November 23 (December 5) 1800, it was announced: "Lieutenant General Lamsdorf has been appointed to be under his Imperial Highness, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich." The general stayed with his pupil for 17 years. Obviously, Lamsdorf fully met the pedagogical requirements of Maria Fedorovna. So, in a parting letter in 1814, Maria Fedorovna called General Lamsdorf the "second father" of the Grand Dukes Nikolai and Mikhail.
The death of his father, Paul I in March 1801, could not but be imprinted in the memory of four-year-old Nicholas. Subsequently, he described what happened in his memoirs: “The events of this sad day were preserved in my memory as well as a vague dream; I was awakened and saw Countess Lieven before me. When they dressed me, we noticed through the window, on the drawbridge under the church, the guards, which were not there the day before; there was the entire Semyonovsky regiment in an extremely careless state. None of us suspected that we had lost our father; we were taken down to my mother, and soon from there we went with her, the sisters, Mikhail and Countess Lieven to the Winter Palace. The guard went out into the courtyard of the Mikhailovsky Palace and saluted. My mother immediately silenced him. My mother was lying in the back of the room when Emperor Alexander entered, accompanied by Konstantin and Prince Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov; he threw himself on his knees in front of his mother, and I can still hear his sobs. They brought him water, but they took us away. It was a pleasure for us to see our rooms again and, I must tell you the truth, our wooden horses, which we forgot there. "
This was the first blow of fate inflicted on him during the most tender age. From that time on, care for his upbringing and education was concentrated entirely and exclusively in the jurisdiction of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, out of a sense of delicacy to which Emperor Alexander I refrained from any influence on the upbringing of his younger brothers.
The greatest concerns of Empress Maria Feodorovna in the upbringing of Nikolai Pavlovich consisted in trying to divert him from the passion for military exercises, which was found in him from early childhood. The passion for the technical side of military affairs, instilled in Russia by Paul I, took deep and strong roots in the royal family - Alexander I, despite his liberalism, was an ardent supporter of the watch parade and all its subtleties, like the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. The younger brothers were not inferior in this passion to their elders. Nicholas from early childhood had a special addiction to military toys and stories about military operations. The best reward for him was permission to go to a parade or divorce, where he watched everything that happened with special attention, dwelling on even the smallest details.
Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich was educated at home - teachers were assigned to him and his brother Mikhail. But Nikolai did not show much zeal for his studies. He did not recognize the humanities, but he was well versed in the art of war, was fond of fortification, and was familiar with engineering.
Nikolai Pavlovich, having completed the course of his education, was horrified by his ignorance and after the wedding tried to fill this gap, but the predominance of military occupations and family life distracted him from constant office work. "His mind is not processed, his education was careless," Queen Victoria wrote in 1844 about Emperor Nicholas I.
Nikolai Pavlovich's hobby for painting is known, which he studied in childhood under the guidance of the painter I. A. Akimov and the author of religious and historical compositions, Professor V. K. Shebuev.
During the Patriotic War of 1812 and the military campaigns of the Russian army in Europe that followed, Nicholas was eager to go to war, but met with a decisive refusal from the empress mother. In 1813, the 17-year-old Grand Duke was taught strategy. At this time, from his sister Anna Pavlovna, with whom he was very friendly, Nicholas accidentally learned that Alexander I had visited Silesia, where he had seen the family of the Prussian king, that Alexander liked his eldest daughter Princess Charlotte, and that it was his intentions so that Nikolai would like - I saw her.
Only at the beginning of 1814, Emperor Alexander I allowed his younger brothers to come to the army abroad. On February 5 (17), 1814, Nikolai and Mikhail left Petersburg. On this trip they were accompanied by General Lamsdorf, cavaliers: I.F.Savrasov, A.P. Aledinsky and P.I. Arseniev, Colonel Gianotti and Dr. Ruhl. After 17 days, they reached Berlin, where 17-year-old Nicholas first saw the 16-year-old daughter of King Frederick William III of Prussia, Princess Charlotte.
Princess Charlotte - the future wife of Nicholas I as a child
After spending one day in Berlin, the travelers proceeded through Leipzig, Weimar, where they saw their sister Maria Pavlovna. Then through Frankfurt am Main, Bruchsal, where Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna was then staying, Rastatt, Freiburg and Basel. Near Basel, they first heard enemy shots, as the Austrians and the Bavarians besieged the nearby fortress of Güningen. Then, through Altkirch, they entered the borders of France and reached the rear of the army in Vesoul. However, Alexander I ordered the brothers to return to Basel. Only when the news of the capture of Paris and the exile of Napoleon I to the island of Elba came, did the Grand Dukes receive permission to come to Paris.
On November 4 (16), 1815, during an official dinner in Berlin, the engagement of Princess Charlotte and the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich was announced.
After the military campaigns of the Russian army in Europe, professors were invited to the Grand Duke, who were supposed to "read military sciences in the fullest possible extent." For this purpose, the famous engineering general Karl Opperman and, to help him, Colonels Gianotti and Andrei Markevich were selected.
Since 1815, military conversations between Nikolai Pavlovich and General Opperman began.
Upon his return from the second campaign, starting in December 1815, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich continued his studies with some of his former professors. Mikhail Balugiansky read "the science of finance", Nikolai Akhverdov - Russian history (from the reign to the Time of Troubles). With Markevich, the Grand Duke was engaged in "military translations", and with Gianotti - reading the works of Giraud and Lloyd about different campaigns of the wars of 1814 and 1815, as well as analyzing the project "about the expulsion of the Turks from Europe under certain given conditions."
At the beginning of 1816, the Abo University of the Grand Duchy of Finland, following the example of the universities of Sweden, petitioned all sincerely: "Will Alexander I deign to grant him a chancellor in the person of His Imperial Highness, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, with the monarch's grace?" According to the historian M.M.Borodkin, this idea belongs entirely to Tengström, the bishop of the Abo diocese, a supporter of Russia. Alexander I granted the request, and Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich was appointed Chancellor of the University. Its task was to observe the status of the university and conformity of university life to the spirit and traditions. In memory of this event, the St. Petersburg Mint minted a bronze medal. Also in 1816 he was appointed chief of the equestrian ranger regiment.
In the summer of 1816, Nikolai Pavlovich was to, to complete his education, undertake a trip across Russia to familiarize himself with his fatherland in administrative, commercial and industrial relations. Upon his return, it was also planned to make a trip to England. On this occasion, on behalf of Empress Maria Feodorovna, a special note was drawn up, which outlined the main principles of the administrative system of provincial Russia, described the areas that the Grand Duke had to pass, in historical, domestic, industrial and geographical relations, it was indicated what exactly could be the subject of conversations between the Grand Duke and representatives of the provincial government, which should be paid attention to.
Thanks to a trip to some provinces of Russia, Nikolai Pavlovich got a clear idea of \u200b\u200bthe internal state and problems of his country, and in England he got acquainted with the experience of the development of the socio-political system of the state. Nikolai's own political system of views was distinguished by a pronounced conservative, anti-liberal orientation.
The growth of Nicholas I: 205 centimeters.
Personal life of Nicholas I:
On July 1 (13), 1817, the wedding of Grand Duke Nicholas with Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, who was called Princess Charlotte of Prussia before her adoption of Orthodoxy. The wedding took place on the birthday of the young princess in the court church of the Winter Palace. A week before the wedding, on June 24 (6) July 1817, Charlotte converted to Orthodoxy and was given a new name - Alexandra Fedorovna, and after her betrothal to Grand Duke Nicholas on June 25 (7) July 1817 she became known as the Grand Duchess with the title of Her Imperial Highness. The spouses were fourth cousins \u200b\u200bto each other (they had a common great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother). This marriage strengthened the political alliance between Russia and Prussia.
Nicholas I and Alexandra Fedorovna had 7 children:
♦ son (1818-1881). 1st wife - Maria Alexandrovna; 2nd wife - Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova;
♦ daughter Maria Nikolaevna (1819-1876). 1st spouse - Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg; 2nd husband - Count Grigory Aleksandrovich Stroganov;
♦ daughter Olga Nikolaevna (1822-1892). Spouse - Friedrich-Karl-Alexander, King of Württemberg;
♦ daughter Alexandra Nikolaevna (1825-1844). Spouse - Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hesse-Kassel;
♦ son Konstantin Nikolaevich (1827-1892). Wife - Alexandra Iosifovna;
♦ son Nikolai Nikolaevich (1831-1891). Wife - Alexandra Petrovna;
♦ son Mikhail Nikolaevich (1832-1909). Wife - Olga Fedorovna.
Alexandra Fedorovna - wife of Nicholas I
The maid of honor AF Tyutcheva, who lived at court for a long time, wrote in her memoirs: “Emperor Nicholas nourished his wife, this fragile, irresponsible and graceful creature, a passionate and despotic adoration of a strong nature to a weak being, whose only ruler and legislator he feels. For him, it was a lovely bird, which he kept locked up in a golden and bejeweled cage, which he fed with nectar and ambrosia, lulled with melodies and aromas, but whose wings he would have cut off without regret if she wanted to escape from the gilded gratings of her cage ... But in her magic dungeon, the bird did not even remember her wings. "
Also had 3 to 9 alleged illegitimate children.
Nicholas I for 17 years was in connection with the maid of honor Varvara Nelidova. According to rumors, the relationship began when, after 7 births of the 34-year-old Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1832), doctors forbade the emperor to marry her out of concern for her health. The emperor's relationship with Nelidova was kept in deep secrecy.
Varvara Nelidova - mistress of Nicholas I
Decembrist revolt
Nikolai Pavlovich kept his personal diary irregularly, daily entries cover a short period from 1822 to 1825. The entries were made in French in very small handwriting with frequent abbreviations of words. The last entry was made by him on the eve of the Decembrist uprising.
In 1820, Emperor Alexander I informed Nikolai Pavlovich and his wife that the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, intended to renounce his right to the throne, therefore, Nikolai would become the heir as the next oldest brother. Nikolai himself was not at all pleased with such a prospect. In his memoirs, he wrote: “The Tsar left, but my wife and I were left in a position that I can only compare with the sensation that, I believe, will amaze a person walking calmly along a pleasant road dotted with flowers and from which the most pleasant views open up everywhere, when suddenly an abyss opens up under his feet, into which an irresistible force throws him, not allowing him to retreat or return. Here is a perfect portrayal of our dire situation. "
In 1823, Konstantin Pavlovich formally renounced his rights to the throne, since he had no children, was divorced and married a second morganatic marriage to the Polish Countess Grudzinskaya. On August 16 (28), 1823, Alexander I signed a secretly drawn up manifesto confirming the abdication of the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich and confirming the Heir to the Throne of Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich. On all the packages with the text of the manifesto, Alexander I himself wrote: "Keep until my request, and in the event of my death, disclose before any other action."
On November 19 (December 1), 1825, while in Taganrog, Emperor Alexander I died suddenly. In St. Petersburg, the news of the death of Alexander I was received only in the morning of November 27 during a prayer service for the health of the emperor. Nicholas, the first of those present, swore allegiance to "Emperor Constantine I" and began to swear in the troops. Constantine himself was at that moment in Warsaw, being the actual governor of the Kingdom of Poland. On the same day, the Council of State met, at which the contents of the Manifesto of 1823 were heard. Finding themselves in an ambiguous position, when the Manifesto pointed to one heir, and the oath was taken to another, the members of the Council turned to Nicholas. He refused to recognize the manifesto of Alexander I and refused to proclaim himself emperor until the final expression of the will of his elder brother. Despite the content of the Manifesto handed over to him, Nicholas called on the Council to take the oath to Constantine "for the peace of the State. Following this call, the Council of State, the Senate and the Synod took an oath of allegiance to "Constantine I."
The next day, a decree was issued on the widespread oath of allegiance to the new emperor. On November 30, the nobles of Moscow swore allegiance to Constantine In St. Petersburg, the oath was postponed until December 14.
Nevertheless, Konstantin refused to come to St. Petersburg and confirmed his abdication in private letters to Nikolai Pavlovich, and then sent rescripts to the chairman of the State Council (December 3 (15), 1825) and the Minister of Justice (December 8 (20), 1825). Constantine did not accept the throne, at the same time he did not want to formally renounce him as emperor, to whom the oath had already been taken. An ambiguous and extremely tense position of the interregnum was created.
Unable to convince his brother to take the throne and having received his final refusal (albeit without a formal act of abdication), Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich decided to accept the throne according to the will of Alexander I.
In the evening of December 12 (24), 1825 M. M. Speransky drew up a Manifesto on the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas I. Nicholas signed it on December 13 in the morning. The Manifesto was accompanied by a letter from Constantine to Alexander I of January 14 (26), 1822 on the renunciation of inheritance and a manifesto of Alexander I of August 16 (28), 1823.
The manifesto on the accession to the throne was announced by Nicholas at a meeting of the State Council at about 22:30 on December 13 (25). A separate clause in the Manifesto stipulated that the time of accession to the throne would be considered November 19 - the day of the death of Alexander I - which was an attempt to legally close the gap in the continuity of autocratic power.
A second oath was appointed, or, as the troops used to say, "oath" - this time to Nicholas I. The oath in St. Petersburg was scheduled for December 14th. On this day, a group of officers - members of a secret society called an uprising in order to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new tsar and preventing Nicholas I from accessing the throne. The main goal of the rebels was the liberalization of the Russian social and political system: the establishment of a provisional government, the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms (press, confession, labor), the introduction of a jury trial, the introduction of compulsory military service for all classes, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax and the change of the form of government to a constitutional monarchy or republic.
The rebels decided to block the Senate, send a revolutionary delegation there, consisting of Ryleev and Pushchin, and present the Senate with a demand not to swear allegiance to Nicholas I, declare the tsarist government deposed and issue a revolutionary manifesto to the Russian people. However, the uprising was brutally suppressed on the same day. Despite the efforts of the Decembrists to carry out a coup d'état, troops and government agencies were sworn in to the new emperor. Later, the surviving participants in the uprising were exiled, and five leaders were executed.
“My dear Constantine! Your will is fulfilled: I am the emperor, but at what price, my God! At the cost of the blood of my subjects! ", - he wrote to his brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, on December 14.
The Highest Manifesto, given on January 28 (February 9) 1826, with reference to the "Institution of the Imperial Family" on April 5 (16), 1797, decreed: until the legal majority of the Heir, Grand Duke ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH, we determine the Ruler of the State and the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, our Beloved Brother, Grand Duke MIKHAIL PAVLOVICH, who are inseparable from it.
Crowned on August 22 (September 3) 1826 in Moscow - instead of June of the same year, as originally planned - as a result of mourning for the Dowager Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, who died on May 4 in Belyov. The coronation of Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra took place in the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral.
On May 12 (24), 1829, the coronation of Nicholas I to the Kingdom of Poland took place in the Senatorial Hall of the Royal Castle - a unique event in the history of Russia and Poland.
Full title of Nicholas I as Emperor:
“By God's passing grace We are NIKOLAI the First, the Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Chersonis-Tavrichesky, Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Litovsk and Finnish, Prince of Estland, Livonia, Courland and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Belostoksky, Korelsky, Tversky, Yugorsky, Perm, Vyatsky, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod Nizov lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udora, Obdorsky, Kondiysky, Vitebsk, Mstislavsky and all the Northern sides Lord and Sovereign Iversky, Kartalinsky, Kabinskiy lands and regions; Cherkassk and Mountain Princes and other Hereditary Sovereign and Owner; The Norwegian Heir, Duke of Schleswig-Golstinsky, Stormarnsky, Dietmarsky and Oldenburgsky and so on, and so on, and so forth. "
The reign of Nicholas I
The first steps of Nicholas I after the coronation were very liberal. The poet was returned from exile, VA Zhukovsky was appointed the main teacher ("mentor") of the heir, whose liberal views could not but be known to the emperor.
The emperor closely followed the process of the participants in the December speech and gave instructions to compile a summary of their criticisms of the state administration. Despite the fact that attempts on the life of the king, according to the existing laws, were punishable by quartering, he replaced this execution by hanging.
The Ministry of State Property was headed by the hero of 1812, Count P. D. Kiselyov, a monarchist by conviction, but an opponent of serfdom. The future Decembrists Pestel, Basargin and Burtsov served under him. The name of Kiselev was presented to Nicholas I in the list of conspirators in connection with the case of the uprising. But, despite this, Kiselev, known for the impeccability of his moral rules and the talent of an organizer, made a career under Nicholas I as the governor of Moldova and Wallachia and took an active part in preparing the abolition of serfdom.
Some contemporaries wrote about his despotism. However, as historians point out, the execution of five Decembrists was the only execution in the entire 30 years of the reign of Nicholas I, while, for example, under Peter I and Catherine II, executions were numbered in the thousands, and under Alexander II, in hundreds. True, it should be noted that more than 40,000 people died during the suppression of the Polish uprising. They also note that under Nicholas I, no torture was used against political prisoners. Even historians who are critical of Nicholas I do not mention any violence during the investigation in the case of the Decembrists (to which 579 people were involved as suspects) and Petrashevites (232 people).
Nevertheless, in October 1827, in a report on the secret passage of two Jews across the river. Prut in violation of the quarantine, which noted that only the death penalty for quarantine violations can stop them, Nikolai wrote: “The perpetrators should be driven through a thousand people 12 times. Thank God, we have never had the death penalty, and it is not for me to introduce it. "
The centralization of power became the most important area of \u200b\u200bdomestic 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 with significant powers, the head of which (from 1827) was simultaneously the chief of the gendarmes. The third department was headed, which became one of the symbols of the era, and after his death (1844) - A. F. Orlov.
On December 6 (18), 1826, the first of the secret committees was created, the task of which was, firstly, to consider the papers sealed in the office of Alexander I after his death, and, secondly, to consider the issue of possible transformations of the state apparatus.
Under Nicholas I, the Polish uprising of 1830-1831 was suppressed, during which Nicholas I was declared deprived of the throne by the rebels (Decree on the detronization of Nicholas I). After the suppression of the uprising, the Kingdom of Poland lost its independence, the diet and the army, and was divided into provinces.
Some authors call Nicholas I a "knight of autocracy": he firmly defended his foundations and thwarted attempts to change the existing system, despite the revolutions in Europe. After the suppression of the uprising of the Decembrists, he launched large-scale measures in the country to eradicate the "revolutionary infection". During the reign of Nicholas I, the persecution of the Old Believers resumed, the Uniates of Belarus and Volyn were reunited with Orthodoxy (1839).
In the Volga region, forcible Russification of local peoples was carried out on a large scale. Russification was accompanied by administrative and economic coercion and spiritual oppression of the non-Russian population of the Volga region.
Emperor Nicholas I paid a lot of attention to the army. The introduction of strict discipline in the army in the first years of the reign of Nicholas I, which was subsequently maintained, was associated with the extreme licentiousness that reigned in the Russian army in the last decade of the reign of Alexander I (after the end of the war with Napoleon). Officers often went not in military uniform, but in tailcoats, even during exercises, wearing an overcoat on top. In the Semenovsky regiment, the soldiers were engaged in crafts and trade, and the proceeds were handed over to the company commander. "Private" military formations appeared. So, Mamonov, one of the richest people in Russia, formed his own cavalry regiment, which he himself commanded, while expressing extreme anti-monarchist views and calling the tsar (Alexander I) "beast". Under Nicholas I, army "democracy", bordering on anarchy, was curtailed and rigid discipline was restored.
Combat training was considered the foundation of military training. During the Eastern War, it often happened that for the construction of an insignificant field fortification, a non-commissioned engineer supervised its construction, since the infantry officer (or even a sapper who graduated from the cadet corps, and not the Mikhailovskoye or Engineering School) had not the slightest idea about the foundations of field fortification. In this situation, "a non-commissioned engineer conducted the work, the infantry soldiers were the labor force, and their officers were his overseers."
There was a similar attitude to the shooting business.
At the height of the Crimean War, due to the significant loss of officers at the front, one of the emperor's orders was the introduction of drill training in civilian gymnasiums and higher military sciences (fortifications and artillery) at universities. Thus, Nicholas I can be considered the founder of basic military training in Russia.
One of the greatest merits of Nikolai Pavlovich can be considered the codification of law. Attracted by the tsar to this work, M.M.Speransky performed a titanic work, thanks to which the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire appeared.
During the reign of Nicholas I, the position of serfs was eased. 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, which became the foundation for the abolition of serfdom. However, the complete liberation of the peasants during the life of the emperor did not take place.
For the first time, there was a sharp decline in the number of serfs - their share in the population of Russia, according to various estimates, decreased from 57-58% in 1811-1817 to 35-45% in 1857-1858, and they ceased to make up the majority of the population. Obviously, a significant role was played by the termination of the practice of "distributing" state peasants to the landowners along with the lands, which flourished under the previous tsars, and the spontaneous liberation of the peasants that began.
The position of state peasants improved, their number by the second half of the 1850s reached about 50% of the population. This improvement was mainly due to the measures taken by Count P. D. Kiselev, who was responsible for the management of state property. Thus, all state peasants were allocated their own allotments of land and plots of forest, and auxiliary cash desks and grain shops were established everywhere, which provided peasants with money loans and grain in case of crop failure. As a result of these measures, not only the welfare of state peasants increased, but also the treasury revenues from them increased by 15-20%, tax arrears decreased by half, and landless laborers who eked out a beggarly and dependent existence by the mid-1850s were practically gone. all received land from the state.
A number of laws were passed that improved the position of serfs. Thus, the landowners were strictly forbidden to sell peasants (without land) and exile them to hard labor (which was previously a common practice); serfs received the right to own land, conduct business and received relative freedom of movement. Earlier, under Peter I, a rule was introduced according to which any peasant who found himself at a distance of more than 30 miles from his village without a vacation certificate from the landlord was considered a fugitive and was subject to punishment. These strict restrictions: the obligatory leave certificate (passport) for any departure from the village, the prohibition on economic transactions and even, for example, the prohibition on giving the daughter in marriage to another village (it was necessary to pay a "ransom" to the landowner) - remained until the 19th century. and were canceled during the first 10-15 years of the reign of Nicholas I.
On the other hand, for the first time, the state began to systematically monitor that the rights of the peasants were not violated by the landowners (this was one of the functions of the Third Section), and to punish the landowners for these violations. As a result of the application of punishments to the landowners, by the end of the reign of Nicholas I, about 200 landlord estates were under arrest, which greatly affected the position of the peasants and the landlord's psychology.
Thus, serfdom under Nicholas changed its character - from the institution of slavery, it actually turned into the institution of rent in kind, which to some extent guaranteed the peasants a number of basic rights.
These changes in the position of the peasants caused discontent on the part of large landowners and nobles, who saw in them a threat to the established order.
Some reforms aimed at improving the situation of the peasants did not lead to the desired result due to the stubborn opposition of the landowners. So, on the initiative of D. G. Bibikov, who later became the Minister of Internal Affairs, in 1848 an inventory reform was launched in the Right-Bank Ukraine, the experience of which was supposed to be extended to other provinces. The inventory rules introduced by Bibikov, obligatory for landowners, established a certain size of the peasant's land plot and certain duties for it. However, many landowners ignored their implementation, and the local administration, which was dependent on them, did not take any measures.
First started mass peasant education program... The number of peasant schools in the country increased from 60, with 1,500 students in 1838, to 2,551, with 111,000 students, in 1856. In the same period, many technical schools and universities were opened - in fact, a system of vocational primary and secondary education of the country was created.
The state of affairs in industry by the beginning of the reign of Nicholas I was the worst in the history of the Russian Empire. An industry that could compete with the West, where the industrial revolution was already coming to an end, did not actually exist. In the export of Russia there were only raw materials, almost all types of industrial products needed by the country were purchased abroad.
By the end of the reign of Nicholas I, the situation had changed dramatically. For the first time in the history of the Russian Empire, a technically advanced and competitive industry began to form in the country, in particular, textile and sugar, the production of metal, clothing, wooden, glass, porcelain, leather and other products developed, and its own machine tools, tools and even steam locomotives began to be produced. ...
From 1825 to 1863, the annual output of Russian industry per worker increased threefold, while in the previous period it not only did not grow, but even declined. From 1819 to 1859, the volume of cotton production in Russia increased almost 30 times; the volume of engineering products from 1830 to 1860 increased 33 times.
For the first time in the history of Russia, under Nicholas I, intensive construction of hard-surface highways began: the Moscow - Petersburg, Moscow - Irkutsk, Moscow - Warsaw highways were built. Of the 7,700 miles of highways built in Russia by 1893, 5,300 miles (about 70%) were built between 1825-1860. The construction of railways was also started and about 1000 versts of railroad track were built, which gave an incentive to the development of its own mechanical engineering.
The rapid development of industry has led to a sharp increase in urban population and urban growth. During the reign of Nicholas I, the share of the urban population more than doubled - from 4.5% in 1825 to 9.2% in 1858.
Having ascended the throne, Nikolai Pavlovich abandoned the practice of favoritism that had dominated over the previous century. He introduced a moderate system of incentives for officials (in the form of renting estates / property and cash bonuses), which he largely controlled himself. 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. To combat corruption, under Nicholas I, regular audits were introduced for the first time at all levels. Lawsuits against officials have become commonplace. So, in 1853, there were 2,540 officials on trial. Nicholas I himself was critical of success in this area, saying that only he and the heir did not steal in his entourage.
Nicholas I demanded that only Russian be spoken at court. The courtiers, who did not know their native language, learned a number of phrases and pronounced them only when they received a sign that the emperor was approaching.
Nicholas I suppressed the slightest manifestations of freethinking. In 1826, a censorship charter was issued, nicknamed by his contemporaries "cast iron". It was forbidden to print almost everything that had any political overtones. In 1828, another censorship charter was issued, somewhat softening the previous one. A new increase in censorship was associated with the European revolutions of 1848. It got to the point that in 1836 the censor PI Gaevsky, after serving 8 days in the guardhouse, doubted whether it was possible to let in the press news like that "such and such a king died." When in 1837 in St. Petersburg Vedomosti a note was published about an attempt on the life of the French king Louis-Philippe I, Count Benckendorff immediately notified the Minister of Education S.S.Uvarov that he considered it “indecent to publish such news in the statements, especially by the government published ".
In September 1826, Nicholas I received Alexander Pushkin, who was released from Mikhailov's exile, listened to his confession that on December 14, 1825, Pushkin would have been with the conspirators, but he acted graciously with him: he saved the poet from general censorship (he decided to censor his writings himself) , instructed him to prepare a note "On public education", called him after the meeting "the smartest man in Russia" (however, later, after the death of Pushkin, spoke of him and about this meeting very coldly).
In 1828, Nicholas I dropped the case against Pushkin about the authorship of the "Gabrieliada" after the poet's own handwritten letter, which, according to many researchers, was handed over to him personally, bypassing the commission of inquiry, which, in the opinion of many researchers, was recognized as the author of the seditious work after long denials. However, the emperor never fully trusted the poet, seeing in him a dangerous "leader of the liberals," Pushkin was under police surveillance, his letters were revised; Pushkin, having gone through the first euphoria, which was also expressed in poetry in honor of the tsar ("Stanza", "Friends"), by the mid-1830s also began to assess the sovereign ambiguously. “He has a lot of ensign and a little of Peter the Great,” Pushkin wrote about Nicholas in his diary on May 21 (June 2) 1834; at the same time, the diary also notes "sensible" remarks to the "History of Pugachev" (the sovereign edited it and gave Pushkin a loan of 20 thousand rubles), ease of use and good language of the tsar.
In 1834, Pushkin was appointed chamber-junker of the imperial court, which greatly bothered the poet and was also reflected in his diary. Pushkin could sometimes afford not to come to balls, to which Nicholas I personally invited him. Pushkin, on the other hand, preferred communication with writers, and Nicholas I showed him his displeasure. The role played by the emperor in the conflict between Pushkin and Dantes is assessed by historians controversially. After the death of Pushkin, Nicholas I appointed a pension to his widow and children, while limiting the performances in memory of the poet, showing, in particular, his dissatisfaction with the violation of the ban on dueling.
As a result of the policy of strict censorship, Alexander Polezhaev was arrested for free poetry, and was twice exiled to the Caucasus. By order of the emperor, the magazines "European", "Moscow Telegraph", "Telescope" were closed, its publisher Nadezhdin was also persecuted, F. Schiller was banned from staging in Russia.
In 1852 he was arrested and then administratively exiled to the village for writing an obituary dedicated to the memory (the obituary itself was not passed by the censor). The censor was also injured when he let Turgenev's "Notes of a Hunter" go to press, in which, in the opinion of the Moscow Governor-General, Count AA Zakrevsky, "a decisive direction towards the destruction of the landowners was expressed."
In 1850, by order of Nicholas I, the play "Our people - we will be numbered" was banned from staging. The Committee for the Highest Censorship was dissatisfied with the fact that among the characters brought out by the author there was “not one of those venerable merchants of ours, in whom piety, righteousness and straightforwardness of mind constitute a typical and integral part”.
The censorship also did not allow some jingoistic patriotic articles and works containing harsh and politically undesirable statements and views, which happened, for example, during the Crimean War with two poems. From one ("The Prophecy") Nicholas I crossed out with his own hand a paragraph in which it was a question of raising a cross over the Constantinople Sophia and about the "all-Slavic king"; the other ("Now you have no time for poetry") was forbidden for publication by the minister, obviously in view of the "somewhat harsh tone of presentation" noted by the censor.
Having received a good engineering education in his youth, Nicholas I showed a fair amount of knowledge in the field of construction equipment... So, he made good proposals for the dome of the Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Later, already holding the highest position in the state, he closely followed the order in urban planning, and not a single significant project was approved without his signature.
He issued a decree regulating the height of private buildings in the capital. The decree limited the height of any private building to the width of the street on which the building is being built. At the same time, the height of a residential private building could not exceed 11 sazhens (23.47 m, which corresponds to the height of the cornice of the Winter Palace). Thus, the famous St. Petersburg city panorama that existed until recently was created. Knowing the requirements for choosing a suitable site for the construction of a new astronomical observatory, Nikolai personally indicated a place for it on the top of Pulkovskaya Mountain.
The first nationwide railways appeared in Russia, including the Nikolaev railway. It is likely that Nicholas I first got acquainted with the technologies of steam locomotive building and railway construction at the age of 19 during a trip to England in 1816, where the future emperor visited the engineer Stephenson's railway.
Nicholas I, having studied in detail the technical data of the railways proposed for the construction, demanded an expansion of the Russian track in comparison with the European one (1524 mm versus 1435 in Europe), thereby excluding the possibility of delivering the armed forces of a potential enemy deep into Russia. The gauge adopted by the Emperor was proposed by the road builder, the American engineer Whistler, and corresponded to the 5-foot gauge adopted at that time in some "southern" states of the United States.
The high relief of the monument to Nicholas I in St. Petersburg depicts an episode of his inspector's trip on the Nikolaev railway, when his train stopped at the Verebinsky railway bridge.
The naval defense of St. Petersburg under Admiral Travers relied on a system of wood and earth fortifications near Kronstadt, armed with obsolete short-range cannons, which allowed the enemy to destroy them from long distances without hindrance. Already in December 1827, at the direction of the Emperor, work began on replacing wooden fortifications with stone ones. Nicholas I personally considered the projects of the fortifications proposed by the engineers and approved them. And in some cases (for example, during the construction of the fort "Emperor Paul the First"), he made specific proposals to reduce the cost and speed up the construction.
Nicholas I, realizing the need for reforms, considered their implementation a long and careful matter. He looked at a state subordinate to him, as an engineer looks at a complex but deterministic mechanism in its functioning, in which everything is interconnected and the reliability of one part ensures the correct operation of others. The ideal of the social order was army life, completely regulated by regulations.
Foreign policy of Nicholas I was concentrated on three main directions of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire: the fight against the revolutionary movement in Europe; the eastern question, including Russia's struggle for control of the Bosporus and Dardanelles; as well as the expansion of the empire, advancement in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
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 "the gendarme of Europe." Thus, at the request of the Austrian Empire, Russia took part in the suppression of the Hungarian revolution, sending a 140,000-strong corps to Hungary, which was trying to free itself from the oppression from Austria; as a result, the throne of Franz Joseph was saved. The latter circumstance did not prevent the Austrian emperor, who feared an excessive strengthening of Russia's positions in the Balkans, from soon taking a position unfriendly to Nicholas during the Crimean War and even threatening her with entering the war on the side of the coalition hostile to Russia, which Nicholas I regarded as an ungrateful treachery; Russian-Austrian relations were hopelessly spoiled until the end of the existence of both monarchies.
The Eastern question occupied a special place in the foreign policy of Nicholas I.
Under Nicholas I, Russia abandoned plans to divide the Ottoman Empire, which were discussed under the previous tsars (Catherine II and Paul I), and began to pursue a completely different policy in the Balkans - a policy of protecting the Orthodox population and ensuring its religious and civil rights, up to political independence ... This policy was first applied in the Akkerman Treaty with Turkey in 1826. Under this treaty, Moldova and Wallachia, while remaining within the Ottoman Empire, received political autonomy with the right to elect their own government, which was formed under the control of Russia. After half a century of the existence of such autonomy, the state of Romania was formed on this territory - according to the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878.
Along with this, Russia sought to ensure its influence in the Balkans and the possibility of unhindered navigation in the straits (Bosphorus and Dardanelles).
During the Russian-Turkish wars of 1806-1812. and in 1828-1829, Russia made great strides in implementing this policy. At the request of Russia, which declared itself the patroness of all Christian subjects of the Sultan, the Sultan was forced to recognize the freedom and independence of Greece and the broad autonomy of Serbia (1830); According to the Unkar-Iskelesiyskiy Treaty (1833), which marked the peak of Russian influence in Constantinople, Russia received the right to block the passage of foreign ships into the Black Sea (which was lost as a result of the conclusion of the Second London Convention in 1841).
The same reasons - support of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire and disagreements over the Eastern question - pushed Russia to aggravate relations with Turkey in 1853, which resulted in its declaration of war on Russia. The beginning of the war with Turkey in 1853 was marked by the brilliant victory of the Russian fleet under the command of the admiral, who defeated the enemy in the Sinop Bay. This was the last major battle of the sailing fleets.
Russia's military successes provoked a negative reaction in the West. The leading world powers were not interested in strengthening Russia at the expense of the decrepit Ottoman Empire. This created the basis for a military alliance between England and France. Nicholas I's miscalculation in assessing the internal political situation in England, France and Austria led to the fact that the country found itself in political isolation.
In 1854 England and France entered the war on the side of Turkey. Due to its technical backwardness, it was difficult for Russia to resist these European powers. The main hostilities took place in the Crimea.
In October 1854, the Allies laid siege to Sevastopol. The Russian army suffered a series of defeats and was unable to provide assistance to the besieged fortress city. Despite the heroic defense of the city, after an 11-month siege, in August 1855, the defenders of Sevastopol were forced to surrender the city.
At the beginning of 1856, following the results of the Crimean War, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed. Under its terms, Russia was forbidden to have naval forces, arsenals and fortresses on the Black Sea. Russia was becoming vulnerable from the sea and was deprived of the opportunity to conduct an active foreign policy in this region.
Generally during the reign of Nicholas I, Russia took part in wars: Caucasian War 1817-1864, Russian-Persian War 1826-1828, Russian-Turkish War 1828-1829, Crimean War 1853-1856.
Death of Nicholas I
He died, according to historical sources, "at twelve minutes of the first hour in the afternoon" on February 18 (March 2), 1855. According to the official version - due to pneumonia (caught a cold while taking a parade in a light uniform, being already sick with the flu). The funeral service was performed by Metropolitan Nikanor (Klementyevsky).
According to some historians of medicine, the death of the emperor could have occurred due to the consequences of a severe trauma he received on August 26 (September 7), 1836, during a study trip to Russia. Then, as a result of a night road traffic accident that happened near the town of Chembar, Penza province, Emperor Nicholas I received a fracture of the collarbone and shock concussion. The diagnosis was made by an accidental physician who, probably, was not able to diagnose the condition of the victim's internal organs. The emperor was forced to stay for two weeks in Chembar to recover. As soon as his health stabilized, he continued his journey. Due to these circumstances, Emperor Nicholas I, after a serious injury, was for a long time without qualified medical care.
The Emperor maintained complete composure at the approach of death. He managed to say goodbye to each of the children and grandchildren and, having blessed them, turned to them with a reminder that they should remain friendly with each other. The last words of the emperor, addressed to his son Alexander, was the phrase "Hold tight ...".
Immediately thereafter, rumors spread widely in the capital that Nikolai had committed suicide. The disease began against the background of disappointing news from besieged Sevastopol and escalated after receiving news of the defeat of General Khrulev near Evpatoria, which was perceived as a harbinger of an imminent defeat in the war, which Nikolai, according to his character, could not survive. The tsar's exit to the parade in frost without an overcoat was perceived as an intention to get a deadly cold, according to the stories, the physician-in-chief Mandt told the tsar: "Sovereign, this is worse than death, this is suicide!"
It can be said with certainty that the illness (mild flu) began on January 27, noticeably intensified on the night of February 4, and in the afternoon the already sick Nikolai went to a divorce; after that, he fell ill for a short time, quickly recovered, on February 9, despite the objections of doctors, in 23-degree frost, without an overcoat, he went to the inspection of the marching battalions. The same thing happened on February 10 in an even more severe frost. After that, the disease worsened, Nikolai spent several days in bed, but the powerful organism took over, on February 15 he has been working all day.
No bulletins were issued about the health of the tsar at that time, which shows that the disease was not considered dangerous. On the evening of February 14, a courier arrived with a message about the defeat at Evpatoria. The news made the most overwhelming impression, especially since Nikolai himself was the initiator of the attack on Evpatoria.
On February 17, the emperor's condition suddenly and sharply worsened, and on the morning of February 18, a painful agony began, which lasted several hours (which does not happen with pneumonia). According to an immediately spreading rumor, the Emperor, at his request, was given poison by the life-medic Mandt. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna directly accused Mandt of poisoning her brother. The emperor forbade the autopsy and embalming of his body.
Nikolaevskaya Square in Kazan and Nikolaevskaya Hospital in Peterhof are named in honor of Nicholas I.
In honor of Emperor Nicholas I, about a dozen monuments were erected in the Russian Empire, mainly various columns and obelisks, in memory of his visit to this or that place. Almost all of the sculptural monuments to the Emperor (with the exception of the equestrian monument in St. Petersburg) were destroyed during the Soviet period.
Currently, there are the following monuments to the Emperor:
St. Petersburg. Equestrian monument on St. Isaac's Square. Opened on June 26 (July 8) 1859, sculptor P.K. Klodt. The monument has been preserved in its original form. The surrounding fence was dismantled in the 1930s and recreated again in 1992.
St. Petersburg. Bronze bust of the Emperor on a high granite pedestal. It was opened on July 12, 2001 in front of the facade of the building of the former psychiatric department of the Nikolaev military hospital, founded in 1840 by order of the Emperor (now the St. Petersburg Regional Military Clinical Hospital), Suvorovsky prospect, 63. Initially, a monument to the Emperor, which is a bronze bust on granite pedestal, was opened in front of the main facade of this hospital on August 15 (27), 1890. The monument was destroyed shortly after 1917.
St. Petersburg. A plaster bust on a high granite pedestal. Opened on May 19, 2003 on the main staircase of the Vitebsk railway station (Zagorodny prospect, 52), sculptors V. S. and S. V. Ivanov, architect T. L. Torich.
Velikiy Novgorod. Image of Nicholas I at the Millennium of Russia monument. Opened in 1862, sculptor - M.O. Mikeshin.
Moscow. The monument to the “Creators of Russian Railways” at the Kazan railway station is a bronze bust of the emperor, surrounded by famous figures of the railway industry of his reign. Opened on August 1, 2013.
A bronze bust of Emperor Nicholas I was inaugurated on July 2, 2015 on the territory of the Nikolo-Berlyukovsky Monastery in the village of Avdotino, Moscow Region (sculptor A. A. Appolonov).
St. Nicholas Cathedral of the city of Starobelsk. In 1859, a place was determined for the construction of the temple - between Malaya Dvoryanskaya and Sobornaya, Classical and Nikolaevskaya streets. The temple was built in the Baroque style and solemnly consecrated in 1862. The temple is considered an architectural monument of the 19th century and is protected by the state.
The following names were named after Nicholas I: the battleship that participated in the Battle of Tsushima and surrendered to the Japanese after it, the battleship laid down in 1914, but unfinished due to the Civil War, and the civil steamer, on which Louis de Heeckeren and Georges Dantes arrived in Russia and sailed away to Europe Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol.
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nicholas I, state awards were established by decree of Nicholas II, namely two commemorative medals. The medal "In memory of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I" was awarded to persons who served during the reign of Nicholas I, the medal "In memory of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I" for pupils of educational institutions was awarded to pupils of military educational institutions who studied during the reign of Nicholas I, but rights they did not have the first medal.
The image of Nicholas I in the cinema:
1910 - "The Life and Death of Pushkin";
1911 - "Defense of Sevastopol";
1918 - "Father Sergiy" (actor Vladimir Gaidarov);
1926 - The Decembrists (actor Yevgeny Boronikhin);
1927 - The Poet and the Tsar (actor Konstantin Karenin);
1928 - "Secrets of the Ancient Family", Poland (actor Pavel Overllo);
1930 - "White Devil" Germany (actor Fritz Alberti);
1932 - "House of the Dead" (actor Nikolai Vitovtov);
1936 - "Prometheus" (actor Vladimir Ershov);
1943 - Lermontov (actor A. Savostyanov);
1946 - "Glinka" (actor B. Livanov);
1951 - "Taras Shevchenko" (actor M. Nazvanov);
1951 - Belinsky (actor M. Nazvanov);
1952 - “Composer Glinka” (actor M. Nazvanov);
1959 - "Hadji Murat - the White Devil" (actor Milivoye Zhivanovic);
1964 - Sleep (actor);
1965 - "The Third Youth" (actor V. Strzhelchik);
1967 - "Green Carriage" (actor V. Strzhelchik);
1967 - "Wake up Mukhin!" (actor V. Zakharchenko);
1968 - "The mistake of Honore de Balzac" (actor S. Polezhaev);
1975 - "The Star of Captivating Happiness" (actor V. Livanov);
2010 - "Death of Vazir-Mukhtar" (actor A. Zibrov);
2013 - The Romanovs. The seventh film "(actor S. Druzhko);
2014 - "Duel. Pushkin - Lermontov "(actor V. Maksimov);
2014 - Fort Ross: In Search of Adventure (actor Dmitry Naumov);
2016 - "The Monk and the Devil" (actor Nikita Tarasov);
2016 - "Decembrists' Case" (actor Artyom Efremov)
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 entrusted to General Lamzdorf. Home education consisted of the study of economics, history, geography, law, engineering and fortification. Special emphasis was placed on learning 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 Alexandra Feodorovna. And from that time on, the Grand Duke began to actively take 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, in the army, he was disliked for being excessively 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 of allegiance 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 participants in various secret societies, which went down in history as the uprising of the Decembrists.
The plan of the revolutionaries 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 division 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. Uncultivated lands in Siberia and the Urals began to be developed, peasants were sent to their uplift regardless of their desire. Infrastructure was created on the new lands, the peasants were supplied with new agricultural machinery.
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 to introduce a unified system for 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 "the 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 into 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 aroused 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.
Emperor Nicholas I was born on June 25 (July 6), 1796. He was the third son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. Received a good education, but did not recognize the humanities. He was well versed in the art of war and fortification. He had a good command of engineering. However, despite this, the king was not loved in the army. Severe corporal punishment and coldness led to the fact that his nickname Nikolai Palkin was fixed in the soldier's environment.
In 1817 Nikolai married the Prussian princess Frederick-Louise-Charlotte-Wilhelmina.
Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I, possessing amazing beauty, became the mother of the future emperor, Alexander II.
Nicholas I ascended the throne after the death of his older brother Alexander I. Constantine, the second contender for the throne, renounced his rights while his older brother was still alive. Nicholas I did not know about this and first swore allegiance to Constantine. Later this short period will be called the interregnum. Although the manifesto on the accession to the throne of Nicholas I was published on December 13 (25), 1825, legally, the reign of Nicholas I began on November 19 (December 1). And the very first day was darkened on the Senate Square. The uprising was suppressed, and its leaders were executed in 1826. But Tsar Nicholas I saw the need to reform the social system. He decided to give the country clear laws, while relying on the bureaucracy, since the credibility of the nobility was undermined.
The internal policy of Nicholas I was distinguished by extreme conservatism. The slightest manifestation of free thought was suppressed. He defended the autocracy with all his might. The secret office under the leadership of Benckendorff was engaged in political investigations. After the censorship charter came out in 1826, all printed publications with the slightest political overtones were banned. Russia under Nicholas I rather strongly resembled the country of the era.
The reforms of Nicholas I were notable for their limitations. The legislation was streamlined. Under the leadership, the release of the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire began. Kiselev carried out a reform of the management of state peasants. Peasants were allotted lands when they moved to uninhabited areas, medical posts were built in villages, innovations in agricultural technology were introduced. But this was done by force and caused sharp discontent. In 1839-1843. a financial reform was also carried out, which established the ratio between the silver ruble and banknotes. But the question of serfdom remained unresolved.
The foreign policy of Nicholas I pursued the same goals as the domestic policy. During the reign of Nicholas I, Russia fought against the revolution not only within the country, but also outside its borders. In 1826-1828. as a result of the Russian-Iranian war, Armenia was annexed to the country's territory. Nicholas 1 condemned the revolutionary processes in Europe. In 1849 he dispatched Paskevich's army to suppress the Hungarian revolution. In 1853 Russia joined
The third son of Paul I, brother of Alexander I, Nicholas (1796-1855), ascended the throne in 1825 and ruled Russia for three decades. His time is the apogee of autocracy in Russia.
In 1796, in the last year of the reign of Catherine II, her third grandson was born, who was named Nicholas. He grew up a healthy and strong child, standing out among his peers in height. He lost his father at the age of four. He did not have a close relationship with his older brothers. He spent his childhood in endless war games with his younger brother. Looking at Nicholas, Alexander I thought with anguish that this frowning, angular teenager would eventually take his throne.
Nikolai studied unevenly. Social sciences seemed boring to him. However, he was drawn to the exact and natural sciences, and he was really fond of military engineering. Once he was given an essay on the theme that military service is not the only occupation of a nobleman, that there are other occupations, honorable and useful. Nikolai did not write anything, and the teachers had to write this essay themselves, and then dictate it to their student.
Unlike Alexander I, Nicholas I was always alien to the ideas of constitutionalism and liberalism. ... In everyday life, he was very unpretentious. He retained severity even with his family. Once, being already the emperor, he talked with the governor in the Caucasus. At the end of the conversation, as usual, he asked about his wife's health. The governor complained about her upset nerves. “Nerves?” Nikolai asked. “The Empress also had nerves. But I said that there were no nerves, and they were gone."
Having visited England, Nikolai expressed a wish that all these talkers who make noise at rallies and in clubs would be speechless. But in Berlin, at the court of his father-in-law, the Prussian king, he felt at home. German officers were surprised how well he knew the Prussian military regulations.
In 1819, his brother, Emperor Alexander I, announced that the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, wanted to renounce his right of succession to the throne, therefore, Nicholas would become the heir as the next oldest brother. Formally, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich renounced his rights to the throne in 1823, since he had no children in a legal marriage and was married by a morganatic marriage to the Polish Countess Grudzinskaya. 
KONSTANTIN PAVLOVICH ROMANOV
On August 16, 1823, Alexander I signed a manifesto appointing his brother Nikolai Pavlovich as heir to the throne.
However, Nikolai Pavlovich refused to proclaim himself emperor until the final expression of the will of his elder brother. Nicholas refused to recognize Alexander's will, and on November 27 the entire population was sworn in to Constantine, and Nikolai Pavlovich himself swore allegiance to Constantine I as emperor. But Konstantin Pavlovich did not accept the throne, at the same time he did not want to formally renounce him as emperor, to whom the oath had already been taken. An ambiguous and very tense position of the interregnum was created, which lasted twenty-five days, until December 14.
After the death of Emperor Alexander I and the renunciation of the throne of Grand Duke Constantine, Nicholas was nevertheless proclaimed emperor on December 2 (14), 1825.
During the reign of Nicholas I Pavlovich, Russia took part in the wars: the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, the Russian-Persian War of 1826-1828, the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-29, and the Crimean War of 1853-56.
Among the people, Nicholas I received the nickname "Nikolai Palkin", because in childhood he beat his comrades with a stick. In historiography, this nickname was established after the story of L.N. Tolstoy "After the Ball".
Nicholas I Pavlovich died suddenly on February 18 (March 2), 1855 at the height of the Crimean War; according to the most common version - from transient pneumonia (caught a cold shortly before his death, taking a military parade in a light uniform) or flu. The emperor forbade doing an autopsy on himself and embalming his body.
There is a version that Nicholas the First committed suicide by drinking poison, due to defeats in the Crimean War. After his death, the Russian throne was inherited by his son, Alexander II.
Nicholas led an ascetic and healthy lifestyle. The growth of Nicholas I Pavlovich was 205 cm. He was a believing Orthodox Christian, he himself did not smoke and did not like smokers, did not drink strong drinks, walked a lot and did drill with weapons. He was distinguished by remarkable memory and great working capacity. Archbishop Innokenty wrote about him: "It was ... such a crown bearer for whom the royal throne served not as a head to peace, but as an incentive to unceasing labor." According to the memoirs of the maid of honor of Her Imperial Majesty Mrs. Anna Tyutcheva, the favorite phrase of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich was: "I work like a galley slave."
All historians agree on one thing: Nicholas the First Pavlovich was undoubtedly a prominent figure among the rulers-emperors of Russia.
Monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square
The monument to another royal person - Tsar Nicholas I - was opened on July 25, 1859, shortly after the death of the Tsar, on St. Isaac's Square in St. Petersburg. The author of the sculpture project is Auguste Montferrand, Petr Klodt worked on the horse project, the pedestal was made by architects N. Efimov and A. Poirot, sculptors R. Zaleman and N. Ramazanov.
The monument to Nicholas I is unique in terms of an engineering find: a massive sculpture over 16 meters high has only two points of support - the horse's hind legs. The casting technology used here is the same as for the Bronze Horseman. The sculptural portrait depicts the emperor in the ceremonial uniform of the Cavalry Regiment. On four sides, the monument is surrounded by beautifully executed lanterns.
The pedestal of the monument is also a work of sculpture art. It is decorated with allegorical figures of Wisdom, Strength, Faith and Justice in the form of female images. According to legend, Nikolai's wife and his three daughters posed for these figures. Also on the pedestal are high reliefs depicting the main events of the reign of Nicholas I: the uprising of the Decembrists in 1825, the suppression of the cholera riot on Sennaya Square in 1831, awarding Speransky for compiling the first set of laws in 1832, the opening of the Verebyinsky bridge on the St. Petersburg railway -Moscow in 1851. The facing of the pedestal consists of several types of marble, red Shoksha porphyry, red Finnish and dark gray Serdobolsk granite