Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich could not count on Russian throne, and this left an imprint on his upbringing and education. The militarized atmosphere of St. Petersburg with early years determined Nicholas's passion for military affairs, especially those that concerned his external, ceremonial side. Politic system Nicholas's views were distinguished by a pronounced conservative, anti-liberal orientation. In 1817, Nicholas married the Princess of Prussia, who after converting to Orthodoxy received the name Alexandra Feodorovna. In the spring of the following year, their first son Alexander (the future Emperor Alexander II) was born. ........................................................ ........................................................ ........................................................ ......

Defeat in Crimean War dealt a severe blow to the entire foreign policy system of Nicholas I, who was convinced that his position as a European and Asian ruler was a fiction. Russia's Middle Eastern positions were collapsing; its international prestige fell sharply. The country was forced to agree to the shameful Treaty of Paris (March 1856), according to which the Black Sea was declared neutral, the empire was deprived of the opportunity to have a navy here and build military structures on its shores, and also ceded significant territories and its influence in the Balkans and in Armenia to favor of Turkey, which canceled out all the efforts of Nicholas in the “eastern question”.

Nikolai's death was completely unexpected. He was a 58-year-old man of enormous stature, who defiantly despised all effeminacy and slept on a camp bed under an overcoat. He ruled Russia for 30 years, and it was as if he had no intention of stopping. True, people close to Nicholas I knew how shocked he was by his defeats in the Crimean War. “No matter how hard His Majesty tried to overcome himself, to hide his inner torment,” writes V. Panaev (director of the Emperor’s office), “it began to be revealed by the gloominess of his gaze, pallor, even some kind of darkening of his face and the thinness of his whole body. In this state of his health, the slightest cold could develop a dangerous disease in him.” And so it happened. Not wanting to refuse Count Kleinmichel's request to be seated by his daughter's father, the sovereign went to the wedding, despite the severe frost, wearing a Horse Guards uniform with elk trousers and silk stockings. This evening was the beginning of his illness: he caught a cold. When he returned, he did not complain about anything, but spent the night without sleep, and spent the next two nights restlessly. Neither in the city nor at court did they pay attention to the sovereign’s illness; they said that he had a cold, was unwell, but was not lying down. The Emperor did not express concerns about his health, so he forbade the printing of bulletins about his illness.

On February 12, 1855, a courier brought news of the defeat near Yevpatoria to the palace. Those close to him recalled how on sleepless nights the king “bowed to the ground” and “cryed like a child.” Herzen would later note that Nicholas had “Evpatoria in his lungs.” In the last hours of his life, the tsar did not even want to know the news from Crimea contained in his letter younger sons Mikhail and Nikolai. He just asked: “Are they healthy? Everything else doesn’t concern me...” Having been ill for 5 days, the emperor got stronger and went to the Mikhailovsky Manege to inspect the troops. When he returned, he felt worse: his cough and shortness of breath increased. But the next day, Nicholas I again went to Manege to inspect the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky reserve regiments. On February 11, he could no longer get out of bed. From the records of the Chamber-Fourier journals it is clear that from February 10 to 15, the emperor’s illness waxed and waned. “His Highness slept little on the night of the 14th of February, the fever almost stopped.” February 15: “His Master spent the night a little better, although yesterday there was excitement. Pulse today is satisfactory. Cough: sputum eruption is not strong.” February 16: “Yesterday, after feverish movement, accompanied by rheumatic pain under the right shoulder, His Lordship slept that night, but not so calmly. No headache, no fever.” A strange picture emerged: at the beginning of February 1855, Nikolai caught a cold, but nothing special, judging by official publications. According to the diaries of court events, it is clear that on February 12-17, Nicholas’s health did not worsen, but rather improved; in any case, there was no concern. At the same time, the tsar did not accept reports and, obviously, “secluded himself” in a difficult state of mind. These days, from February 12 to 17, physically healthy, he is experiencing a psychological crisis, physical malaise is replaced by mental breakdown, which is an unusual state for Nikolai, who was proud of his equanimity.

Suddenly, on the night of February 17-18, Nicholas I suddenly became worse. He began to experience paralysis. The emperor's eldest son, Alexander, was summoned to his father on the night of February 18, spent some time alone with him and left the office in tears. Before his death, Nicholas asked to be dressed in a uniform, and when saying goodbye to his eldest grandson (the future Tsar Alexander III), said: “Learn to die.” A few hours later, on February 18 (March 2), 1855, at the height of the war, Nikolai died suddenly, according to the most common version - from transient pneumonia. However, there is a version that he committed suicide by drinking poison due to defeats in the Crimean War. What caused the paralysis? This remains a mystery. If the emperor committed suicide, who gave him the poison? Two physicians took turns at the bedside of the sick emperor: Dr. Carell and Dr. Mandt. In memoirs and historical literature, suspicion falls on Dr. Mandt, although at the beginning of the development of paralysis he was not present under Nikolai. There were enough publications about the emperor’s suicide at that time. "The Bell" in 1859 ("Letters of a Russian Man") reported that Nicholas I poisoned himself with the help of Mandt. The version of the suicidal poisoning of the monarch is confirmed by the memoirs of diplomat A. Pelikan and Colonel of the General Staff, adjutant of the Tsarevich I.F. Savitsky. The version of poisoning is also supported by the fact that the anatomist Wenzel Gruber, who embalmed the body of the deceased emperor, was imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress for compiling the autopsy report on the body of Nicholas I and publishing it in Germany, finding it interesting in forensic terms.

By the morning of February 18, 1855, rapid decomposition of the body began. Yellow, blue, and purple spots appeared on the face of the deceased. The lips were parted, sparse teeth were visible. The cramped features of his face indicated that the emperor was dying in great agony. In the morning, the sovereign heir Alexander was horrified to see his father so disfigured, and called two doctors - Zdekaner and Myanovsky - professors of the Medical-Surgical Academy, ordered them to remove all signs of poisoning in any way in order to present the body in proper form four days later for a general farewell according to tradition and protocol. Two scientists called in, in order to hide the real cause of death, literally repainted, retouched the face, properly processed and placed the body in a coffin.

The last will of Nicholas I was a ban on the autopsy and embalming of his body; he feared that the autopsy would reveal the secret of his death, which he wanted to take to the grave. His reign began with a tragedy (the manifesto of July 13, 1826, which announced the verdict on the Decembrists) and ended in disaster. He did not survive the Crimean disaster; it remained in the memory of posterity as one of the darkest periods of Russian history.

As you know, Nicholas I died on February 18 (March 2), 1855. It was officially announced that the emperor caught a cold while taking part in the parade in a light uniform and died of pneumonia (pneumonia). As usually happens, in the very first days after the death of Nicholas, legends arose about his sudden death, and they began to spread with lightning speed. The first version is that the tsar could not survive the defeat in the Crimean War and committed suicide. The second is that physician Martin Mandt poisoned the emperor. What really happened?

Emperor Nicholas I

“Completely unexpected even for St. Petersburg”

Poet, journalist and (which is very important!) Doctor of Medical Sciences V.L. Paykov is already in Soviet time reasoned on this matter: “Rumors about suicide, about an artificially induced cold, about taking poison when the cold began to go away, etc., came from the palace, from the medical world, spread among the literary public, and wandered among the philistines<…>So physical strong man", as Nicholas I was, he could not die from a cold, even a severe form of it."

And here the question involuntarily arises: were there any serious reasons for denying the official version of the emperor’s death? The answer to this question is obvious: of course they were.

First of all, as historian E.V. writes. Tarle, Russians and foreigners who knew Nicholas’s nature always said that they could not imagine the emperor “sitting down as a loser at the diplomatic green table for negotiations with the victors.” This is where the version comes from that Nicholas I took the news of the defeat of the Russian troops near Evpatoria hard. He allegedly realized that this was a harbinger of defeat in the entire Crimean War, and therefore asked Martin Mandt to give him poison, which would allow him to die, protecting himself from shame.

Supporters of another version, the doctor’s fellow contemporaries, unanimously accused him of underestimating the condition of his crowned patient and of inadequacy of treatment methods.

The writing fraternity also played a role. She preferred the suicide version.

As Tarle noted, rumors of suicide “were widespread in Russia and Europe (and had an impact on minds),” and “sometimes these rumors were believed by people who were not at all guilty of gullibility and frivolity.” For example, publicist N.V. Shelgunov and historian N.K. Schilder.

In particular, Schilder succinctly stated: “I was poisoned.” But Shelgunov gave us this version of the rumors about the “highest” death: “Emperor Nicholas died completely unexpectedly even for St. Petersburg, which had never heard anything about his illness before. It is clear that the sudden death of the sovereign caused speculation. By the way, they said that the dying emperor ordered to call his grandson, the future crown prince. The Emperor lay in his office, on a camp bed, under a soldier's overcoat. When the Tsarevich entered, the Emperor allegedly said to him: “Learn to die,” and these were his last words. But there was other news. It was said that Emperor Nicholas, shocked by the failures of the Crimean War, felt unwell and then caught a severe cold. Despite his illness, he ordered a review of the troops. On the day of the parade, a sudden frost hit, but the sick sovereign did not find it convenient to postpone the parade. When the riding horse was brought up, the physician Mandt grabbed him by the bit and, wanting to warn the emperor about the danger, allegedly said: “Sire, what are you doing? This is worse than death: it is suicide,” but Emperor Nicholas, without answering anything, mounted his horse and gave him spurs.” It turns out that the form of voluntary death of Nicholas I was not poison, but an artificially induced cold.

Naturally, there were immediately those who considered all the rumors about the Tsar’s suicide to be without any basis. For example, in 1855 a book by Count D.N. was published. Bludov "The last hours of the life of Emperor Nicholas I." So there it is said about the death of the king: “This precious life was put to an end by a cold, which at first seemed insignificant, but, unfortunately, was combined with other causes of disorder, which had long been hidden in a constitution that was only [outwardly] strong, but in fact shocked , even exhausted by the labors of extraordinary activity, worries and sorrows..."

"Iron" health of the emperor

Surprisingly, many contemporaries considered the emperor’s health “iron.” In reality, it was not so heroic. Nikolai Pavlovich was an ordinary person, and the impression of the indestructibility of his health was rather the result of his conscious efforts to shape the appearance of “the master of a huge empire.” In fact, as Tarle notes, “what’s wrong with the sovereign in Lately Something was wrong, it was clear to everyone who had access to the courtyard.”

However, the emperor’s health deteriorated much earlier than “everyone” noticed it. In December 1837, a terrible fire engulfed the Winter Palace. This fire lasted about thirty hours. As a result, the second and third floors of the palace were completely burned out and many valuable works of art were lost forever. This event left an indelible mark on the psyche of Nicholas I: every time he saw fire or smelled smoke, he turned pale, felt dizzy and his heartbeat quickened.

Historians generally believe that Nicholas I’s health problems began in 1843. While traveling across Russia, on the road from Penza to Tambov, his carriage overturned, and the Tsar broke his collarbone. From that time on, Nikolai Pavlovich’s health began to noticeably change, and most importantly, he developed nervous irritability.

But the emperor felt especially bad in 1844–1845. His “legs hurt and were swollen”; doctors were afraid that he would develop dropsy. He even went to Italy, to Palermo, for treatment. And in the spring of 1847, Nikolai Pavlovich’s dizziness intensified. The longer he ruled the country, the gloomier he looked at the future of Russia, at the fate of Europe, and even at his own. personal life. He experienced the death of many figures of his reign very hard - Prince A.N. Golitsyna, M.M. Speransky, A.Kh. Benckendorf. The death of his daughter Alexandra in 1844 and the tragic events of the French Revolution of 1848 also clearly did not improve his health.

In January 1854, the emperor began to complain of pain in his foot. The then head of the gendarmerie L.V. Dubelt wrote about this: “Mandt says that he has erysipelas, while others claim that it is gout.” V.L. Paykov already clarified in Soviet times: “In last years“In my life, gout attacks became more frequent against the background of the appearance of obesity, which, apparently, was associated with a violation of the diet.” One might think that the Soviet researcher stood behind the emperor’s eating chair every day.

A. Kozlov. News from Sevastopol. Lithography. 1854–1855

Painful blow

Of course, the Crimean campaign dealt a strong blow to Nicholas I. Relatives often saw the king in his office “crying like a child when he received every bad news.” “Still, one should not exaggerate the significance of unfavorable news about what happened near Yevpatoria,” believed historian P.K. Solovyov. – Hoping for the best, the king was preparing for the worst. In letters dated early February 1855, Nicholas I indicated to Adjutant General M.D. Gorchakov and Field Marshal I.F. Paskevich on the possibility of “failure in Crimea”, on the need to prepare the defense of Nikolaev and Kherson. He considered the likelihood of Austria entering the war to be very high and gave orders regarding possible military operations in the Kingdom of Poland and Galicia. The tsar did not have any special illusions regarding the neutrality of Prussia.”

He realized long ago: the leading European powers have never loved and will never love Russia. Of course, a lot of explanations can be found for this Russophobia of theirs: France, beaten by the Russians in 1812–1814, dreamed of revenge. Already in 1815, she concluded a secret “defensive alliance” with England and Austria, directed against Russia. Another problem was the so-called “eastern question,” that is, the security of Russia’s southern borders and strengthening its positions in the Balkans. Patronage of Russia Orthodox population Balkan Peninsula interfered with the expansionist machinations of England and Austria. In addition, England, which saw Russia as its main geopolitical enemy, was concerned about the successes of the Russians in the Caucasus and feared their possible advance into Central Asia, which it had its own plans for. As for Prussia, it, like Austria, was ready to support any action directed against Russia. By the middle of the 19th century, Nicholas I found himself in diplomatic isolation, and this could not help but sadden him.

W. Simpson. Landing in Evpatoria. It took place on September 2 (14), 1854. They reported to Nikolai:
coalition expeditionary force transported 61 thousand soldiers to Crimea

Yes, the failure to storm Yevpatoria dealt a painful blow to Nikolai Pavlovich’s pride, but it was not the event that predetermined the outcome of the entire war. The fate of the campaign depended on the defenders of Sevastopol, who continued to fight until the end of August 1855. So the defeat at Evpatoria could not push the emperor to commit suicide.

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna testified: “It was not in his character to complain.” He constantly repeated: “I must serve everything in order. And if I become decrepit, then I’ll go into pure retirement. If I’m not fit to serve, I’ll leave, but as long as I have the strength, I’ll try until the end. I will bear my cross as long as I have enough strength.”

So the historian Paykov rightly believed that “one should not forget the important circumstance that Nicholas I was a military man to the core, who knew full well that wars bring with them not only losses, but also defeats. And you must be able to accept defeats with dignity. And on their basis to build the building of future victory. The character of this man, strong, decisive, purposeful, the entire history of his thirty-year reign does not give the slightest reason to assume suicide on his part due to private military failures.”

However, many of the emperor's sentimental contemporaries could not come to terms with the prosaic picture of his death. Here is Prince V.P. Meshchersky romantically asserted: “Nikolai Pavlovich was dying of grief, and precisely from Russian grief. This dying had no signs of physical illness - it came only at the last minute - but the dying took place in the form of an undoubted predominance of mental suffering over his physical being.

The last days of Nicholas I

Director of His Majesty's Office, poet V.I. Panaev testified that no matter how hard Nikolai Pavlovich tried “to overcome himself, to hide his inner torment, it began to be revealed by the gloominess of his gaze, pallor, even some kind of darkening of his beautiful face and the thinness of his whole body. Given his state of health, the slightest cold could develop a dangerous disease in him. And so it happened. Not wanting to refuse Count Kleinmichel (P.A. Kleinmichel was the Minister of Railways, who oversaw the construction of the Nikolaev Railway. - Author) in the request to be seated by his father with his daughter, the sovereign went to the wedding, despite the severe frost, wearing a red Horse Guards uniform with elk trousers and silk stockings. This evening was the beginning of his illness: he caught a cold...

Neither in the city, nor even at court did they pay attention to the sovereign’s illness; They said he was unwell, but he was not lying down. The Emperor did not express concerns about his health, either because he really did not suspect any danger, or, more likely, in order not to disturb his kind subjects. For this last reason, he forbade the printing of bulletins about his illness.”

He was sick for five days, but then he got stronger and went to the Mikhailovsky Manege to review the troops. Upon returning, I felt unwell: the cough and shortness of breath resumed. But the next day the emperor again went to Manege to inspect the marching battalions of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments. On February 11, he could no longer get out of bed. And on the 12th I received a telegram about the defeat of Russian troops near Yevpatoria. “How many lives have been sacrificed for nothing,” Nikolai Pavlovich repeated these words in last days many times in your life.

Near Yevpatoria, on February 5 (17), 1855, 168 Russian soldiers and officers were killed, 583 people were wounded (including one general), and another 18 people were missing.

On the night of February 17-18, the emperor became noticeably worse. He began to experience paralysis. What caused it? This remains a mystery. If we assume that he did commit suicide, then who exactly gave him the poison? It is known that two physicians were at the patient’s bedside: Martin Mandt and Philippe Carell. In memoirs and historical literature they usually point to Dr. Mandt. But, for example, Colonel I.F. Savitsky, Tsarevich Alexander’s adjutant, argued: “The German Mandt, a homeopath, the tsar’s favorite physician, whom popular rumor accused of the death (poisoning) of the emperor, was forced to flee abroad, so he told me about last minutes great ruler: “After receiving a dispatch about the defeat at Evpatoria, Nicholas I called me to him and said: “You have always been loyal to me, and therefore I want to speak with you confidentially - the course of the war has revealed the fallacy of my entire foreign policy, but I have neither the strength , nor the desire to change and take a different path, this would contradict my beliefs. Let my son, after my death, make this turn. I am unable and must leave the stage, so I called you to ask you to help me. Give me poison that would allow me to give up my life without unnecessary suffering, quickly enough, but not suddenly (so as not to cause misunderstandings).”

However, according to Savitsky's memoirs, Mandt refused to give the emperor poison. But on the same night, February 18 (March 2), 1855, the emperor died.

And by morning, rapid decomposition of the body began, and yellow, blue and purple spots appeared on the face of the deceased. The heir to the throne, Alexander, was horrified to see his father so disfigured, and called two doctors: N.F. Zdecauer and I.I. Myanovsky - professors of the Medical-Surgical Academy. He ordered them to use any means necessary to remove “all signs of poisoning in order to present the body in proper form four days later for a public farewell according to tradition and protocol.”

“He was too much of a believer to give in to despondency.”

Supporters of the poisoning version claim that the two called professors, in order to hide the real cause of death, literally repainted the face of the deceased and properly processed it. But the new method of embalming the body that they allegedly used was not yet well developed, and it did not prevent its rapid decomposition. But at the same time, it is somehow forgotten that Zdecauer and Mianowski were therapists and never practiced embalming at all!

It is also alleged that the last will of Nicholas I was a ban on the autopsy of his body: allegedly he feared that the autopsy would reveal the secret of his death, which the desperate emperor wanted to take with him to the grave. But this is not entirely true. Last thing spiritual testament Nikolai Pavlovich wrote on May 4, 1844. And in this document there is no mention of the ritual according to which he would be buried in the event of his death. However, back in 1828, during the funeral of his mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, he publicly stated that during his burial the ceremony should be simplified as much as possible.

V.L. In this regard, Paykov writes: “When Nicholas I died, the “simplified ceremony” of the funeral was interpreted as a desire to quickly hide the body of the deceased in the grave, and with it the secret of his “mysterious” death. But it was just about Nicholas I’s desire to save public funds on his funeral.”

As for the rapid decomposition of the body of the deceased, it could be due to the fact that there were no special refrigeration chambers at that time. But the air temperature in St. Petersburg that day suddenly rose sharply from -20°C to +2°C. Plus, as noted by the maid of honor A.F. Tyutchev, “farewell to the emperor took place in a small room, where many people gathered who wanted to say goodbye to the king, and the heat was almost unbearable.”

So the rumors about the king’s suicide are unfounded.

And two more important points.

Firstly, Nicholas I was a deeply religious man who cared about the posthumous fate of his soul. His daughter, Olga Nikolaevna, said: “He was too much of a believer to give in to despondency.” And even more so, he hardly even allowed the thought of suicide.

But here is the testimony of the Emperor’s aide-de-camp V.I. Dena: “Whoever knew Nikolai Pavlovich closely could not help but appreciate the deeply religious feeling that distinguished him and which, of course, would have helped him with Christian humility to endure all the blows of fate, no matter how severe, no matter how sensitive to his pride they were.” .

Any Christian knows that unauthorized death is a grave offense, a mortal sin, surpassing even murder. Suicide is the only one of the most terrible sins that cannot be repented of. So the 58-year-old emperor clearly would not dare to cross this, challenging God himself and refusing to recognize Him as the boss of human life.

Secondly, speaking about the death of Nicholas I, we must not forget about one more circumstance. The Emperor was on the verge of old age - in July 1855 he would have turned 59 years old. Of course, in modern times this is not much. But in comparison with other Pavlovichs, Nikolai was almost a long-liver. For comparison: his elder brother Alexander I died at the age of 47, Konstantin Pavlovich - at 52, Mikhail Pavlovich - at 51, Ekaterina Pavlovna - at 30.

Nicholas I was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Alexandra Feodorovna, his wife, died on October 20 (November 1), 1860 in Tsarskoe Selo, and she was also buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

By the way

The historian Tarle notes: “For the enemies of the Nicholas regime, this alleged suicide was, as it were, a symbol of the complete failure of the entire system of merciless oppression, the personification of which was the tsar, and they wanted to believe that in the night hours of February 17-18, left alone with Mandt, the culprit who created this system and led Russia to a military catastrophe, realized his historical crimes and pronounced a death sentence on himself and his regime. The broad masses in rumors of suicide drew evidence of the approaching collapse of the system, which so recently seemed indestructible.”

A symbol of failure... I realized... I pronounced a sentence on myself... All this, perhaps, is so. But from awareness to a concrete step there is an abyss. As they say, “it happens that you don’t want to live, but this does not mean at all that you want not to live.” And if so, then one cannot but agree with the historian P.A. Zayonchkovsky, who makes the following conclusion: “The events in Sevastopol sobered him up. However, rumors about the king’s suicide are without any basis.”

Sergey Nechaev

>Biographies of famous people

Brief biography of Nicholas I

Nicholas I Pavlovich - Emperor of All Russia from 1825 to 1855, son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. Other titles - Grand Duke Finnish and Polish Tsar. Born on July 6, 1796 in Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin); was the third son of the royal couple and grandson of Catherine II. Since childhood he was enrolled in military service and was raised by General M.I. Lamsdorf. Everything that was not related to military affairs, namely various sciences, weighed heavily on the boy. Throughout his life he retained a passion for construction and engineering.

Nicholas was not raised as a future ruler. However, after the sudden death of Alexander I, he assumed the throne. The political direction he chose was clearly different from all previously accepted forms and was rather conservative and anti-liberal. For educational and educational purposes, he was taken to some provinces of Russia and England. Therefore he was well aware of internal state and problems of the country. At the age of 21, he married the Prussian princess, who, according to the canons of Orthodoxy, received a new name - Alexandra Fedorovna. A year later, their first child was born - the future Emperor Alexander II.

Nicholas did not immediately come to the imperial position. He himself learned that he would become heir to the throne in 1819, but the corresponding manifesto was not made public, which caused an uprising of the Decembrists, dissatisfied with this turn of events. The Emperor took the oath of office in December 1825, and then he had to suppress the uprising. From the very beginning of his reign, he created a special committee to implement reforms. Under the leadership of Speransky, this commission quickly developed a new Code of Laws and streamlined Russian legislation. At the same time, S.S. Uvarov developed the “theory of official nationality.”

According to the tsar, the people were supposed to live as one large, well-coordinated army, i.e. according to their own laws. He was distrustful of outside interference and liberalism. Thus, under Nicholas I, unanimity flourished in Russia, and he himself was a true autocrat. Foreign policy The emperor's reign was marked by a series of wars. The most striking event was the Crimean War. At the same time he returned the principles Holy Alliance and raised the Eastern Question. As a result of the Russian-Turkish, Russian-Persian and Caucasian wars, Russia annexed the east of Armenia, the entire Caucasus and part of the Black Sea coast. The ruler died in February 1855 in St. Petersburg.

The personality of Emperor Nicholas I is very controversial. Thirty years of rule are a series of paradoxical phenomena:

• unprecedented cultural flourishing and manic censorship;
• total political control and prosperity of corruption;
• the rise of industrial production and economic backwardness from European countries;
• control over the army and its powerlessness.

Statements from contemporaries and real ones historical facts also cause a lot of controversy, so it is difficult to objectively assess

Childhood of Nicholas I

Nikolai Pavlovich was born on June 25, 1796 and became the third son of the imperial Romanov couple. Very little Nikolai was raised by Baroness Charlotte Karlovna von Lieven, to whom he became very attached and adopted from her some character traits, such as strength of character, perseverance, heroism, and openness. It was then that his passion for military affairs already manifested itself. Nikolai loved watching military parades, divorces, and playing with military toys. And already at the age of three he put on his first military uniform of the Life Guards Horse Regiment.

He suffered his very first shock at age four years, when his father Emperor Pavel Petrovich died. Since then, the responsibility of raising the heirs fell on the shoulders of the widow Maria Feodorovna.

Mentor of Nikolai Pavlovich

Lieutenant General Matvey Ivanovich Lamzdorf, former director of the gentry (first) was appointed Nikolai's mentor from 1801 and over the next seventeen years. cadet corps under Emperor Paul. Lamzdorf did not have the slightest idea about the methods of educating royalty - future rulers - and about any educational activities in general. His appointment was justified by the desire of Empress Maria Feodorovna to protect her sons from getting carried away with military affairs, and this was Lamzdorf’s main goal. But instead of interesting the princes in other activities, he went against all their wishes. For example, accompanying the young princes on their trip to France in 1814, where they were eager to participate in military operations against Napoleon, Lamzdorf deliberately drove them very slowly, and the princes arrived in Paris when the battle was already over. Due to incorrectly chosen tactics, Lamzdorf’s educational activities did not achieve their goal. When Nicholas I got married, Lamzdorf was relieved of his duties as a mentor.

Hobbies

The Grand Duke diligently and passionately studied all the intricacies of military science. In 1812, he was eager to go to war with Napoleon, but his mother did not let him. In addition, the future emperor was interested in engineering, fortification, and architecture. But Nikolai did not like the humanities and was careless about their study. Subsequently, he greatly regretted this and even tried to fill in the gaps in his training. But he never managed to do this.

Nikolai Pavlovich was fond of painting, played the flute, and loved opera and ballet. He had good artistic taste.

The future emperor had a beautiful appearance. Nicholas 1 is 205 cm tall, thin, broad-shouldered. The face is slightly elongated, the eyes are blue, and there is always a stern look. Nikolai had excellent physical fitness and good health.

Marriage

The elder brother Alexander I, having visited Silesia in 1813, chose a bride for Nicholas - the daughter of the King of Prussia, Charlotte. This marriage was supposed to strengthen Russian-Prussian relations in the fight against Napoleon, but unexpectedly for everyone, the young people sincerely fell in love with each other. On July 1, 1817 they got married. Charlotte of Prussia in Orthodoxy became Alexandra Feodorovna. The marriage turned out to be happy and had many children. The Empress bore Nicholas seven children.

After the wedding, Nicholas 1, biography and Interesting Facts which is presented to your attention in the article, began to command a guards division, and also took up the duties of inspector general for engineering.

While doing what he loved, the Grand Duke took his responsibilities very seriously. He opened company and battalion schools under the engineering troops. In 1819, the Main Engineering School (now the Nikolaev Engineering Academy) was founded. Thanks to his excellent memory for faces, which allows him to remember even ordinary soldiers, Nikolai won respect in the army.

Death of Alexander 1

In 1820, Alexander announced to Nicholas and his wife that Konstantin Pavlovich, the next heir to the throne, intended to renounce his right due to childlessness, divorce and remarriage, and Nicholas should become the next emperor. In this regard, Alexander signed a manifesto approving the abdication of Konstantin Pavlovich and the appointment of Nikolai Pavlovich as heir to the throne. Alexander, as if sensing his imminent death, bequeathed the document to be read out immediately after his death. On November 19, 1825, Alexander I died. Nicholas, despite the manifesto, was the first to swear allegiance to Prince Constantine. It was a very noble and honest act. After some period of uncertainty, when Constantine did not officially abdicate the throne, but also refused to take the oath. The growth of Nicholas 1 was rapid. He decided to become the next emperor.

Bloody start to reign

On December 14, on the day of the oath of Nicholas I, an uprising (called the Decembrist uprising) was organized, aimed at overthrowing the autocracy. The uprising was suppressed, the surviving participants were sent into exile, and five were executed. The emperor's first impulse was to have mercy on everyone, but fear palace coup forced to organize a trial to the fullest extent of the law. And yet Nikolai acted generously with those who wanted to kill him and his entire family. There are even confirmed facts that the wives of the Decembrists received monetary compensation, and children born in Siberia could study in the best educational institutions at the expense of the state.

This event influenced the course of the further reign of Nicholas 1. All his activities were aimed at preserving autocracy.

Domestic policy

The reign of Nicholas 1 began when he was 29 years old. Accuracy and exactingness, responsibility, struggle for justice, combined with high efficiency were the striking qualities of the emperor. His character was influenced by his years in the army. He led a rather ascetic lifestyle: he slept on a hard bed, covered with an overcoat, observed moderation in food, did not drink alcohol and did not smoke. Nikolai worked 18 hours a day. He was very demanding, first of all, of himself. He considered the preservation of autocracy his duty, and all of it political activity served this purpose.

Russia under Nicholas 1 underwent the following changes:

1. Centralization of power and creation of a bureaucratic management apparatus. The emperor only wanted order, control and accountability, but essentially it turned out that the number of official posts increased significantly and along with them the number and size of bribes increased. Nikolai himself understood this and told his eldest son that in Russia only the two of them did not steal.
2. The solution to the issue of serfs. Thanks to a series of reforms, the number of serfs decreased significantly (from 58% to 35% over approximately 45 years), and they acquired rights, the protection of which was controlled by the state. The complete abolition of serfdom did not happen, but the reform served as a starting point in this matter. Also at this time, an education system for peasants began to take shape.
3. The emperor paid special attention to order in the army. Contemporaries criticized him for paying too close attention to the troops, while he was of little interest to the morale of the army. Frequent checks, inspections, and punishments for the slightest mistakes distracted soldiers from their main tasks and made them weak. But was it really so? During the reign of Emperor Nicholas 1, Russia fought with Persia and Turkey in 1826-1829, and in Crimea in 1853-1856. Russia won the wars with Persia and Turkey. The Crimean War led to Russia's loss of influence in the Balkans. But historians cite the reason for the defeat of the Russians as the economic backwardness of Russia compared to the enemy, including the existence of serfdom. But a comparison of human losses in the Crimean War with other similar wars shows that they are less. This proves that the army under the leadership of Nicholas I was powerful and highly organized.

Economic development

Emperor Nicholas 1 inherited a Russia deprived of industry. All production items were imported. By the end of the reign of Nicholas 1, economic growth was noticeable. Many types of production necessary for the country already existed in Russia. Under his leadership, the construction of paved roads and railways began. In connection with the development railway transport The machine-building industry, including car-building, began to develop. An interesting fact is that Nicholas I decided to build wider railways (1524 mm) than in European countries (1435 mm) in order to make it difficult for the enemy to move around the country in case of war. And it was very wise. It was this trick that prevented the Germans from supplying in full ammunition during the attack on Moscow.

In connection with growing industrialization, intensive urban growth began. During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the urban population more than doubled. Thanks to the engineering education received in his youth, Nikolai 1 Romanov oversaw the construction of all major facilities in St. Petersburg. His idea was not to exceed the height of the cornice Winter Palace for all city buildings. As a result, St. Petersburg became one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Under Nicholas 1, growth in the educational sphere was also noticeable. Many educational institutions were opened. These include the famous Kiev University and St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, military and naval academies, a number of schools, etc.

The rise of culture

The 19th century was a real heyday literary creativity. Pushkin and Lermontov, Tyutchev, Ostrovsky, Turgenev, Derzhavin and other writers and poets of this era were incredibly talented. At the same time, Nicholas 1 Romanov introduced the most severe censorship, reaching the point of absurdity. Therefore, literary geniuses periodically experienced persecution.

Foreign policy

Foreign policy during the reign of Nicholas I included two main directions:

1. Return to the principles of the Holy Alliance, suppression of revolutions and any revolutionary ideas in Europe.
2. Strengthening influence in the Balkans for free navigation in and Bosporus.

These factors became the cause of the Russian-Turkish, Russian-Persian and Crimean wars. The defeat in the Crimean War led to the loss of all previously won positions in the Black Sea and the Balkans and provoked an industrial crisis in Russia.

Death of the Emperor

Nicholas 1 died on March 2, 1855 (58 years old) from pneumonia. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

And finally...

The reign of Nicholas I undoubtedly left a tangible mark on both the economy and cultural life of Russia, however, it did not lead to any epochal changes in the country. The following factors forced the emperor to slow down progress and follow the conservative principles of autocracy:

• moral unpreparedness to govern the country;
• lack of education;
• fear of overthrow due to the events of December 14;
• a feeling of loneliness (conspiracies against father Paul, brother Alexander, abdication of the throne by brother Constantine).

Therefore, none of the subjects regretted the death of the emperor. Contemporaries more often condemned the personal characteristics of Nicholas 1, he was criticized as a politician and as a person, but historical facts speak of the emperor as a noble man who completely devoted himself to serving Russia.

Nikolai Pavlovich Romanov (1796-1855), the third son of the royal couple Paul I and Maria Feodorovna, chose a career as a military engineer and did not think about reigning. Unexpectedly, on November 25, 1825, Emperor Alexander I died suddenly, leaving no direct heir.

The second brother, Konstantin Pavlovich Romanov, renounced the succession to the throne back in 1823, citing a morganatic marriage and inability to govern the state. At the same time, Alexander I decided to transfer supreme power, if necessary, to Nikolai Pavlovich Romanov and confirmed the transfer in the Manifesto of August 16 (28), 1823.

On December 14, 1825, the people, government institutions and most of the troops swore allegiance to Nicholas I.

Domestic policy

Suppression of the Decembrist uprising

Some of the guards officers refused to swear allegiance to Nikolai Pavlovich. The conspirators deceitfully led the soldiers to the Senate to commit coup d'etat. The rebels dreamed of liberalizing the state system.

The rebellion was suppressed by artillery. The instigators were arrested and exiled to Siberia. Five were executed. The movement is suppressed.

Nicholas I pursued a policy of centralizing power. To avoid popular unrest, he subordinated the system government controlled personal control.

Bureaucratization of power. Fight against corruption

Bureaucratization state apparatus contributed to the establishment huge amount new departments, commissions, offices.

Nicholas I endowed the Own Chancellery with legislative, managerial and supervisory functions. Under him, the role of the Senate increased. Some organs duplicated others. Bureaucracy, red tape, and corruption flourished.

Minister of Finance E.F. Kankrin subordinated the activities of his department to the fight against corruption. Thanks to audits at all levels of government and management, in 1853 alone, 2,540 people were brought to trial for abuses.

Russian national idea

The national idea was outlined in 1833 by Count S.S. Uvarov. He argued that the basis of public education rests on the trinity of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality.

Faith protects society from immorality. Autocracy is the main condition for the stable development of the state. Nationality – preservation of national traditions.

Restriction of rights and freedoms. The offensive against education

Nicholas I strove for the inviolability of the state system. The 3rd department of the chancellery dealt with issues state security, political investigation. A corps of gendarmes was created, headed by A.H. Benckendorff.

The Tsar also saw the reason for the uprising of 1825 in the imperfection educational system. As a result, during his reign, the non-noble classes were deprived of the right to study in gymnasiums and universities. Tuition fees were raised to weed out the heterodox class. Supervision of university teaching has been strengthened. Philosophy was recognized as a harmful science.

The army is a subject of special concern

The reform of the Russian army in 1833 was aimed at strengthening the combat strength of infantry and cavalry regiments by reducing their number. The service life has been reduced from 25 to 20 years. In 1834, the sovereign limited the use of spitzrutens and abolished fuchteli (a blow with a flat saber). Despite the backwardness of industry, smooth-bore artillery was replaced by rifled artillery, and bronze and cast-iron gun barrels were replaced by steel ones. The capsule gun replaced the flintlock. Military spending increased by 70%. Discipline has become stricter. Widely used Physical punishment, which is why the tsar received the nickname Nikolai Palkin among the people.

Codification of Russian laws

The Emperor understood the need to streamline legislation. He established the II Department of the Chancellery and ordered the codification of laws. The result of painstaking work was the collection of 1830 “The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire” in 45 volumes, which united all the decrees from the Code of 1649 to the laws of Nicholas I.

At the same time there was preparatory work on the compilation of the Code of Current Laws. Selected from Full meeting current laws with comments passed departmental examination and in 1833 were published in the 15-volume Code of Laws Russian Empire».

Rapid development of industry

Russian economy of the first quarter of the 19th century. significantly lagged behind the Western one, where the industrial revolution was already ending.

In Nikolaev Russia, such industries as textile, paper-making, and sugar developed. The production of metal products appeared.

Paved roads were built. Built in 1841 Railway St. Petersburg - Moscow. The construction of roads stimulated the development of Russian mechanical engineering. The growth of industrial production caused an increase in the urban population.

Policy towards the nobility. Peasant question

Despite the distrust of the nobility, Nikolai Pavlovich took measures to strengthen the noble class. Continued to appoint nobles to key government positions. He limited the penetration of other classes into the nobility. He prohibited the division of estates between family members.

To improve the situation of the peasants, Nicholas I established the Committees for the Peasants, the V Department of the Chancellery. I instructed P.D. Kiselyov to prepare a project for the reform of state peasants.

As a result of their activities, reforms were developed that made life easier for peasants and became the basis for the future abolition of serfdom.

Foreign policy

Russia is the gendarme of Europe. Suppression of the Polish and Hungarian uprisings

The role of Nicholas Russia in the suppression of the revolutionary-minded peoples of Europe intensified.

In 1831, General I.F. Paskevich and his troops entered Warsaw and suppressed the Poles’ uprising against Russian tsarism.

In 1849, Nicholas I responded to a request for help from the Austrian government and sent a 150,000-strong army of General I. F. Paskevich to suppress the Hungarian uprising. In 3 weeks, Russian troops defeated the Hungarian rebels and saved Austro-Hungarian Empire from collapse.

Russia's wars with Turkey and Persia. Expansion to the East.

Russian-Persian War 1826-1828 went for dominance in Transcaucasia and the Caspian region. The Iranians fought for Tiflis and tried to drive the enemy beyond the Terek. Russian troops, led by General I.F. Paskevich, defeated the Persians. According to the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty, the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates went to Russia.

Türkiye was defeated in the war of 1828-1829. opened the Black Sea straits for Russian ships. The right to have our military fleet in the Caspian Sea was won.

Continued under Nicholas I Caucasian War for mountainous areas North Caucasus, for influence in Central Asia: Khiva (1838-1840, 1847-1848) and Kokand campaigns.

In 1853, the Crimean War began between the Russian Empire and the coalition of Turkey, Great Britain, France, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The once divided world was being redivided.

Death of Nicholas I. Results of the reign

Nikolai Pavlovich died on February 18, 1855 due to pneumonia, which he caught after the flu at the parade.

The results of the reign of Nicholas I are as follows:

References:

• Kersnovsky, A.A. History of the Russian army in 4 vols. M: “Voice”, vol. 2, 1993;
• Klyuchevsky, V.O. Russian history course. Lecture LXXXV “The reign of Nicholas I...”

1. Alexander

   Great, thanks for helping me get my spurs to school))

2. NEHamster

   And Nicholas I actually supported Gogol and paid all the debts of the deceased Pushkin from the state treasury. True, the tsar was not so supportive of all cultural figures.

3. Olesya

   I think that this material would be better understood in table form. Nicholas I is a controversial personality, so a table with the ruler’s successful and unsuccessful reforms would be ideal. Many historians note that Nicholas I was much inferior in terms of political intuition to both Alexander I and Alexander II. This is evidenced by the fact that Nicholas was never able to decide to abolish serfdom, and the people’s indignation speaks for itself.

4. Irina

   Yes, Nikolai paid Pushkin’s debts. However, he indirectly contributed to their appearance, forcing the poet to lead a lifestyle that was extremely unsuitable for him. In general, Nikolai was a unique person. His policy was reactionary and “slowed down” the country, but there were reasons for that: remember the conditions under which he ascended the throne. His desire to “remove the revolutionary infection” from society is quite understandable. In terms of his personal qualities, he was a courageous and decisive person.

5. Grunge66

   The reign of Nicholas has a very bright and prominent characteristic. It was during his years that the totalitarian note of the administrative state apparatus became visible. Royal power, wanted to control all areas folk life, and precisely for this reason, during this period, the number of officials was one of the largest during the entire existence of the empire. Although the life of serfs has improved a little and become easier compared to the previous era.

6. Anna

   Unfortunately, nothing is said about Nikolai’s contribution to the development of military and technical education. And here were the most impressive successes. Was open:
   Petersburg Technological Institute, Moscow Higher technical school(this is the now well-known Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School), Engineering Academy, Artillery Academy, General Staff Academy in St. Petersburg.
   In 1939, the Pulkovo Observatory opened near St. Petersburg. One of the best in the world at that time.

7. Lyudmila

   Tell me, why during the time of Nicholas I Russia was called the “Gendarme” of Europe? Thank you very much in advance!

8. svstar1989

   Lyudmila, the 30-40s of the 19th century in Europe were marked by revolutions. Everyone knows how Nicholas I came to power and how he treated revolutionary movement. Therefore, he participated in the affairs of many European countries to suppress these rebellious sentiments. And the European elites did not like this. Another name for our country in those days was “prison of nations.”

9. Aoidos

   The first ten years of the war in the Caucasus are associated with Ermolov. Next were Paskevich, Kluki-von Klyugenai, Vorontsov. You can also add about Polish uprising 1830-1831.

10. Troubadours

    The periods of reign of Alexander I and Nicholas I can be called a time of missed opportunities. The situation outside and inside the Russian Empire pushed the sovereigns to decisive reforms, but at best they were limited to half-measures.

11. Filofey

    No matter what anyone says, Nicholas I was, flesh and blood, a “noble tsar.” In all pressing state issues, he primarily defended the interests of the nobility. The reform aspirations observed in him were primarily aimed at noble benefit, and not at making life easier for the oppressed.

12. Paul

    Separately, I would like to mention that during the reign of Emperor Nicholas, the Kiev Imperial University of St. Vladimir, now known as the Kiev University, was founded National University named after Taras Shevchenko. Given educational institution occupied leading positions both in the Russian Empire and the USSR, and in independent Ukraine.

    Gosha

    And yet, in addition to “defending” the interests of the nobility, the emperor had many more problems)). And the solution to these problems often ran counter to the so-called. interests of the nobility. Still, the figure of the emperor, I think, was a kind of core on which the country was based. The ruling circles removed this figure in 1917 and ended up in complete chaos.

13. Ivan

    It is noteworthy that the III department also investigated cases of corruption, cruel treatment of landowners with peasants, dealt with counterfeiters and criminal murders. His first consequence political cause there was an investigation into the activities of the Petrashevites and F.M. Dostoevsky. And this is 1849, that is, 23 years after the creation of the department itself.

14. Anna

    Nicholas I is a rather controversial person and it is difficult to perceive what he did for the people. During his reign, the Crimean War was not the most successful, and some would call it a time of stagnation of society. But I would say that as a ruler he was wise man and made a significant contribution to history. It must be remembered that he came to the throne at a young age and was preparing to join the ranks of the military, not the emperors.

15. Nick_01

    The defeat in the Crimean War was due to the technical and military backwardness of the Russian army. The Russian fleet was sailing, while England and France already had steam fleets. The Russian army used smooth-bore weapons, while the European ones used rifled weapons, which affected the firing range.