The personality and internal activities of Emperor Paul I, who succeeded Empress Catherine, her son Pavel Petrovich ascended the throne on November 6, 1796, already forty-two years old, having experienced many difficult moments in his life and spoiling his character under the influence of cold,

Pavel Petrovich - Emperor of All Russia from November 6, 1796, Grand Master of the Order of Malta from December 6, 1798, son of Peter III Fedorovich and Catherine II Alekseevna . Aroused the displeasure of the nobility and was killed during a palace coup on the night of March 11-12, 1801 in the Mikhailovsky Palace.

In character, Paul was very much like his father. Like PeterІІІ , he sometimes acted completely unpredictably, he was a capricious man, easily changing his attachments, moreover, painfully suspicious. Catherine II did not love her son and tried not to allow him to rule the state. The Empress could not forgive him that he had much more legitimate rights to the throne than she did.

Becoming emperor after the death of CatherineІІ , Pavel tried to cross out everything that was done by her. So, in defiance of the late empress, he freed N.I. Novikov from the Shlisselburg fortress, returned A.N. Radishchev, allowed T. Kosciuszko to emigrate to America, giving him 60 thousand rubles

Domestic policy:

Strengthening the centralization of state administration in order to strengthen autocratic power, the abolition of elements of self-government in provinces and cities

• Removal from power of the favorites of Catherine II
• April 5, 1797 , the days of the coronation celebrations Pavel announced "Institution of the Imperial Family" which established new order of succession to the throne. From now on, the throne could only be transferred to the eldest of the sons, and in their absence - to the eldest of the brothers, "so that the state would not be without an heir, so that the heir was always appointed by the law itself, so that there was not the slightest doubt who would inherit." And only in the absence of brothers - to the female offspring of the emperor. The main rule was that “a male face is preferred to a female one” (valid until 1917).
• Army reform. Being a fan of the Prussian order, Paul began to plant drill in the army and introduced the Prussian military uniform, wigs with curls and a scythe, stick discipline.

1796 - the introduction of new charters that paid much attention to drill training to the detriment of firearms (the main principles of military affairs were declared to be the accuracy of construction, the alignment of intervals and the “goose step”

1796 - exclusion from the lists of regiments formally registered in the service (including young children)

• Restriction of class privileges of nobles. Paul sought to instill in the nobles fear and reverence for the state

1797 - the abolition of the rights of the nobility and merchants, granted to them by the Letters of Complaint of 1785.

Introduction of corporal punishment for criminal offenses

1798 - establishing control of the governor's administration over the noble society

1799, 1800 - abolition of noble assemblies; introduction of elections of provincial marshals of the nobility by district marshals, and not by all nobles.

The prohibition of the nobility to submit collective complaints to the emperor.

• Legislative formalization of relations between landowners and peasants and prevention of unrest among serfs

1797 – a ban on selling householders and landless peasants

1798 – prohibition to sell Ukrainian peasants without land

But it would be completely wrong to qualify the policy of Paul I as anti-noble and anti-serfdom. By forcing the nobles to serve, Paul had in mind to rally all the forces of the ruling class around the throne and activate them in order to combat the revolutionary danger.

Decree 12 December 1796 Serfdom was extended to Southern Ukraine (Novorossiysk provinces (Ekaterinoslav, Tauride and Voznesenskaya), Azov, Don, Ciscaucasia. The practice of distributing state peasants to the nobles continued. For four years, the nobles received 600 thousand peasants. Almost half of all landlord estates arose in the era of Catherine and Paul. In the 60s.XIXcentury, at the time of the abolition of serfdom and the demarcation of landlord and peasant lands, some old peasants still remembered those times when they did not have any landowners, and all the land was theirs, peasant.

At the same time, Paul sought to regulate the position of the state peasants. A number of Senate decrees were ordered to provide them with land plots - 15 tithes per male head in large-land provinces and 8 tithes in the rest. In 1797 rural and volost self-government of state peasants was introduced: elected village elders and volost heads were introduced

• By his decree allowed the Old Believers to publicly worship and have their own churches
• Limiting the influence of revolutionary ideas. Strengthening military-police guardianship over all segments of the population

1797 - introduction of strict censorship

1797 – closure of private printing houses

1800 - a ban on the import of books from abroad (in 1797-1799, 639 publications were banned, including Gulliver's Travels).

Prohibition to use in speech the words "citizen", "fatherland", "nation", "patriot", "club", "society" and others. The police were ordered to detain all persons in the then fashionable round hats, boots with cuffs and long trousers. It was believed that this fashion comes from the Jacobins. The carriages were supposed to stop when meeting with the emperor, and those who were sitting in them were to go out and bow.

• Foreign policy

Under Paul, Russia also actively participated in the struggle of European monarchies with the French Revolution:

1797 - 1801 Paul I joined the anti-French coalition (England, Austria, Turkey, the Kingdom of Naples) and sent a fleet under the command of F.F. Ushakov and the army led by A.V. Suvorov.

1798 – victory of the Russian fleet F.F. Ushakov over the French in the Mediterranean at the fortress of Corfu in the Ionian Islands.

1799 campaigns of A.V. Suvorov: Italian (battles near the rivers Adda, Trebbia, near the city of Novi) and Swiss (capture by the Russian army of Saint Gotthard, Devil's Bridge, crossing the Alps). The defeat of the main forces of France in Northern Italy, the liberation of Switzerland

Italian and Swiss campaigns of A.V. Suvorov, entered the history of military art, and Suvorov received the title of Generalissimo.

When England occupied Malta, having conquered it from the French, and Paul took the Order of Malta under his protection, followed rupture of relations with England and Austria. An alliance is made with France. Preparations of the Russian army for a campaign in British India began

• Exploration of the North American continent

1799 - establishment of the Russian-American Company. Creation of permanent Russian settlements in Alaska

With his domestic and foreign policy, Pavel restored the nobility against him and was killed by conspirators on the night of March 11-12, 1801.

The domestic policy of Paul I. The domestic and foreign policy of Paul I (1796-1801), who ascended the throne after the death of Catherine II (1796), was distinguished by inconsistency and unpredictability. But this inconsistency did not affect the foundations of the existing system - the preservation of autocracy and serfdom. On the contrary, they were further strengthened during his short reign. During the life of Catherine, Paul was in relation to her in a certain opposition, hating his mother. His court in Gatchina was constantly opposed to the Petersburg imperial court, which was distinguished by luxury and an idle high-society life. An almost ascetic military situation reigned in the Gatchina courtyard; it rather resembled a military camp. Pavel, a staunch supporter of Prussia and its military order, built his life according to the Prussian military model. Having ascended the throne, he tried to turn all of Russia into a kind of Gatchina camp. Reactionaryness was the dominant feature of his internal political course. He hated the French Revolution and fought in Russia against revolutionary, any advanced social thought in all ways available to him. Even French clothing was banned, as was the use of foreign words reminiscent of the revolution. It is forbidden to import foreign books and even sheet music into Russia. Pavel introduced the Prussian military system into the army, dressed the army and even the bureaucracy in Prussian clothes. Barracks order was established in the capital. At 8 o'clock. in the evenings, when the emperor went to bed, it was necessary to put out the lights and all other residents. The pettiness and imbalance of the monarch led to reprisals without guilt and rewards without merit. The army and, in particular, the guards were constantly engaged in parades, divorces, drills in St. Petersburg. Social life has almost ceased. This caused acute dissatisfaction of the nobility. Fearing a revolutionary "contagion", fearing any opposition, Pavel limited even the self-government of the nobility. But he did not encroach on the basis of the foundations - landownership of the nobility and serfdom. Over the years of his reign, they have become even stronger. Pavel, according to him, saw in the landowners 100 thousand free police chiefs. He extended serfdom to the Black Sea and Ciscaucasia. During the four years of his reign, he distributed over 500 thousand state peasants to the nobles (Catherine for 34 years - 850 thousand). The reign of Paul 1 began in an atmosphere of peasant unrest in the country, which engulfed 32 provinces. They were suppressed by military force. Paul himself was to blame for this, ordering that the entire male population of the country, including serfs, be allowed to take the oath to him as emperor (previously they were not allowed to take the oath). This gave the peasants hope for the abolition of serfdom. But when they did not wait for her, peasant unrest began. Thus, even in his policy towards the peasantry, Paul turned out to be very contradictory.

The foreign policy of Paul I. The foreign policy of Paul I was also controversial. An ardent enemy of France, in 1798 he entered the war against her. In the spring of 1799, the Russian army under the command of Suvorov appears in Northern Italy. Having won several brilliant victories, Suvorov liberated all of northern Italy from the French. Austria, fearing the liberation anti-Austrian movement of the Italians, insists on the transfer of Russian troops to Switzerland. There Suvorov was to continue the war with the French along with the Austrian troops. He makes an unparalleled heroic passage through the Alps to Switzerland, but by that time the Austrians were defeated. Suvorov, breaking through the French barriers, winning victory after victory, leads the army out of the French encirclement. At the same time, the Russian fleet under the command of Admiral Ushakov is victoriously conducting military operations at sea: he stormed the most powerful fortress on about. Corfu liberated Naples with battles. Then the Russian sailors entered Rome. But in the end of 1799 Russia stopped the war. The anti-French coalition broke up. Napoleon agreed to reconcile with Paul I. Their negotiations ended with the development of a plan of joint action against England. In January 1801, Pavel, by a sudden order, without a supply of fodder, sent 40 regiments of Don Cossacks on a campaign against the English possessions in India. The break with England caused dissatisfaction among the high-ranking nobility, who had trade relations with the English merchant class. In the coup d'état on March 11, 1801, which led to the assassination of Paul, there was also a substitute for the English ambassador to Russia. But the main reason that pushed the conspirators to the coup was the acute dissatisfaction with Paul of the capital's nobility. Paul did not have any social support, and he was overthrown.

In preparing this work, materials from the site http://www.studentu.ru were used.

There are many people in the world who call for something, and then when it happens they tear their hair out.

Having barely ascended the throne, Paul 1 changed the order of succession to the throne in Russia, which had been in effect since the time of Peter the Great without changes. Paul 1 changed the position that the future monarch is determined by the will of the current one. From now on, only representatives of the ruling dynasty in the male line, in order of seniority, had the right to the throne. Thus began the domestic policy of Emperor Paul 1.

The next step in the actions of Paul 1 inside the country was the search for associates and winning the love and respect of most of the people. To achieve these goals, Paul 1 almost completely removed from power all the officials who served Empress Catherine. New officials loyal to Emperor Paul were appointed to the vacant seats. The domestic policy of Paul 1 continued by softening the conditions for the life of the peasants. First of all, the emperor repealed the law that forbade the peasants to complain about the landowners. After that, all types of corporal punishment for peasants were canceled, all arrears from peasants were canceled, the amount of which at the time Paul 1 came to power exceeded 7 million rubles. In addition, Paul 1 reduced corvée throughout the country. If earlier corvée (free work of peasants on landowners' fields) was 6 days a week, now it should not exceed 3 days a week. Also, the imperial decree forbade the involvement of peasants to work on corvée work on weekends, as well as on religious holidays.

The main events of the emperor's policy

The domestic policy of Paul 1 continued with the solution of the food issue in the country. The country had extremely high prices for all types of food. To solve this problem, Paul 1 issued a decree according to which everyone was obliged to trade at reduced prices for food received from state stocks.

The new emperor tried to instill fear and respect for his person in everyone. As a result, mass repressions began in the country. At the same time, the emperor did not look at the title or origin of the accused. Paul 1 was not interested in the violation, sometimes exile and deprivation of all ranks and privileges were subjected to nobles who simply violated the uniform. Paul 1 liked to repeat that there are practically no noble persons in his country, and those with whom the emperor deigns to speak are considered noble, and exactly as long as the emperor speaks with him. The internal policy of Paul 1 was extremely cruel for the country's elite. The secret office, which dealt with the analysis of such cases, met almost without interruption. In total, during the reign of Emperor Paul 1, 721 cases were carried out through the Secret Chancellery, which amounted to almost 180 cases per year. For example, during the reign of Empress Catherine 2, the secret office met on average 25 times a year, investigating 1 case per convocation.

Controversy in domestic politics

The problem of studying the era of Paul 1 lies in the fact that this emperor brought almost any undertaking to insanity, when at the same time ideas were implemented that were radically different from each other, and which led to contradictions. That is why today they say that Paul's internal policy was very contradictory and there are a lot of dark spots in it. For example:

• attitude towards the revolutionaries. Pavel 1 tried to show his loyalty to the revolutionaries, as a result of which he returned Radishchev, Kosciuszko, Novikov and others from exile. At the same time, he evilly persecutes everyone who has anything to do with the French Revolution.
• Politics in the army. The emperor forbids the admission of minors to the guard. This is an absolute plus, but at the same time, the same emperor is reforming the army in the Prussian manner (the Prussian army has never been distinguished by its strength and skill).
• Peasant question. One of the main undertakings of the emperor's domestic policy was a decree on a three-day corvee, which significantly limited the powers of serf owners. On the other hand, the emperor issues a decree and literally showers all the landowners with new lands.
• Public administration. A law on succession to the throne is passed (it has long been outdated and in need of reform), but Paul simultaneously eliminated many colleges, which led to chaos within the country.

The internal policy of Paul 1 touched upon the reforms in the army. True, they were not massive and affected, first of all, the relationship between a soldier and an officer. Paul 1 forbade cruel punishment of soldiers by officers. For violating this prohibition, the punishments for officers were the most severe and were no different from the punishments for soldiers who allowed themselves to offend an officer.

In whose interests Paul 1 ruled

Paul 1 pursued an internal policy to strengthen his power, and also tried to ease the role of the common man. The internal policy of the emperor was carried out in the interests of ordinary categories of the population. Naturally, this caused dissatisfaction with the major nobles, who regularly plotted against their emperor. As a result, the domestic policy of Paul 1 became one of the components of the future conspiracy against the emperor. A conspiracy that cost Paul 1 life.

Domestic policy of Paul I.

The policy of Paul I was controversial. Having ascended the throne at the age of 42, he sought to do a lot in defiance of his mother, Catherine II. On April 5, 1797, he issued a new decree on the succession to the throne, according to which the throne was to pass only through the male line from father to son, and in the absence of sons to the eldest of the brothers.

After becoming emperor, Paul tried to strengthen the regime by strengthening discipline and power in order to exclude all manifestations of liberalism and free thinking. Characteristic features of the reign of Paul I were harshness, imbalance and irascibility. He believed that everything in the country should be subject to the orders established by the monarch; I prioritized efficiency and accuracy.

Pavel strove for maximum centralization, regulations in all spheres of life. He attached great importance to the army, into which he introduces Russian orders. He pays much attention to parades and parades. From the highest ranks, 7 field marshals and more than 300 generals were dismissed. The officers from the non-nobles were dismissed. At the same time, Paul showed concern for the soldiers. Military schools were created for orphans of soldiers. Distinguished soldiers received the right to be dismissed before the end of their service life, 100 rubles each for arranging and land allotment.

Laws concerning the position of the peasants were passed. In 1767 a decree was issued. Prohibiting the sale of peasants and courtyards at the auction. The prohibition to split up peasant families. It was forbidden to sell serfs without land. State peasants received a 15-tithe mental allotment and a special class administration. The decree of 1796 finally prohibited the independent transition of peasants (from place to place). The distribution of the state peasants to the nobles continued. During the 4 years of his reign, Paul distributed 530 thousand souls of peasants, while Catherine II distributed 850 thousand souls into private hands in 34 years.

In 1797, the Manifesto on the three-day corvee was published. He forbade landlords to use peasants for field work on Sundays, recommending that corvée be limited to three days a week.

The attack on noble privileges, petty regulation in various spheres of life turned the nobility against Paul I. On the night of March 11-12, 1801, the emperor was killed by conspirators in the newly rebuilt Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg. The preparation of the conspiracy was led by the military governor of St. Petersburg P.A. Palen. The eldest son of Pavel, Alexander, was also aware of the plans of the conspirators.

Foreign policy of Paul I

In foreign policy, Paul I continues the struggle with France, which was striving for dominance in Europe. In 1798 Russia joined the anti-French coalition consisting of England, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of Naples. Military operations were concentrated in Italy, Switzerland and the Mediterranean Sea. The Russian fleet under the command of F.F. Ushakov liberated the Ionian Islands from the French, the island of Corfu was captured with an impregnable fortress (1799), then with the help of landing forces the French were expelled from Naples and Rome.

Russian land army under the command of A.V. Suvorov successfully operated in Northern Italy. In the autumn of 1799, Paul I ordered the transfer of A.V. Suvorov to Switzerland to join the corps of A.M. Rimsky-Korsakov and the allied Austrian troops. The Russian army, led by a 70-year-old commander, under incredibly difficult conditions, overcame the Saint Gotthard Pass and crossed the Alps, defeating the French at the Devil's Bridge. However, due to the betrayal of the Austrians, Rimsky-Korsakov's corps was defeated. Disagreements within the anti-French coalition led to a sharp turn in the foreign policy of Paul I. Russia withdrew from the coalition, and a rapprochement between Russia and France began.

Lecture 33

Socio-economic development of Russia in the first halfXIXcentury

By the beginning of the nineteenth century. the territory of the country was 18 million square meters. km, population 74 million people. Russia was an absolutist and feudal state. Until 1861, the entire population was divided into estates: the nobility, the clergy, the merchants, the bourgeoisie, the peasantry, the Cossacks. The privileged estates were: the nobility and the clergy. Merchants had significant privileges. The estate system of Russia hindered the development of new bourgeois relations, but could not stop them. New classes were born - the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie was formed from the wealthy burghers and peasants, the proletariat - from the peasantry and the urban poor.

The political structure of the country and the social system held back the development of the economy. Serfdom hindered the growth of productive forces and hindered the modernization of the country (the creation of a hired force market, the process of capital accumulation and the development of market relations). In the first half of the 19th century, the preconditions for the abolition of serfdom were taking shape.

AGRICULTURE. Russia remained an agrarian country. 9/10 of the total population was employed in agriculture. The landlord economy accounted for half of the agricultural sector. The other half was occupied by the system of state feudalism, in which the state was the owner of the land and peasants.

During the first half of the nineteenth century. quitrent increased by 2-5 times, working off the corvée by the peasants reached several days a week. One of the means of intensifying exploitation was the so-called "month" - depriving the peasants of land and transferring them to corvée. The lack of land of the peasants made it impossible to develop commodity production and barely provided a living wage for their families. Therefore, the issue of allocating land to the peasants became central.

In general, agriculture, which remained the basis of the country's economy, was dominated by serfdom, which led to low labor productivity. Although Russia exported grain abroad (in the middle of the 19th century - about 70 million poods), this was carried out mainly at the expense of the peasantry.

INDUSTRY. At the beginning of the nineteenth century. in industrial development, Russia lagged behind other European countries in which capitalist relations already dominated. Russia passed the bourgeois revolution and the country retained its traditional way of life.

First third of the nineteenth century characterized by the growth of capitalist manufactory, and the second third - the beginning of the transition from manufactory to factory. Manual labor was replaced by machine labor, various types of engines began to be used in production, the process of the formation of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat was going on.

Thus, at the turn of the 30-40s. nineteenth century The industrial revolution began in Russia. In connection with the transition to machine technology, labor productivity increased by the mid-1950s. nineteenth century increased 3 times and the share of machine production accounted for more than 2/3 of the output of large-scale industry. At first, machinery was imported mainly from England and Belgium. Gradually began to emerge its own machine-building industry. The first factories appeared in St. Petersburg, Sormovo, Nizhny Novgorod.

TRADE. Gradually, domestic and foreign trade developed, and an all-Russian market was formed. The development of domestic trade is characterized by the expansion of the range of goods, both agricultural and industrial, the emergence of fairs and shops. The development of foreign trade followed the path of export of agricultural products and raw materials, and export exceeded import. They exported bread, timber, hemp, flax. Imports were focused on meeting the needs of the nobility. Imported - clothes, tea, coffee, spices. Russia's trade with European countries was conducted mainly through the Baltic Sea. England was the main trading partner. Part of the production went to Iran, China, Turkey.

TRANSPORT. The internal system of communications has not received sufficient development. The main types of transport remained - water and horse-drawn. The main transport artery of the country is the Volga River. In the second decade of the XIX century. shipping began. The first steamboat appeared on the Neva in 1815. Since 1817, steamboats began to sail along the Volga and Kama. By 1860, there were already 339 steamers on the inland waterways of Russia. In 1837, the first railway line was opened between Tsarskoye Selo and St. Petersburg. In 1839, the construction of the Warsaw-Vienna railway began, which connected Russia with Western Europe. In 1843-1851. work was carried out on the creation of the St. Petersburg - Moscow railway.

FINANCE. In 1839-1841. in Russia, the monetary system was restructured (at the initiative of the Minister of Finance E.F. Kankrin). The basis of monetary circulation was the silver ruble. Since 1843, banknotes (paper money, first introduced under Catherine II) began to be withdrawn from circulation by exchanging at the rate (3.5 rubles in banknotes to a silver ruble) for credit notes that could be freely exchanged for silver. The reform strengthened the country's financial system. Due to the developing process of capital accumulation, the money acquired in trade began to be more intensively transferred to industrial production.

Thus, in the first half of the nineteenth century. the existing socio-economic system hindered the development of productive forces and the process of modernization of the country, but Russia did not experience an acute economic crisis. In the bowels of decaying feudalism, a new capitalist structure developed, which became dominant in the second half of the 19th century.

Lecture 34

Reformatory activity of Alexander I: plans and reality.

On the night of March 12, 1801, as a result of the last palace coup in the history of Russia, Emperor Paul I was killed by a group of conspirators. His son Alexander became the new emperor.

The reign of Alexander I can be divided into two stages. The first stage, (1801 - 1812), the time of the predominance of liberal tendencies in government policy; the second, (1815 - 1825) - a change in the political aspirations of tsarism towards conservatism, the departure of the king from power towards religiosity and mysticism. During this period, the omnipotent favorite of the king, A. Arakcheev, actually begins to rule the country.

In order to strengthen his personal authority, immediately upon accession to the throne, Alexander eliminated the laws most hated by the nobility introduced by Paul. He returned to the system of noble elections, announced an amnesty, returned the officers dismissed by Paul from the army, allowed free entry and exit from Russia, and the import of foreign books.

In a manifesto on March 12, 1801, on his accession to the throne, Alexander announced that he "takes upon himself the duty to rule the people according to the laws and according to the heart of his great grandmother." From the first days of his reign, Alexander I declared a sincere desire to put an end to arbitrariness and begin reforms. Some measures were taken immediately: the liberalization of public life, the creation of new government bodies (ministries), the laying of the foundations of public education. Postponed for a while due to Russia's participation in the anti-Napoleonic wars (1805-1807), the reforms resumed after Alexander's meeting with Napoleon in Tilsit and the change of ally.

One of the influential employees of Alexander I was Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, adviser to the tsar, developer of a plan for state transformation. With his participation, the reform of the central authorities and administration was carried out. In 1802, the Senate was declared the supreme institution of the empire, instead of collegiums, ministries headed by the Committee of Ministers were established. On behalf of the emperor, Speransky began to draw up a project for a gradual transition from autocracy to a constitutional monarchy, which met with resistance from the nobility. Speransky was dismissed from the service.

Beginning in 1815, the policy of Alexander I became more and more ambiguous, and his actions increasingly began to diverge from previously proclaimed intentions. In foreign policy, he changed Russia's position on the Greek and Balkan issues. Domestically, the granting of a constitution to Poland was taken as a harbinger of future reforms, but it did not continue, except for some semi-secret projects.

The turn to reaction began to be associated with the name of A. Arakcheev, whose despotism reached its limit in the early 1920s: the tightening of censorship, purges in universities and the stubborn, despite numerous disobediences, continued destructive experiments with military settlements. Planting military settlements with an iron hand, he achieved that for his passion for drill the regime was dubbed "Arakcheevshchina", although in fact he himself did not possess the power that is attributed to him. The king instructed him to prepare a plan for the liberation of the peasants, which was never carried out. With the accession to the throne of Nicholas I, Arakcheev fades into the shadows.

Lecture 35

Decembrist movement

After the death of Alexander I in November 1825, Konstantin, who was at that time in Warsaw, was to ascend the throne. But even during the reign of Alexander I, he declared that he did not have the slightest desire and intention to reign and rule Russia. On November 30, an oath of allegiance to the new Emperor Constantine was taken in Moscow. Having received a letter from Constantine, Nicholas writes a manifesto about his accession to the throne.

The revolutionaries-nobles decided to take advantage of the interregnum.

Motion background

The objective basis is the aggravation of the contradictions of the feudal-serf system, the obvious discrepancy between the power of Russia, the rise of its culture and barbarian serfdom. Awareness of this contradiction contributed to the widespread dissemination in Russia of the ideology of the Enlightenment (Montesquieu, Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau). Especially the publishing activity of Novikov. With all their acuteness, these problems were posed as early as Radishchev's book (1790).

A number of historical events that contributed to the realization of the need for change:

The French Revolution is an important prerequisite for the orientation towards a military conspiracy in accordance with the formula "for the people, but without the people."

The War of 1812 - the awakening of national consciousness and social activity ("we are the children of 1812").

Secret organizations of noble revolutionaries

1816-1818 - "Union of Salvation", or "Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland".

Consisted of 10-12 people.

1818-1821 - "Prosperity Union". The main goal is the introduction of a constitution, civil liberties, the decision of the fate of serfs, ordinary soldiers. Numbered more than 200 people.

In 1821, the Union of Welfare split into the Southern and Northern Society.

1821-1825 - Northern society. Petersburg. Leaders: S. Trubetskoy, N. Muravyov, E. Obolensky. The program document is the “Constitution” by N.M. Muraviev.

1821-1825 - Southern society. Ukraine. Leaders: P. Pestel, S. Muravyov-Apostol, M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. The program document is "Russian Truth" by P.I.Pestel.

Differences in the program documents of the Southern and Northern societies

The officers of the conspiratorial Northern Society, who advocated a constitutional monarchy (led by N.M. Muravyov), united with the radicals of the Southern Society, who preferred a republic (they were led by P.I. Pestel), intending to seize power with the support of Konstantin.

However, armed uprisings in St. Petersburg on December 14 (26) and in Ukraine on December 29 (January 10) were brutally suppressed, and their leaders were executed.

Lecture 36

Russia's foreign policy in the first quarter of the 19th century.

In the first quarter of the XIX century. Russia had significant opportunities for the effective solution of its foreign policy tasks. They included the protection of their own borders and the expansion of the territory in accordance with the geopolitical, military-strategic and economic interests of the country. This implied the folding of the territory of the Russian Empire in its natural borders along the seas and mountain ranges and, in connection with this, the voluntary entry or forcible annexation of many neighboring peoples.

The diplomatic service of Russia was well-established, intelligence - branched. The army numbered about 500 thousand people, was well equipped and trained. Russia's military-technical lag behind Western Europe was not noticeable until the early 1950s. This allowed Russia to play an important and sometimes decisive role in the European concert.

In the foreign policy of Russia in 1801-1825 during the reign of Alexander I, a number of stages can be distinguished:

1801 - 1812 - before the Patriotic War with Napoleon

Patriotic War of 1812

1813-1815 - the time of foreign campaigns of the Russian army, the completion of the defeat of Napoleonic France.

The main directions of Russian foreign policy in the first quarter of the XIX century. become:

EASTERN- the purpose of which was to strengthen positions in the Transcaucasus, the Black Sea and the Balkans

WESTERN(European) - suggesting the active participation of Russia in European affairs and anti-Napoleonic coalitions.

Lecture 37

Patriotic War of 1812

The Patriotic War of 1812 should be singled out as a special stage in Russia's foreign policy activity. The war was caused by the aggravation of relations between Russia and France.

The main reasons for the war were: Russia's participation in the continental blockade of England (by 1812, Russia had practically ceased to fulfill the conditions of the blockade); French hegemony in Europe as the main source of military danger.

The nature of the war: On the part of France, the war was unfair, predatory in nature. For the Russian people - it became liberation, led to the participation of the broad masses of the people, having received the name - Patriotic.

Start of hostilities.

The plans of the French command: On July 12 (24), 1812, about 600 thousand Napoleonic soldiers crossed the Neman River and invaded Russia. Napoleon sought to defeat the main forces of the Russians in border battles, capture Moscow and force Russia to capitulate.

Russian troops (numbering 240 thousand people) united in three armies: 1 under the command of Barclay de Tolly, 2 - P.I. Bagration, 3 - A.P. Tormasov.

The Russian command wanted to avoid border battles, retreat and go on the counteroffensive with the forces of the united army. Having united in the Smolensk region, two Russian armies (1 and 2) on July 22, 1812 were defeated in a two-week battle. The war became protracted. Napoleon continued his advance on Moscow. On August 8, instead of Barclay de Tolly, M.I. Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief.

The general battle took place near the village of Borodino (124 km west of Moscow). As a result, the French withdrew to their original positions, losing more than 50 thousand people; Russian losses - amounted to about 43 thousand people. The battle of Borodino was a moral and political victory for the Russian army, the beginning of the end for Napoleon's army.

On September 1 (13), 1812, at a military council in the village of Fili (near Moscow), it was decided to leave Moscow without a fight in order to preserve the army. The population left the city along with the army, Napoleon entered Moscow and stayed there until October 6 (18).

The Russian army was transferred from Moscow, from the Ryazan road to the Kaluga road, to the village of Tarutino (80 km from Moscow, the so-called Tarutinsky march).

This made it possible to avoid the pursuit of the French, gain time, close the road to the south - to Kaluga and the Tula arms factories; carry out a reorganization.

The guerrilla war began. Partisan detachments were led by both hussar officers (colonel and poet D. I. Denisov) and ordinary people (Gerasim Kurin, Fyodor Potapov, Yermolai Chetvertakov, Vasilisa Kozhina). The peak of the partisan war came in October-December 1812.

On October 7, 1812, Napoleon retreated from Moscow along the Kaluga road. The French army was demoralized by hunger, fires, and suffered from frost. Russian troops, without engaging in battles with Napoleon, destroyed his army in parts. On October 12, in the battle of Maloyaroslavets, the French were stopped and turned onto the Smolensk road, which they had devastated, in the hope of spending the winter in Smolensk. But under the blows of the Russian troops, their retreat turned into a flight.

In the battle at the river Berezina (November 14-16, 1812), Napoleon's army was defeated. The losses of the French amounted to 30 thousand people (only about 9-10 thousand crossed to the other side).

On December 25, 1812, Alexander issued a Manifesto on the end of the war. Russia managed to defend its independence. Society felt the need for change even more acutely. The Russian people defended the country from foreign invasion. The victory strengthened the authority of Russia and marked the beginning of the liberation of the peoples of Central and Western Europe from Napoleon. France was dealt a blow from which she could not recover.