Russian Empire during the reign of Nicholas I. Russian Empire during the reign of Nicholas I Policy regarding education and enlightenment

The most handsome man in Europe in the days of his life, who was not forgotten even after death, is Nicholas 1. Years of reign - from one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five to one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. In the eyes of his contemporaries, he immediately becomes a symbol of formalism and despotism. And there were reasons for that.

The reign of Nicholas 1. Briefly about the birth of the future king

The young tsar managed to maintain his composure both when he came face to face with the rebel life grenadiers of Lieutenant Panov at the gates of the Winter Palace, and when standing in the square he persuaded the rebel regiments to submit. The most surprising thing, as he said later, was that he was not killed that same day. When persuasion did not work, the king used artillery. The rebels were defeated. The Decembrists were convicted and their leaders were hanged. The reign of Nicholas 1 began with bloody events.

Briefly summing up this uprising, we can say that the tragic events of the fourteenth of December left a very deep mark in the heart of the sovereign and rejection of any free-thinking. Nevertheless, several social movements continued their activity and existence, overshadowing the reign of Nicholas 1. The table shows their main directions.

Handsome and brave man with a stern gaze

Military service made the emperor an excellent combat soldier, demanding and pedantic. During the reign of Nicholas 1, many military educational institutions were opened. The Emperor was brave. During the cholera riot on June 22, 1831, he was not afraid to go out to the crowd on Sennaya Square in the capital.

And it was absolute heroism to go out to an angry crowd that even killed the doctors who tried to help her. But the sovereign was not afraid to go out alone to these distraught people, without a retinue or guard. Moreover, he was able to calm them down!

After Peter the Great, the first technical ruler who understood and valued practical knowledge and education was Nicholas 1. The years of the sovereign’s reign are associated with the founding of the best technical universities, which to this day remain the most in demand.

Major achievements of industry during his reign

The Emperor often repeated that although the revolution was on the threshold of the Russian state, it would not cross it as long as the breath of life remained in the country. However, it was during the reign of Nicholas 1 that the period of scientific and technological revolution began in the country, the so-called In all factories, manual labor was gradually replaced by machine labor.

In one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four and five, the first Russian railway and steam locomotive by the Cherepanovs were built at the plant in Nizhny Tagil. And in 1943, between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, specialists laid the first telegraph line. Huge steamships sailed along the Volga. The spirit of modern times gradually began to change the very way of life. In big cities this process occurred first.

In the forties of the nineteenth century, the first public transport appeared, which was equipped with horse traction - stagecoaches for ten or twelve people, as well as omnibuses, which were more spacious. Residents of Russia began to use domestic matches, and began to drink tea, which had previously been only a colonial product.

The first public banks and exchanges for wholesale trade in industrial and agricultural products appeared. Russia became an even more majestic and powerful power. During the reign of Nicholas 1, she found a great reformer.

Domestic policy of Russia under Nicholas I.

Nicholas ascended the throne (1825-1855) unprepared to rule, frightened by the Decembrist rebellion, and hating revolutionaries. The social system and government apparatus of Russia needed serious reforms. He decided to carry out reforms under his direct command. “His Majesty's Own Office” became an important institution. It was divided into 6 departments: 1st personal papers of the sovereign, 2nd modification of legislation, 3rd tax collection, 4th charitable and educational institutions, 5th administration of state peasants, 6th Caucasian affairs. Modification of the legislation was entrusted to Speransky. Under his leadership, the 2nd Department carried out tremendous work. In 1830 A complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire was completed. By 33 a set of current laws of Russia was compiled. Empire... He organized secret committees on peasant affairs, which collected information and wrote memos. But N1 did not dare to break the existing order. (A law on “obligated peasants” was created, giving landowners the right to release peasants and provide them with land plots under certain conditions. But none of the landowners took advantage of it.) H1 a special ministry of state was established. property. Minister - Kiselev. The Ministry of Defense took care of the satisfaction of households. and household needs of peasants, demarcated lands, established savings and loan banks, schools, and hospitals. The bodies of the municipality in the provinces were the state chambers. property, the provinces were divided into districts. The volost and rural administration were built on the beginning of peasant self-government (village and volost assemblies). Among the internal events of Nicholas's reign, the financial reform of Kankrin (39-43) should be mentioned.

Russian foreign policy under Nicholas I.

On the Greek question, Nicholas refused to continue Alexander's neutral policy. Because The Turkish Sultan refused to grant autonomy to Greece in 1828. Russia declared war on Turkey. The Russians inflicted a complete defeat on the Turks. Peace was concluded in September 29, the Sultan recognized the autonomy of Moldova, Greece, and Serbia. At the same time, Russia waged a successful war with Persia. Persia ceded land to Russia and pledged to pay war indemnity. Next, N1 had to enter into a military conflict with Poland. Polish patriots sought to restore the state. independence of Poland, but the uprising was suppressed. Soon the Turkish Sultan turned to N1 for help in the fight against the Egyptian Pasha. Türkiye came under the protection of Russia. This predominance of Russia on the Balkan Peninsula alarmed the European powers. A convention was concluded in London that placed Turkey under the protection of all five European powers. By helping to suppress the revolution in Hungary, H1 caused great outrage among European states. Therefore, in the fall of 53. Türkiye, incited by them, declared war on Russia. The Russian squadron (Nakhimov) destroyed the tourist fleet, which caused the Westerners to openly oppose themselves. powers In the fall of '54. The allies landed their troops in Crimea and began the siege of Sevastopol (11 months). The Russian fleet was unable to offer resistance and was sunk by the Russians. sailors. Russian troops began to retreat north. The reasons for the failures were: the chaotic state of the military economy, the backwardness of weapons, and the lack of convenient means of communication. Nicholas died in the midst of the campaign, peace was concluded in Paris, according to it we ceded the mouth of the Danube and Bessarabia, lost the right to have a fleet on the Black Sea, it was declared neutral.

CRIMEAN WAR.

The Crimean War began as an aggressive war on both sides. If tsarism sought to seize the Black Sea straits and expand its influence in the Balkans, then England and France sought to oust Russia from the shores of the Black Sea and from the Transcaucasus. The Ottoman Empire also pursued its own in this war, roaring In November 1953, the Russian Black Sea squadron (under the command of Admiral Nakhimov) destroyed the Turkish fleet in the bay of Sinop, and soon the Western powers - England, France and Sardinia openly opposed Russia. Austria, for its part, issued an ultimatum, demanding from Russia the cleansing of Moldavia and Wallachia; Nicholas was forced to comply with this demand, but in view of the threatening position occupied by Austria, he had to leave a large army on the Austrian borders, which thus could not take part in military operations against the Western allies.

In September 1954, the Allies landed a significant number of French, British and Turkish troops in the Crimea and soon began the siege of Sevastopol. Only at the end of the summer of 1955 did the Allies manage to capture the southern side of Sevastopol and force Russian troops to retreat to the north. But the heroic exploits of the Russian troops could not hide the complete bankruptcy of the government system that the Crimean War revealed.

The severe psychological shock from military failures undermined Nikolai's health, and an accidental cold became fatal for him. Nicholas died in February 1855 at the height of the Sevastopol campaign. The defeat in the Crimean War significantly weakened Russia, and the Vienna system, based on the Austro-Prussian alliance, finally collapsed. Russia has lost its leading role in international affairs, giving way to France.

Materials for preparing for the Unified State Exam on the topic “Russian Empire under NicholasI(1825-1855)"

Explanatory text for the block

The black and white booth is a traditional symbol of Nicholas's reign. On the sides are the conventional figures of a soldier and an official (the Nikolaev regime relies on the armed forces and the bureaucratic apparatus).

Domestic policy. The reign of Nicholas I began with the Decembrist uprising (December 14, 1825), which, however, was defeated (1). Repression fell on the Decembrists, five leaders were executed, hundreds were exiled to Siberia and the Caucasus (2). After the uprising, the emperor strengthened the repressive bodies, headed by the III Department of the Imperial Chancellery with the corps of gendarmes assigned to it (3). Censorship was sharply tightened.

The general reactionary policy of Nicholas I did not exclude reforms in certain areas. In the field of management, the most important reform was the codification of legislation, carried out by a group of lawyers led by M.M. Speransky. In 1832, a 15-volume Code of Laws of the Russian Empire appeared, which included all existing laws (4).

The opposition was represented by liberal and revolutionary circles, which were subject to repression by the authorities. The most significant was the circle of Petrashevites (named after the leader M.V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky), which was brutally crushed by the authorities in 1849 (5). The activity of the opposition was much more significant not in the sphere of practical politics, but in the sphere of ideology (see section “Culture”).

Foreign policy. The main directions of Russian foreign policy under Nicholas I were southern (the problem of weakening the Ottoman Empire, which went down in history as the Eastern Question, strengthening Russia’s position in the Balkans and Transcaucasia) and western (the fight against revolutionary movements in Europe, the desire to prevent the creation of a broad anti-Russian coalition of Western powers).

In 1826-1828 Russia fought with Iran and, according to the Turkmanchay Peace, received Eastern Armenia (the current Republic of Armenia) (6). In 1828-1829 There was a Russian-Turkish war, caused by Russia's desire to support the Greek uprising against the Turks. By At the Peace of Adrianople, Greece became independent, Serbia, Wallachia and Moldova became autonomous, and Russia received the mouth of the Danube and the Black Sea coast from Anapa to Poti. These wars strengthened Russia's authority in the world.

At the same time, throughout the reign of Nicholas I, the Caucasian War continued (8). The confrontation between the Russian highlanders took a religious form and began to take place under the slogan of gazavat (the holy war of Muslims with infidels). The fight was led by imams (religious leaders). Imam Shamil created an imamate (theocratic state) in Chechnya and Dagestan and for a long time successfully resisted the tsarist troops. Only in 1859 (that is, after the death of Nicholas I) was he captured, and military operations in the western Caucasus continued until 1864.

In Europe, Russia pursued a consistent policy of combating the revolutionary movement (the revolutionaries branded tsarism as the “gendarme of Europe”). Nicholas I intended to send troops to suppress the revolution in France in 1830, but they were needed to suppress the national liberation uprising in Poland (9). In 1849, Russian troops, at the request of the Austrians, defeated the revolution in Hungary (10).

In the middle of the 19th century. Nicholas I came up with a program for the division of Turkish possessions (he called the Ottoman Empire “the sick man of Europe”). However, these intentions of Russia are opposed by England, France and Austria. As a result, the Crimean War, which began in 1853 as an ordinary Russian-Turkish war, also became a war between Russia and England and France (11). During the war, Russia's military-technical backwardness affected it, and it was defeated.

Farming. The main new phenomenon of economic life began in the 1830s. industrial revolution (transition from manual labor to machine labor) (12). The revolution manifested itself not only in industry, but also in transport (the construction of the first railways, the appearance of steamships). The development of the economy was also facilitated by the successful financial reform carried out in 1839-1843. Minister of Finance E.F. Kankrin (13). However, in general, the Russian economy developed slowly during this period due to the preservation of serfdom.

Public relations. The main problem is the liberation of the peasants. Nicholas I understood the harm of serfdom and the danger of its further preservation, but, fearing the discontent of the nobles, he did not dare to take serious action. The matter was limited to the creation of secret committees and discussion of the problem in a narrow circle of officials (14).

At the same time, the government, wanting to show an example of resolving the peasant issue, carried out a reform of the management of state peasants (known as the reform of P.D. Kiselev, named after the Minister of State Property who carried out the reforms (15). The reform generally improved the situation of state peasants, although it was accompanied by bureaucratic perversions.

Culture. The main phenomena are the formation of new ideological movements and the transition to critical realism in the sphere of artistic culture.

The ideological basis for the policy of Nicholas I was the so-called theory of official nationality, developed by the Minister of Education Count S.S. Uvarov (“Orthodoxy - autocracy - nationality”) (16). Theorists of this direction have substantiated the unacceptability of foreign influences for Russia. In 1836, P.Ya. published a “Philosophical Letter” in print. Chaadaev, who sharply questioned the greatness of the past, present and future of Russia (17). In the intellectual environment regarding letters, fierce debates flared up and two main points of view emerged - Westernism (Russia’s problem is lagging behind Western countries due to unfavorable circumstances) (18) and Slavophilism (Russia’s problem is a distortion of the natural development of Russia due to excessive borrowing from the West) (19) . Later, a revolutionary democratic movement emerged from Westernism, whose leaders (Herzen and others) began to develop the idea of ​​Russia’s “leap” into socialism through the peasant community (20).

IN In the education sector, state control over educational institutions increased, and the autonomy of universities was abolished (21).

The largest Russian scientist of this period is N.N. Lobachevsky, creator of non-Euclidean geometry (22).

In artistic culture there was a gradual transition from sentimentalism and romanticism to critical realism (Fedotov in painting, Glinka in music, Shchepkin and Ostrovsky in the theater, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev and others in literature) (23). Under conditions of censorship, literature and literary criticism (Belinsky) played an important social role and caused heated debate (24).

The development of architecture had its own specifics, where the Russian-Byzantine style was established (K.A. Ton, Cathedral of Christ the Savior) (25).

TRAINING

1. Working with chronology

Fill the table.

2. Working with personalities

Fill the table. (The right column shows the minimum number of facts you need to know.)

3. Working with a table

Fill out the table “Main currents of social thought under NicholasI».

4. Working with the map

Find on the map:

1) territorial acquisitions of Russia under Nicholas I (Armenia, the mouth of the Danube, the coast from Anapa to Sochi);

2) Chechnya, Dagestan, Circassia;

3) Danube principalities;

4) Sevastopol, Kars, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

5. Working with concepts

Define the concepts.

1. Industrial Revolution - _____________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

2. Bourgeoisie - ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

3. Proletariat - __________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

4. Gazavat - ______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

5. Muridism - _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

6. Imamat -_______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________

6. Working with sources

What socio-political views did the authors of the documents from which excerpts are given adhere?

1. “In the midst of the rapid decline of religious and civil institutions in Europe, with the widespread spread of destructive concepts, in view of the sad phenomena that surrounded us on all sides, it was necessary to strengthen the fatherland on solid foundations on which the prosperity, strength and life of the people rest; to find the principles that constitute the distinctive character of Russia and belong exclusively to it; to collect into one whole the sacred remains of her people and strengthen the anchor of our salvation on them.”

_________________________________________

2. “With the establishment of representative order in Russia, Europe would get to know Russia better... The introduction of representative government, for which the ground is so undoubtedly and so thoroughly prepared, promising Russia new happiness, new life, new vigor, new strength for success that is as necessary as it is beneficial, - promises for the educated world a new charm [of Russia], incomparably better than the old one.”

___________________________________________

3. “Autocracy constitutes the main condition for the political existence of Russia. The Russian colossus rests on it as on the cornerstone of its greatness. This truth is felt by the innumerable majority of Your Majesty's subjects: they feel it fully, although they are placed at different degrees of civil life and differ in education and in their attitudes towards the government. The saving conviction that Russia lives and is protected by the spirit of autocracy, strong, philanthropic, enlightened, must penetrate the people’s education and develop with it.”________________________

4 . “All evil stems primarily from the oppressive system of our government, oppressive regarding freedom of opinion, moral freedom, for there are no claims to political freedom in Russia... May the ancient union of the government with the people, the state with the land, be restored, on the solid foundation of true indigenous Russians began. The government has unlimited freedom to rule, which belongs exclusively to it; the people have complete freedom of life, both external and internal, which is protected by the government. To the government - the right of action and, therefore, of law; the people have the right of opinion and, therefore, speech. Here is the Russian civil system! This is the one true civil order!” _____________________________________________

5. “The spirit of the communal system has long penetrated into all areas of the people's life in Russia. Each city, in its own way, was a community; in it general assemblies were held, which decided by majority vote the next issues... In the face of Europe, whose strength has been exhausted in the struggle over a long life, a people is appearing who are just beginning to live. He has preserved only one fortress, which has remained impregnable for centuries - his land community, and because of this he is closer to the social revolution...”

7. Working with the historian's judgment

Read an excerpt from the work of historian M. Polievktov and try to explain why the author came to this conclusion.

“Just as for Nicholas I the conservative program took on a dynastic character, so society learned to identify this order with the idea of ​​statehood in general and cultivated a purely negative attitude towards the principle of statehood. Detached from practical activities, society lost real ground in its programs, but it also lost real ground and government, confining itself to bureaucratic paperwork. Both the government and society during Nicholas’s reign lost their sense of life.”

CONTROL TASKS

Level A assignments

When completing the tasks in this part, for each task, choose the correct answer, the only one of the four proposed, and circle it.

1. Which series of dates reflects Russia's major naval victories?

1) 1827, 1853 3) 1834, 1849

2) 1830, 1844 4) 1849, 1855

2. The domestic policy of Nicholas I is characterized

1) decisive actions to prepare for the abolition of serfdom

2) censorship, persecution of opponents of the existing system

3) lack of transformations in the public administration system

4) abolition of the privileges of the Russian Orthodox Church

3. The defeat of the Decembrist uprising led to

1) temporary decline of the revolutionary movement in Russia

2) the government’s transition to a policy of mass terror

3) mass emigration of Russian cultural figures

4) deprivation of the nobility of some privileges

4. The foreign policy of Nicholas I is characterized

1) the creation of a strong triple alliance of Russia, England and France

2) the desire to divide and subjugate the Austrian Empire

3) the fight against the revolutionary movement in Europe

4) large territorial acquisitions in Central Asia

5. The Treaty of Adrianople was handed over to Russia

1) Moldavia and Wallachia 3) Western Georgia

2) islands at the mouth of the Danube 4) Bessarabia

6. Kireevskys, Aksakovs - these are

1) revolutionary democrats 3) Slavophiles

2) Westerners 4) Petrashevites

7. Westernism is characterized

1) positive attitude towards Russia during the reign of Nicholas I

2) the idea that Russia has its own, original path of development

3) calls for revolution and the overthrow of the autocracy

4) a positive assessment of the reforms of Peter I

8. Shamil's main support was the territory

1) Circassia

2) Kabards

3) Dagestan

9. The industrial revolution is

1) mass exodus of peasants to the cities and their work in industrial enterprises

2) accelerated growth of industry and trade

3) the beginning of the use of machines in production

4) the emergence of large enterprises

10. Read an excerpt from the memoirs and indicate the year to which they relate.

“I heard drumming, the meaning of which I did not yet understand, since I had not served in military service. “This is the end of everything!”... But then I saw that the guns, aimed, were suddenly all raised with their barrels up. The heart was immediately relieved, as if a stone that had been tightly squeezing it had fallen off! Then they began to untie those tied... and brought them back to their original places on the scaffold. Some carriage arrived, an officer came out - an adjutant - and brought some kind of paper, which was immediately presented for reading. It announced to us that the Emperor would grant life and, instead of the death penalty, a special punishment for each, according to his guilt.”

1) 1826 3) 1849

2) 1836 4) 1853

11. A.I. Herzen was the first to suggest that (b)

1) the backwardness of Russia in comparison with Western countries

2) the possibilities of Russia’s path to socialism through the community

3) the need to convene a new Zemsky Sobor

4) the harmfulness of Peter’s reforms

12. Westernism and Slavophilism were united by a similar attitude towards

1) policy of Nicholas I 3) Western countries

2) pre-Petrine Rus' 4) reforms of Peter I

13. Under Nicholas I, a ministry appeared in Russia

1) on the affairs of serfs 3) internal affairs

2) state property 4) finance

14. The Turkmanchay Peace was concluded in

1) 1828 3) 1849

2) 1829 4) 1856

15. Bellingshausen and Lazarev led

1) the first Russian round-the-world expedition

2) by the Russian fleet in the battle of Sinop

3) the expedition that discovered Antarctica

4) defense of Sevastopol

16. Which of the following countries entered the Crimean War against Russia on the side of the Ottoman Empire?

A) Sardinian kingdom

B) Austrian Empire

B) Great Britain

D) Prussia

D) France

Please indicate the correct answer.

1) ABD 3) AED

2) ADE 4) VGE

17. Read an excerpt from the diplomatic dispatch of the Russian envoy and indicate the date of the events in question.

“I have just received and communicated to Prince Schwarzenberg a dispatch dated March 25th concerning his request for the concentration of our considerable forces at the most threatened points on the Galician frontier and for permission for these troops to enter Austrian territory and assist in the rapid suppression of the rebellion.”

18. The reason why Nicholas I did not dare to free the serfs

1) conviction in the inability of peasants to live without the power of landowners

2) lack of understanding of the harm of serfdom for the economy and morality

3) reluctance to carry out any changes at all

4) fear of resistance from the nobility

19. In 1836 P.Ya. Chaadaev

1) called for the creation of a secret revolutionary society

2) spoke critically about the historical experience of Russia

3) demanded the release of peasants with land

4) spoke in print in defense of the Decembrists

20. He belongs to opposition circles during the reign of Nicholas I

1) circle “Emancipation of Labor”

2) circle of the Cretan brothers

3) circle N.V. Stankevich

4) “number 11 society”

Level B assignments

These tasks require an answer in the form of one or two words, a sequence of letters or numbers .

The reign of Nicholas 1 lasted from December 14, 1825 to February 1855. This emperor has an amazing fate, but it is noteworthy that the beginning and end of his reign are characterized by important political events in the country. Thus, Nicholas’s rise to power was marked by the Decembrist uprising, and the death of the emperor occurred during the days of the defense of Sevastopol.

Beginning of reign

Speaking about the personality of Nicholas 1, it is important to understand that initially no one prepared this man for the role of Emperor of Russia. This was the third son of Paul 1 (Alexander - the eldest, Konstantin - the middle and Nikolai - the youngest). Alexander the First died on December 1, 1825, leaving no heir. Therefore, according to the laws of that time, power came to the middle son of Paul 1 - Constantine. And on December 1, the Russian government swore allegiance to him. Nicholas himself also took the oath of allegiance. The problem was that Constantine was married to a woman of no noble family, lived in Poland and did not aspire to the throne. Therefore, he transferred authority to manage to Nicholas the First. Nevertheless, 2 weeks passed between these events, during which Russia was virtually without power.

It is necessary to note the main features of the reign of Nicholas 1, which were characteristic of his character traits:

• Military education. It is known that Nikolai poorly mastered any science except military science. His teachers were military men and almost everyone around him were former military personnel. It is in this that one must look for the origins of the fact that Nicholas 1 said “In Russia everyone must serve,” as well as his love for the uniform, which he forced everyone, without exception, in the country to wear.
• Decembrist revolt. The first day of power of the new emperor was marked by a major uprising. This showed the main threat that liberal ideas posed to Russia. Therefore, the main task of his reign was precisely the fight against the revolution.
• Lack of communication with Western countries. If we consider the history of Russia, starting from the era of Peter the Great, then foreign languages ​​were always spoken at court: Dutch, English, French, German. Nicholas 1 stopped this. Now all conversations were conducted exclusively in Russian, people wore traditional Russian clothes, and traditional Russian values ​​and traditions were promoted.

Many history textbooks say that the Nicholas era was characterized by reactionary rule. Nevertheless, governing the country in those conditions was very difficult, since all of Europe was literally mired in revolutions, the focus of which could shift towards Russia. And this had to be fought. The second important point is the need to resolve the peasant issue, where the emperor himself advocated the abolition of serfdom.

Changes within the country

Nicholas 1 was a military man, so his reign was associated with attempts to transfer army orders and customs to everyday life and government of the country.

There is clear order and subordination in the army. The laws apply here and there are no contradictions. Everything here is clear and understandable: some command, others obey. And all this to achieve a single goal. That's why I feel so comfortable among these people.

Nicholas the First

This phrase best emphasizes what the emperor saw in order. And it was precisely this order that he sought to introduce into all government bodies. First of all, in the Nicholas era there was a strengthening of police and bureaucratic power. According to the emperor, this was necessary to fight the revolution.

On July 3, 1826, the III Department was created, which performed the functions of the highest police. In fact, this body kept order in the country. This fact is interesting because it significantly expands the powers of ordinary police officers, giving them almost unlimited power. The third department consisted of about 6,000 people, which was a huge number at that time. They studied the public mood, observed foreign citizens and organizations in Russia, collected statistics, checked all private letters, and so on. During the second stage of the emperor's reign, Section 3 further expanded its powers, creating a network of agents to work abroad.

Systematization of laws

Even in the era of Alexander, attempts to systematize laws began in Russia. This was extremely necessary, since there were a huge number of laws, many of them contradicted each other, many were only in a handwritten version in the archive, and the laws had been in force since 1649. Therefore, before the Nicholas era, judges were no longer guided by the letter of the law, but rather by general orders and worldview. To solve this problem, Nicholas 1 decided to turn to Speransky, who was given the authority to systematize the laws of the Russian Empire.

Speransky proposed carrying out all the work in three stages:

1. Collect in chronological order all the laws issued from 1649 until the end of the reign of Alexander 1.
2. Publish a set of laws currently in force in the empire. This is not about changes in laws, but about considering which of the old laws can be repealed and which cannot.
3. The creation of a new “Code”, which was supposed to amend the current legislation in accordance with the current needs of the state.

Nicholas 1 was a terrible opponent of innovation (the only exception was the army). Therefore, he allowed the first two stages to take place and categorically prohibited the third.

The work of the commission began in 1828, and in 1832 the 15-volume Code of Laws of the Russian Empire was published. It was the codification of laws during the reign of Nicholas 1 that played a huge role in the formation of Russian absolutism. In fact, the country has not changed radically, but has received real structures for quality management.

Policy regarding education and enlightenment

Nicholas believed that the events of December 14, 1825 were connected with the educational system that was built under Alexander. Therefore, one of the first orders of the emperor in his post happened on August 18, 1827, in which Nicholas demanded that the charters of all educational institutions in the country be revised. As a result of this revision, any peasants were prohibited from entering higher educational institutions, philosophy as a science was abolished, and supervision of private educational institutions was strengthened. This work was supervised by Shishkov, who holds the position of Minister of Public Education. Nicholas 1 absolutely trusted this man, since their basic views converged. At the same time, it is enough to consider just one phrase from Shishkov to understand what the essence was behind the education system of that time.

Sciences are like salt. They are useful and can only be enjoyed if given in moderation. People should be taught only the kind of literacy that corresponds to their position in society. Educating all people without exception will undoubtedly do more harm than good.

A.S. Shishkov

The result of this stage of government is the creation of 3 types of educational institutions:

1. For the lower classes, single-class education was introduced, based on parish schools. People were taught only 4 operations of arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), reading, writing, and the laws of God.
2. For the middle classes (merchants, townspeople, and so on) three-year education. Additional subjects included geometry, geography and history.
3. For the upper classes, seven-year education was introduced, the receipt of which guaranteed the right to enter universities.

The solution to the peasant question

Nicholas 1 often said that the main task of his reign was the abolition of serfdom. However, he was unable to directly solve this problem. It is important to understand here that the emperor was faced with his own elite, who were categorically against this. The issue of abolition of serfdom was extremely complex and extremely acute. One only has to look at the peasant uprisings of the 19th century to understand that they occurred literally every decade, and their strength increased each time. Here, for example, is what the head of the third department said.

Serfdom is a powder charge under the building of the Russian Empire.

OH. Benckendorff

Nicholas the First himself also understood the significance of this problem.

It is better to start changes on your own, gradually, carefully. We need to start at least with something, because otherwise, we will wait for changes to come from the people themselves.

Nikolay 1

A secret committee was created to solve peasant problems. In total, in the Nicholas era, 9 secret committees met on this issue. The greatest changes affected exclusively the state peasants, and these changes were superficial and insignificant. The main problem of giving peasants their own land and the right to work for themselves has not been resolved. In total, during the reign and work of 9 secret committees, the following problems of the peasants were resolved:

• Peasants were forbidden to sell
• It was forbidden to separate families
• Peasants were allowed to buy real estate
• It was forbidden to send old people to Siberia

In total, during the reign of Nicholas 1, about 100 decrees were adopted that related to the solution of the peasant issue. It is here that one must look for the basis that led to the events of 1861 and the abolition of serfdom.

Relations with other countries

Emperor Nicholas 1 sacredly honored the “Holy Alliance,” an agreement signed by Alexander 1 on Russian assistance to countries where uprisings began. Russia was the European gendarme. In essence, the implementation of the “Holy Alliance” did not give Russia anything. The Russians solved the problems of the Europeans and returned home with nothing. In July 1830, the Russian army was preparing to march to France, where the revolution took place, but events in Poland disrupted this campaign. A major uprising broke out in Poland, led by Czartoryski. Nicholas 1 appointed Count Paskevich as commander of the army for the campaign against Poland, who defeated the Polish troops in September 1831. The uprising was suppressed, and the autonomy of Poland itself became almost formal.

In the period from 1826 – 1828. During the reign of Nicholas I, Russia was drawn into a war with Iran. Her reasons were that Iran was dissatisfied with the peace of 1813 when they lost part of their territory. Therefore, Iran decided to take advantage of the uprising in Russia to regain what it had lost. The war began suddenly for Russia, however, by the end of 1826, Russian troops completely expelled the Iranians from their territory, and in 1827 the Russian army went on the offensive. Iran was defeated, the existence of the country was under threat. The Russian army cleared its way to Tehran. In 1828, Iran offered peace. Russia received the khanates of Nakhichevan and Yerevan. Iran also pledged to pay Russia 20 million rubles. The war was successful for Russia; access to the Caspian Sea was won.

As soon as the war with Iran ended, the war with Turkey began. The Ottoman Empire, like Iran, wanted to take advantage of the visible weakness of Russia and regain some of the previously lost lands. As a result, the Russian-Turkish War began in 1828. It lasted until September 2, 1829, when the Treaty of Adrianople was signed. The Turks suffered a brutal defeat that cost them their position in the Balkans. In fact, with this war, Emperor Nicholas 1 achieved diplomatic submission to the Ottoman Empire.

In 1849, Europe was in revolutionary flames. Emperor Nicholas 1, fulfilling the allied dog, in 1849 sent an army to Hungary, where within a few weeks the Russian army unconditionally defeated the revolutionary forces of Hungary and Austria.

Emperor Nicholas 1 paid great attention to the fight against revolutionaries, keeping in mind the events of 1825. For this purpose, he created a special office, which was subordinate only to the emperor and conducted only activities against revolutionaries. Despite all the efforts of the emperor, revolutionary circles in Russia were actively developing.

The reign of Nicholas 1 ended in 1855, when Russia was drawn into a new war, the Crimean War, which ended sadly for our state. This war ended after the death of Nicholas, when the country was ruled by his son, Alexander 2.

E. Botman "Nicholas I"

Nicholas I, the Russian emperor, ruled the country for 30 years: from 1825 to 1855. Both his reign began and ended in difficult years for Russia: his accession to the throne coincided with the Decembrist uprising, and the end of his reign coincided with the Crimean War. These circumstances, of course, left a special imprint on the activities of the emperor.

He fundamentally refused any drastic changes in the management system, trying only to “improve” it through even greater bureaucratization. Nicholas I significantly expanded the staff of officials in all departments, and the volume of business correspondence between various authorities grew to enormous proportions. The administration became a bureaucratic machine and acquired an increasingly formal, clerical character. The emperor himself already understood this, so he tried to subordinate the most important matters to his personal control. In this regard, His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery acquired special significance: its II department was engaged in the codification of laws, III - political investigation, V - state peasants, etc. - everything is under his personal control. This system further aggravated the bureaucratization of the country.

Nicholas I

Having experienced a strong shock in connection with the Decembrist affair, Nicholas I constantly fought the revolutionary movement. On his instructions, Minister of Education Uvarov developed a theory of official nationality, the essence of which was expressed by the formula “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality”: the spiritual life of the Russian people was determined by the Orthodox Church, and the political life by the autocratic system. Any attempts to change direction were mercilessly suppressed; all public institutions, including censorship, acted from the position of this official ideology. But Nicholas I understood that serfdom in Russia increasingly constrained the development of the economy and was contrary to the interests of the state. He issues a number of decrees that can be considered the predecessors of the Manifesto on the Emancipation of Peasants: according to the decree on obligated peasants (1842), the landowner could grant his serfs personal freedom, leaving the land in his own property, but part of the land was obliged to transfer part of the land to the freed peasants for use on the terms serving their duties. The decree on free cultivators (1803), not mandatory for landowners, actually did not produce any results.
In 1847, an inventory reform was carried out in Russia - it was already mandatory for local nobles. “Inventories” (an inventory of landowners’ estates) were compiled and, in connection with it, the norms of corvée and quitrent were determined. The landowner could not violate these norms. Unfortunately, this reform did not cover the entire country, but only a separate region in several provinces (Kiev Governor-General). This was due to the fact that in this region the Catholic nobility predominated, which was in opposition to the autocracy.

In the second half of the 1830s, a reform was carried out in relation to state peasants: partial resettlement of peasants from densely populated areas, an increase in land plots, a reduction in taxes, and the creation of a network of medical and educational institutions in villages and villages. But in most cases, these actions were nullified by excessive bureaucracy; moreover, when carrying out any reform in the peasant issue, the autocracy tried not to infringe on the interests of the landowners, i.e. tried to carry out reforms so that the wolves were fed and the sheep were safe, but this is impossible.

Nicholas I and his wife on a walk

The position of Russia in Europe under Nicholas I

During the reign of Nicholas I, Russia received the nickname “gendarme of Europe.” Nicholas I, suppressing any free-thinking in the country, used the same tactics in relation to other countries: at the height of the revolution of 1849, which engulfed most of Europe, he sent a 100,000-strong army to Hungary to suppress the liberation movement from oppression from Austria (thanks to This is how the Austrian Empire was saved from collapse).

It was important for Russia to establish control over the Black Sea straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles, which were of great economic and military-strategic importance for the country. To deliver a decisive blow to the Ottoman Empire, Russia needed the support of European countries, but France and England took the side of the Ottoman Empire, and the Austrian Empire, which had recently been saved by Russia from complete collapse, took a position of neutrality. Thus, Russia during the time of Nicholas I was a technically backward, feudal-serf state, with weak railway connections, outdated weapons and the same army, since the recruiting system did not contribute to the development of the army: it was actually formed from an illiterate population, drill prevailed in it, prosperous embezzlement, theft. Russia was not able to resist European states - and suffered a number of defeats in the Crimean War. And the neutralization of the Black Sea deprived Russia (like other Black Sea states) of the opportunity to have naval forces here, which made the country vulnerable from the sea.

Public life under Nicholas I

During the reign of Nicholas I, a period of political reaction reigned in the country, the freedom-loving spirit was suppressed, and socialist ideas were persecuted. But meanwhile, it is known that in such circumstances the formation of social self-awareness occurs especially intensively, worldview ideas, concepts of social life and its reconstruction are formed. After the liquidation of the Petrashevsky society in St. Petersburg and the Herzen circle, societies of Westerners and Slavophiles appeared in Moscow. Westerners, to whom T.N. considered themselves. Granovsky, K.D. Kavelin, V.P. Botkin and others dreamed of a Western path for Russia, which was started by Peter I. This path involved the abolition of serfdom and a constitutional system.

A. Khomyakov "Self-portrait"

Slavophiles (Kireevsky brothers, Aksakov brothers, A.S. Khomyakov, Yu.M. Samarin, etc.) believed that Russia has its own path, the community and ideas of Orthodoxy are at the heart of its life. They recognized the power as autocratic, but not divorced from the people - listening to their opinion and cooperating through Zemsky Sobors. Slavophiles criticized the activities of Peter I, accusing him of the existence of serfdom in the state and imposing the Western path on Russia.

Culture

Under Alexander I, in 1803, the educational system was transformed. It presented the following picture:

• lower level - two-year parish schools for children of peasants;
• district 4-grade schools for middle-class children;
• in provincial cities - gymnasiums for noble children; from the gymnasiums the path to the university opened.

This education system was open: it was possible to move from one level to the next.

New universities opened: Kazan, Vilna, Kharkov, Dorpat, as well as the Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg. Universities became the centers of educational districts, regulating the work of gymnasiums and colleges.

The Pedagogical Institute was created in St. Petersburg, which was also soon transformed into a university.

Under Nicholas I, the situation changed dramatically: the transition from one level of education to another became practically impossible. The charter of 1835 abolished university autonomy, and universities and educational districts were managed by trustees.

But cultural life under Nicholas I was actively developing. Classicism of the 18th century gradually disappeared, giving way to romanticism and sentimentalism (V.A. Zhukovsky, K.N. Batyushkov). A.S. Pushkin, having begun his work with romanticism, developed it into a realistic direction, creating masterpieces of literature in all genres. It was not for nothing that his novel “Eugene Onegin” was called the “encyclopedia of Russian life” - in it the author reflected the entire Russian reality in all its manifestations.

M.Yu. Lermontov created works that deeply reveal the psychology of contemporary man, and N.V. Gogol managed to show the dark, gloomy sides of Russian reality. I.S. Turgenev in “Notes of a Hunter” was the first to so vividly and sympathetically depict the inner harmony and strength of a simple Russian peasant. In general, that classical Russian literature, which we are rightfully proud of and which is highly valued throughout the world, was formed precisely during the reign of Nicholas I.

O.A. Kiprensky "Self-portrait"

Fine art also develops first in a romantic direction (O. A. Kiprensky, K. P. Bryullov), and then turns to realism (V. A. Tropinin, A. Venetsianov), paintings by P. A. appear stunning in their truthfulness. Fedotova, A. Ivanova.

At this time, Russian classical music was being formed, the first national heroic Russian opera was created by M.I. Glinka’s “Life for the Tsar” about the feat of Ivan Susanin.
Architectural masterpieces appear: the Admiralty building (architect A.D. Zakharov), the ensemble of the General Staff (architect K.I. Rossi) in St. Petersburg, the Bolshoi Theater (architect A.A. Mikhailov - O. Bove) and rebuilt after the fire building of Moscow University (architect D. Gilardi). An eclectic Russian-Byzantine style is gradually taking shape (Grand Kremlin Palace. Armory, Cathedral of Christ the Savior - all by architect K. A. Ton).

Cathedral of Christ the Savior before destruction