The internal policy of Nicholas I. Internal policy of Nicholas I Internal policy of Nicholas 1 scheme
After the death (or disappearance) of his brother Alexander in 1825, the imperial manifesto of 1823 was opened, where Alexander indicated Nicholas as his heir to the throne, bypassing his brother Constantine, since he abdicated from the board. Nicholas insisted on observing all legal delays and ordered everyone to swear allegiance to Constantine, and after that send an ambassador to Warsaw for his brother to confirm the abdication. Constantine confirmed the abdication, but delayed with notarization for an unknown reason. Members of the Northern and Southern Secret Societies took advantage of this. decembrists who have been waiting for an opportune moment for a long time. This short period of Nikolai's biography is known as Interregnum.
On December 14, 1825, on Senate Square, Decembrist revolt, which was poetically sung by historians of the Soviet era, but in fact was a rebellion of the radical-minded and unrecognized intelligentsia and parasites of the nobility. The St. Petersburg "Maidan" of 1825 (and the similarity with the recent events in Kiev is extremely great) turned into the blocking of the Senate, the murder of the St. Petersburg Governor-General Mikhail Miloradovich (hero Patriotic War of 1812) and the demand of Pushchin and Ryleev not to swear allegiance to Nikolai Romanov, to create a provisional government with the aim of reformatting the Russian Empire into a constitutional monarchy, and even better - into a republic following the example of France at the end of the 18th century.
As is often the case with liberal revolutionaries, the uprising was badly organized and easily suppressed by government forces. Five of the main initiators were executed (the first and last execution during the reign of Nicholas I), the rest were sent into exile. At the same time, the emperor personally appointed a place of exile for each Decembrist. The young hot-tempered poet also fell into disgrace Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, whose poems in support of the Decembrists were found in almost every second detainee. Later, Nicholas I wanted to personally contemplate the great poet, for which he returned him from exile, then called Pushkin the smartest man in Russia and became his personal censor.
Domestic policy of Nicholas I.
In domestic politics, Nikolai Pavlovich adhered to more conservative views than his liberal brother.
- He tightened censorship after the Decembrist Uprising. This fact is usually recalled by liberal domestic and Western historians (completely ignoring all other activities) as a means of throwing mud at the brother of Alexander Pavlovich.
- Nicholas I, finally, began to pay attention to the industrialization of the country, made an industrial revolution by:
- created many factories, plants, imported new machinery and equipment from abroad;
- laid the first railway - from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1836-1837;
- paid special attention to technical education of both upper and lower classes;
- carried out a number of architectural and construction reforms, such as regulation of the height of buildings according to the width of the streets, the construction of an astronomical observatory, changes in fortification construction (thanks to the latter, St. Petersburg became impregnable for an assault from the Baltic Sea).
- Military reform. The introduction of strict discipline (under Alexander, the officers went about almost in tailcoats, and in general - whatever they liked) and the creation of external insignia. The stars on the shoulder straps are Nikolai's invention, before that it was not clear what rank the officer was until he introduced himself or provided documents.
- Codification of regulatory legal acts. Until that time, the last set of laws was created in the middle of the 17th century by the second king dynasty of Romanovs Alexei Mikhailovich ( Cathedral Code 1649), and all subsequent laws for almost 200 years were unstructured and often contradicted each other.
- Active participation in the problems of the peasants. Many laws of the Petrine era were canceled. Now the peasants could not be sold separately from their families and without their land. Landless nobles generally lost their right to serfs. Free (state) peasants received some rights and privileges. Schools and hospitals for the peasant class were created, and later courts. For the oppression of the peasants, landlords were severely punished (up to the arrest of all property).
- Active participation in the life of the common population. During the cholera epidemic of 1830, for example, Nicholas I personally visited the hospital with the sick, encouraged and listened to everyone, despite the extremely high risk of infection. After that, he alone in the field burned his clothes so as not to infect others, waited for quarantine for 11 days and returned to the yard. It was an unprecedented case for that time, but many historians forget about such facts, calling Nicholas I an autocrat-tyrant and despot.
Foreign policy of Nicholas I.
From 1826 to 1828, Persia made repeated attempts to return its lands to Transcaucasia. As a result of two years russo-Persian War she also lost the Nakhichevan and Erivan khanates.
Nikolai was born in 1796. He was younger than the brothers Alexander and Konstantin, so he received a different upbringing. Nikolai was not distinguished by extensive knowledge, especially in the humanitarian sphere. He was not involved in solving state affairs, he was prepared for a military career. Vindictiveness and stubbornness were the hallmarks of the future monarch. At the same time, he was a decent and caring family man.
J. Doe. Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I. 1820s
Nicholas' accession to the throne was marked by the Decembrist uprising, which was brutally suppressed. In a letter to his brother on December 14, 1825, Nikolai wrote: “My dear Constantine! Your will is done: I am the $ - $ emperor, but at what cost, my God! At the cost of the blood of my subjects! " At the beginning of the reign, the king tried to delve into the existing order.
He himself personally audited the nearest metropolitan institutions: it happened that he would fly into some government chamber, scare the officials and leave, making everyone feel that he knows not only their affairs, but also their tricks. In the province, he sent out trusted dignitaries to carry out a strict audit. Terrifying details were revealed; it was found, for example, that in St. Petersburg, in the center, not a single cash register had ever been checked; all financial statements were prepared with deliberately false; several officials with hundreds of thousands are missing. In courtrooms, the emperor [found] two million cases, in which 127 thousand people were imprisoned. Senate decrees were left without effect by subordinate institutions. Governors were given a one-year deadline to clear outstanding cases; the emperor reduced it to three months, giving the faulty governors a positive and direct promise to bring them to justice.
Having set himself the task of maintaining the existing order, Nikolai focused his efforts on centralizing management. Unlike his liberal brother, he did not aim at Russian borrowing of European political institutions and principles. Nikolai was convinced that the country should develop based on traditional values \u200b\u200band institutions. Since his reign in the XIX century. a new turn of Russia towards soil cultivation began.
From the document (V. O. Klyuchevsky. Course of Russian history. Lectures):
Emperor Nicholas I did not prepare and did not want to reign. Forced to reign, he walked to the unexpected and unwanted throne through the ranks of the rebellious troops ... The Troubles on December 14 was seen as a serious violation of military discipline, resulting from a false direction of minds. Therefore, the strengthening of discipline and reliable education of the minds were to become the immediate and most important internal tasks of the reign ... The time of this emperor $ - $ the era of extreme self-assertion of the Russian autocratic power ...
transformation of Nicholas I
Codification of legislation
Nikolai became convinced of the need to strengthen the regime of personal power. For this, the functions of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery were expanded.
In April 1826 appeared II part personal chancery of Nicholas I, who was tasked with putting in order the legislation in force since 1649. The emperor realized the importance of improving legislation and streamlining the system of government on this basis. The implementation of the codification of tens of thousands of various decrees that have appeared since the time of the Cathedral Code, the emperor instructed Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, member of the Council of State. After the exile and trial of the Decembrists, Speransky's views underwent changes; he recognized the prematureness of his early liberal projects. Within three years, all laws issued in 180 years have been collected, arranged chronologically and printed in 45 volumes under the title "Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire"... Then Speransky began to create a second collection of $ - $ "Code of laws of the Russian Empire", in which he selected all the legislation in force and presented it in a systematic manner. The 15-volume Code of Laws was published in 1833. Speransky hoped that it would become a preparatory work for the creation of a new legal code. But Nicholas I limited himself to putting in order the old legislation and rejected this proposal.
Creation of a system of political investigation
The events of December 14, 1825 convinced the tsar of the need to strengthen the political security system. Therefore, his next step was the formation of a police apparatus with punitive and controlling functions. June 3, 1826 was established III branch of his officeand led by the chief of gendarmes Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff... It was engaged in the investigation and investigation of political affairs, followed the schismatics, sectarians, foreigners, and carried out censorship. A. X. Benckendorf, a participant in the Patriotic War and the foreign campaign of the Russian army, who took an active part in the investigation of the case of the Decembrists, created a wide secret agent network, established secret supervision over the activities of private individuals and officials.
From the document (A. Kh. Benkendorf. Notes):
Never thinking to prepare for this kind of service, I had only the most superficial concept of it, but the desire to be useful to our new sovereign did not allow me to avoid accepting the position he had educated, to which his high confidence called me. It was decided to establish a gendarme corps under my command. (…) The Third Branch of His Imperial Majesty's own Chancellery, established at that time, represented under my command the focus of this new administration (…) ”.
Section III turned into an independent administrative body, acting on behalf of the emperor on state and public life, regardless of existing laws. In 1827, a special "Regulations on the Gendarme Corps" began to operate. The territory of Russia (with the exception of Poland, the Caucasus and the lands of the Don Army) was divided into gendarme districts led by gendarme generals in order to establish supervision over the local administration, collect operational information about the mood in society, search for fugitive peasants, enforce laws and court sentences. In 1837, a rural police was created: the counties were divided into smaller administrative units $ - $ stans $ - $, headed by a bailiff appointed by the governor, who relied on the patrimonial police in his activities and elected by the peasant gatherings of the sotsk and ten.
J. Doe. Portrait of A. H. Benckendorff
Estate reform
December 1826 g... was created Secret committee led by count Viktor Pavlovich Kochubei, a member of the Private Committee, and Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky to consider papers sealed in the office of Alexander I after his death and to study the issue of possible transformations of the state apparatus. Nikolai posed a question to the committee: "What is good now, what cannot be left and what can be replaced?"
The committee prepared two important projects of estate and administrative reforms. The first draft provided for the rejection of the Table of Ranks, the abolition of "personal length of service." Access to the nobility was limited, the nobility was acquired only by birthright or by virtue of the highest grant. The project introduced new classes of "bureaucratic", "eminent" and "honorable" citizens, exempted from the capitation salary, recruitment and corporal punishment. Those who were promoted in the service were included in the new class of "bureaucratic citizens", lower officials, large capitalists, people who graduated from universities, $ - $ in the class of "eminent citizens". Smaller traders and industrialists formed the stratum of "honorable citizens". This innovation would protect the nobility from "clogging" with alien elements.
Disagreeing with the opinion of the committee as a whole, the emperor extracted from his draft those parts that did not cause any doubts among the authorities. In 1831, the Manifesto "On the order of noble meetings, elections and services according to them" was published, in which "full-fledged" (possessing) nobles were separated from "unequal" (who did not have a certain number of souls of peasants or tithes of land).
The second draft proposed some separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. The only function of the Council of State was to discuss draft laws. The Senate was divided into the supreme body of state administration $ - $ The governing Senate, consisting of ministers, and the supreme body of justice $ - $ The Senate is judicial. A similar principle was used as the basis for the system of local authorities in provinces, counties and volosts.
The committee's projects on December 6, 1826 were only partially implemented. In 1832 the law established an average honorary citizenship two degrees $ - $ "hereditary honorary citizens" (children of personal nobles, as well as large capitalists, scientists, artists) and "personal honorary citizens" (children of clergymen who have not received an education, and graduates of higher educational institutions). Decree of 1845... raised the ranks that were required to receive the nobility in the order of seniority. The hereditary nobility was now provided to civilian ranks from the V class, military $ - $ from VI, and personal nobility $ - $ from IX class for civil and military ranks. In 1845... was published decree on entitlements, forbidding the division of estates, numbering more than 1000 souls of serfs, between the sons of a nobleman, and requiring the transfer of estates to the eldest son.
Bureaucratization and militarization of management
An important characteristic of the public administration system under Nicholas I was bureaucratization all aspects of the life of society, which gave the basis for V.O. Klyuchevsky to assert that "the building of the Russian bureaucracy was erected under Nicholas I."
From the document (V.O. Klyuchevsky. Course of Russian history):
Whether this bureaucratic mechanism has achieved the state goal better than before is a simple answer to this one figure. At the beginning of the reign, the emperor was horrified to learn that only in the department of justice in all official positions he had carried out 2800 thousand cases. In 1842, the Minister of Justice presented to the sovereign a report, which indicated that 33 million more cases had not been cleared in all the official places of the empire, which were set out in at least 33 million written sheets. These are the results achieved by the bureaucratic edifice completed during this reign.
The system of rigid bureaucracy created under Nicholas I alienated power from society. It led to the domination of the chancellery, gave birth to obedient executors, formalist officials, brilliantly described by M.E.Saltykov-Shchedrin.
From the document (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The story of the zealous boss):
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there was a zealous boss. At that time, between the authorities, two main rules in the leadership were adopted. The first rule: the more harm the boss does, the more he will benefit the middle name. Science will abolish the $ - $ benefit, the population will scare the $ - $ even more benefit. It was assumed that the fatherland always comes in a frustrated state from the old leadership to the new one. And the second rule: to have as many scoundrels as possible ...
Kukryniksy. From illustrations to the satirical novel by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "The History of a City"
Other features of the control system were the strengthening of the police character and militarization management apparatus. The military was appointed to the posts of heads of many ministries and departments, provinces under Nicholas I.
Under the vigilant control of the governors and city police bodies were the $ - $ six-vowed city councils. City parliamentary assemblies were abolished. The General Mandate to Civil Governors, adopted in 1837, aimed at centralizing and militarizing local government. The governor was declared the plenipotentiary master of the province. He was supposed to ensure the exact execution of the decrees of the emperor and the Senate, the orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In the matter of streamlining city administration, an important role was played by the "Regulations on the public administration of St. Petersburg" dated February 13, 1846, which was based on the class principle. It created a hierarchical pyramid of urban dwellers: at the first step was the hereditary nobility, followed by $ - $ personal noblemen and honorary citizens, then $ - $ merchants, on the fourth and fifth steps, respectively, were the burghers and artisans. Each estate sat in the city council separately and elected representatives to the administrative council, the executive body. A law of 1846 made city bodies dependent on the bureaucracy. A government official was introduced to the Administrative Duma, and the governor was given the opportunity to interfere in the affairs of city government.
Protective measures in the field of censorship and education
Among the protective measures of Nicholas I, the "cast iron" Censorship charter of June 10, 1826 The main body of censorship was the supreme censorship committee, consisting of three ministers of the $ - $ public education, internal affairs and foreign affairs. In the charter, to the smallest detail, the duties of the censor were defined from the educational and pedagogical point of view. In 1848, to prevent the penetration of revolutionary and liberal ideas into Russia, the so-called. "Buturlinsky Committee" (named after the first chairman) - the highest censorship body that supervised printed works. M.E.Saltykov-Shchedrin, I.S.Turgenev, Yu.F. Samarin suffered from the censorship terror; the letters of Catherine II to Voltaire were prohibited.
Educational institutions were subjected to strict supervision. In 1827, the tsar forbade the admission of serfs to secondary and higher educational institutions. In 1828, the new school charter destroyed the continuity between parish and district schools and gymnasiums. Corporal punishment was introduced in all lower and secondary schools, and teachers convicted of "freethinking" were expelled from service. Adopted in 1835 University Charter along with the granting of some rights of self-government and freedom of teaching to universities, it provided for the opening of departments of the laws of improvement and deanery at the law faculties of universities. At these departments, they studied laws on population, national food, public welfare, improvement in cities and villages, and on law. In practice, university autonomy was replaced by university supervision, which was entrusted to the trustees of educational districts. Control over universities tightened after the European revolutions of 1848. The teaching of philosophy was abolished, the sending of young scientists abroad to prepare for professorship was stopped, and restrictive quotas were introduced for the admission of students to higher educational institutions. The Minister of Education SS Uvarov, who tried to defend the universities, prematurely left his post in 1849.
Financial reform
The most significant government events of Nicholas I were those carried out by the Ministry of Finance in the late 1830s. monetary reform and the reform of state peasants carried out by the Ministry of State Property.
Monetary reform 1839-1843 was the result of the activities of a writer, scientist, general Egor Frantsevich Kankrin (1823-1844), who replaced Guriev as Minister of Finance. He managed to sharply cut government spending, collect a significant stock of gold and silver in the state treasury, and strengthen the Russian ruble. The reform established a system of silver monometallism. The depreciated paper notes were replaced by state credit notes, exchanged for gold and silver. The practice of internal and external borrowing was introduced, and "deposit tickets" and "series" were issued, which had the same value as a silver coin.
E. F. Kankrin
The peasant question
In relation to the peasant question, the emperor shared the point of view of A. H. Benckendorff, who argued that serfdom $ - $ "a powder magazine under the state." He instructed the development of this question Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselev, member of the Council of State, supporter of the abolition of serfdom. P. D. Kiselev, a participant in the Patriotic War and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, during the uprising on December 14, 1825 headed the headquarters of the second army, after the defeat of the movement he was forced to justify himself from accusations of connections with the Decembrists. In 1829-1834. Kiselev ruled the Danube principalities, which were under the protectorate of Russia, where, under his leadership, the first constitutions of Moldavia and Wallachia were adopted $ - $ organic regulations. The regulations gave personal freedom to peasants and the right to transfer from one landowner to another, landowners were forbidden to evict peasants if the latter fulfilled their duties, landless laborers were to be provided with land.
Andreev. Portrait of Count P. D. Kiselev
In March 1835, under the leadership of PD Kiselev, a Secret Committee was created, which developed a plan for the gradual abolition of serfdom with complete landlessness of the peasantry, which was not implemented. In 1836 he was assigned to lead the 5th Department of the personal office of Nicholas I, after which Kiselev became "chief of staff for peasant affairs." He insisted on the gradual introduction of freedom, "so that slavery would be destroyed by itself and without shaking the state." The tasks of expanding peasant land use, alleviating the burden of feudal duties, introducing agronomic innovations and cultural and household improvements dictated the need for good administration. To this end, in 1837 g... was created Ministry of State Property, which, under his leadership, began the reform of the management of state peasants in 1837-1841. The task of the new ministry was to take care of the economic well-being of state peasants, collect taxes from them, take care of medical care and the spread of literacy.
In the course of the reform, the state peasants received wide local self-government, which developed under the control of the chambers of state property created in all provinces. They united in special rural societies, volosts were created from several such societies, governed by elective volost gatherings. In the villages, village elders were elected at village meetings. Having streamlined administrative management, Kiselev created parish schools, which began to be called "Kiselev" schools. The administration demanded from the peasants to sow the best land with potatoes, to introduce public plowing. The reform improved the position of state peasants, determined the procedure for allocating land to them and resettlement, and made it easier to collect taxes. Since 1837 more than 2 million acres of land have been allotted to peasants with little land, 2.5 thousand parish schools were organized in the villages, and 27 hospitals were built.
The negative side of the reform was the emergence of a large and costly apparatus of officials. She was resisted by the landowners, who feared an intensification of the struggle of the serfs for the transfer to the state department. The peasants were displeased with the calls of the administration to sow the land with potatoes and introduce public plowing. Their response to the "beginning of state corvee" was "potato riots" in the North, in the Urals and the Volga region.
A.M. Tagaev-Surban. "Potato riot"
Certain measures to improve the situation of serfs were taken in the 1840s. IN 1842 g... came out Regulations on obliged peasants, in which the question of the order of the peasants' withdrawal from dependence was left to the landowners. As a result, the landowners voluntarily transferred only 27,708 of their serfs to the position of "obliged" for the entire reign of Nicholas I. In 1827-1846. the right of landowners to exile serfs to Siberia was limited, the right to 4.5 dessiatines of land was assigned to the male revisionist soul, and it was forbidden to sell serfs separately from the family. In 1847-1848. Inventory rules were drawn up, which determined the size of the allotments and the obligations of the peasants in the three provinces of the Western Territory. This regulation limited the right of landlords to land ownership, which is in the use of serfs. However, the measures taken were insufficient to resolve the peasant question, and indicated rather a desire to "reform" the serfdom system than to liquidate it.
The results of the domestic policy of Nicholas I
The internal policy of Nicholas I showed that the stability and stability of society were most important to him. The Tsar was concerned about the welfare of citizens, but at the same time he fought against dissent, for example, with the movement of noble revolutionaries. Not trusting society, Nicholas I relied on the bureaucratic bureaucracy. The brutality and rationality of the $ - $ personality traits of the tsar $ - $ influenced the formal attitude of his government towards public affairs. The emperor tried to delve into the existing order, took up many innovations, but did not always understand their essence. Therefore, the officials of the times of Nicholas I also turned out to be the formal executors of his will. They did not try to carefully consider an individual case, they did not seek to find the most appropriate solution for each problem. Their main concern was to comply with the rules and regulations, regardless of whether they are reasonable or can lead to the opposite of what was intended. Impunity and mutual responsibility completed the demoralization of the bureaucracy.
Nicholas I failed to become the second Peter the Great, whose policy the tsar was equal to. The main efforts of Nicholas I were aimed at strengthening centralization, combating revolutionary ideas, and increasing the role of the emperor's office. The financial reform had some success. The peasant reform concerned only the state village, was of a half-hearted nature. Social reform could not solve the problem of placing all estates at the service of the monarch. Bureaucratization and formalism characterized the work of the state administration mechanism.
Historians about the time of the reign of Nicholas I:
The official noble historiography spoke positively about the reign of Nicholas I. In the works of M. A. Korf, N. K. Schilder, I. Ilyin, K. Leontiev, I. Solonevich both the personality of Nicholas and his internal politics were idealized. NK Schilder (1842-1902) is considered an apologist for his reign, who highly appreciated the state activities of Nicholas I. He opposed the cosmopolitan nature of the policy of Alexander I to the national policy of Nicholas I.
Liberal historiography (V.O. Klyuchevsky, A.A.Kizevetter, A.A.Kornilov, S.F. Platonov) spoke of the "rupture of power with society" under Nicholas I. At the same time, A.A.Kornilov believed that that "the government system of Nicholas I was one of the most consistent attempts to implement the ideas of enlightened absolutism."
AE Presnyakov was one of the first historians to call this period "the apogee of autocracy." The historian wrote: "The time of Nicholas I was an era of extreme self-assertion of the Russian autocratic power at the very time when in all states of Western Europe monarchical absolutism, crushed by a series of revolutionary upheavals, experienced its last crises."
Soviet historiography (B.G. Litvak, N.M.Druzhinin, N.P. Eroshkin) was critical of Nikolai's reign, emphasizing the increased importance of the Third Section and the bureaucratic bureaucracy during the years of his reign. All his activities were presented as a preparatory stage for the Crimean catastrophe, and all the attempts of the Nikolaev government to solve the peasant question were called "empty troubles." Thus, BG Litvak compares the long-term discussion of the issue of emancipation of serfs in the "secret" committees of Nicholas I with "a cat's dance around a pot of hot porridge." Soviet historians saw the main reason for this in the government's fear of discontent on the part of the nobility and in the hope of Nicholas I that the Russian landowners would themselves "mature" and propose reforming.
In modern historiography, a certain rethinking of the era of the reign of Nicholas I has taken place: historical science has moved away from an unambiguously negative assessment of his reign, the era of Nicholas I is viewed as a stage in the general progressive movement of Russia, a stage all the more important because it preceded the reforms of the 1860s. In 1997, the editors of the Rodina magazine held a special round table on the era of Nikolai's rule. It was attended by leading experts on the history of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. S. V. Mironenko, V. A. Fedorov, A. V. Levandovsky, D. I. Oleinikov, S. S. Sekirinsky, Yu. A. Borisenok. Modern historians have different assessments of the results of the activities of Nicholas I. There are many researchers who adhere to traditional views on Nicholas I and the era of his reign. TA Kapustina writes: "There is hardly a more odious figure in Russian history than Nicholas I. Historians unanimously consider his reign to be the period of the most gloomy reaction." V. Ya. Grosul still calls the reign of Nicholas I “the apogee of autocracy”: the emperor, in his words, “squeezed out of feudalism practically everything he could”.
In modern literature, there is also another point of view on the reign of Nicholas I. It denies much of what Soviet historiography wrote about Nicholas I. A. B. Kamensky points out that it would be wrong "to present Nikolai as a stupid soldier, an insensitive and cruel persecutor and reactionary." The historian draws parallels in the fates of Nicholas I and his older brother, Emperor Alexander I: both tried to carry out reforms necessary for society, but ran into insurmountable difficulties associated with conservative public opinion, the absence in society of those political forces that could support reform efforts emperors. Therefore, according to Kamensky, the main issue during the reign of Nicholas I was the question of "preserving the political regime and state security."
Centralization of management
| date | Decision |
| 1826 g. | Formation of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (first $ - $ chancellery, $ second - $ codification, third $ - $ higher police, fourth $ - $ charity, fifth $ - $ state peasants, sixth $ - $ Caucasian affairs administration). |
| 1827 g. | Formation of the Gendarme Corps. The country is divided into 5 (from 1843 $ - $ 8) gendarme districts. |
| 1828-1832 | Compilation of the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire and the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire under the leadership of M.M.Speransky. |
| 1832 g. | Organic statute of the Kingdom of Poland: liquidation of the Sejm, the Polish army. Russification of the Kingdom of Poland: the introduction of the Russian language, the Russian system of measures and weights, the Russian currency. |
Education and Printing Policy
| date | Decision |
| 1826 g. | New charter on censorship ("cast iron charter"). |
| 1828 g. | Charter of district and parish gymnasiums and schools; approval of the estate principle for admission to educational institutions (only children of nobles are admitted to the gymnasium). |
| 1833 g. | On measures against the multiplication of private educational institutions. |
| 1835 g. | University charter: actual management was given to the trustees of educational districts (in some cases, the $ - $ governor-general), the right to elect rectors and professors was actually eliminated, the university court was abolished. However, philosophy teaching has been restored, the term of study has been increased to four years, graduates are encouraged, and preparatory courses are introduced. |
| 1837 g. | "Parallel" censorship $ - $ viewing of essays that have already passed censorship. |
| 1848-1855 | Strengthening of censorship oppression in connection with numerous peasant uprisings and the "spring of nations" in Europe. Activities of the "Buturlinsky" censorship committee. Elimination of the remnants of university autonomy. Limiting the number of students. |
Higher specialized educational institutions: 1828 $ - $ Institute of Technology, 1830 $ - $ School of Architecture, 1832 $ - $ School of Civil Engineers, 1835 $ - $ Land survey Institute and School of Law.
Measures to strengthen the position of the nobility
the ruin of the nobility (54% of the estates were laid by 1844);
an increase in the share of the bureaucratic nobility (52%);
low share of noblemen in universities (35%).
Privileges to the nobility:
provision of loans;
allotment of land from the state fund;
free education in educational institutions;
help with filing.
| date | Decision |
| 1831 g. | Provincial noble assemblies received the right to submit representations about the needs and issues of local government. |
| 1831 g. | Raising the qualification for participation in meetings of the nobility. Small-scale nobles participate in elections through representatives. |
| 1832 g. | Manifesto of Honorary Citizenship: Barring the influx of the lower classes into the nobility. |
| 1845 g. | Changing the order of receiving nobility through service (personal nobility is now given only from rank 9 (not from 12th), and hereditary $ - $ from 5th (not from 8th)). |
| 1845 g. | The law on entitlements: if desired, the landowner could declare the estate a reserve and transfer everything to the eldest son (for estates over 1000 dessiatines). |
The peasant question
frequent peasant riots.
In response, the government makes a number of declarative concessions that did not have a significant impact on the situation. During the reign of Nicholas I, 10 secret committees on the peasant question were created.
| date | Decision |
| 1827 g. | Prohibition to sell some peasants without land or land without peasants; ban on selling serfs to factories. |
| 1828 g. | Restriction of the right to exile peasants |
| 1833 g. | A ban on selling peasants from public bargaining with the division of families, a ban on paying peasants for debts, a ban on transferring serfs to courtyards with the deprivation of their land. |
| 1837-1841 | Reform of the state village P. D. Kiselev. Creation of a new village management system with elements of self-government, organization of primary education, medical and veterinary care, allotment of land to landless peasants, their resettlement to Siberia. Strengthening bureaucratic and tax oppression. |
| 1841 g. | Prohibiting landless nobles from buying landless serfs. |
| 1842 g. | The decree on obligated peasants: the peasant receives freedom and land, but only for use, for which he is obliged to serve fixed duties. |
| 1844 g. | The right of the landowners to release the servants by their consent. |
| 1844-1855 | Inventory reform in the western provinces, right-bank Ukraine and Belarusian provinces. Fixing the duties of the peasants, transferring them to the status of the state. |
| 1847 g. | The right of peasants to redeem within 30 days from the date of the announcement of the sale of the estate at a public auction for penalties. The fee is due at a time. In fact, the decree was quickly annulled. |
| 1847 g. | The right of the Ministry of State Property to buy landlord estates with the transfer of serfs to state status. |
| 1848 g. | The right of peasants to buy land in their own name only with the consent of the landlord. The purchased land is not protected by law (the landowner can confiscate). |
Industry, Trade and Finance Policy
weak rates of urbanization (8% by the end of the reign) with a gradual industrial revolution and an increase in the number of workers in industry by three times during the reign of Nicholas I;
state interest in the development of industry;
poor development of communication lines in a huge empire;
growing budget deficit.
Limited reforms failed to bring about an industrial revolution, as did a reduction in the budget deficit, which by 1855 was twice the surplus.
The Decembrist uprising had a great impact on
government policy. Active and purposeful
fight against any manifestations of public discontent
became the most important component of the internal political course
new monarch - Nicholas I(1796-1855).
A necessary condition for strengthening the existing system
emperor considered the strengthening of the personal control of the monarch for
the work of the state apparatus... Nikolaevskoe
reign - the time of the ultimate centralization of government
empire, the apogee of autocracy. All the levers leading to
movement of a complex state machine, were in
the hands of the monarch.
In an effort to prevent a revolution in Russia, special attention
the emperor paid strengthening the repressive apparatus.
Existing in the country in the first quarter of the 19th century. system
needed political investigation, as the uprising showed
Decembrists, in reorganization. FROM 1826 provide
"the security of the throne and tranquility in the state" became
III Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own
office. Executive Body III branch was
Corps of gendarmes, formed in 1827, the country was divided
on the gendarme districts, led by gendarmes
generals. In each province, security issues
state security was in charge of a specially appointed
headquarters officer (senior officer) of the gendarmerie.
The subject of special care of Nicholas I there were print and
education... It was here, in his opinion, that
"revolutionary infection". In 1826, a new
censorship charter, which was called by contemporaries
"cast iron charter". Indeed, by its strict standards
he placed a very heavy burden on publishers and authors.
True, in 1828 the new charter somewhat softened the extremes
its "cast iron" predecessor. Still petty
and strict oversight of the seal was maintained.
The same pedantic control was also subjected to educational
establishments... Nicholas I strove to make the school an estate school, and
teaching, in order to suppress the slightest free thought,
to lead in a strict Orthodox-monarchical spirit.
By the rescript, published in 1827, the tsar forbade admitting
serfs to secondary and higher educational institutions.
In 1828, a new school charter appeared, rebuilding
middle and lower levels of public education. Between
existing types of schools (one-class parish
school, three-class district school, seven-class
gymnasium) any line of succession was destroyed,
since in each of them only people from
the corresponding estates. So, the gymnasium was intended
for the children of nobles. Secondary and lower school, as well as private
educational institutions were under strict supervision
Ministry of Public Education. Close attention
the ruling circles devoted to universities, which and the highest
bureaucracy, and the king himself, not without reason, believed
a hotbed of "willfulness and freethinking". Charter of 1835
deprived universities of a significant part of their rights and internal
independence. The goals of the ideological struggle against
free thought was formulated in 1833.
Minister of Public Education S.S. Uvarov theory
official nationality based on three principles:
Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality. In the spirit of this
the theory that substantiated the correspondence of the existing orders
Russian national tradition, teaching in
educational institutions. The theory of the official nation is actively
was promoted in the press and literature.
It should be noted that, having adopted theory
official nationality, Nicholas I resolutely fought against
any deviations from Orthodoxy. Very cool measures
were taken against the Old Believers, from whom
prayer buildings, real estate, etc. Children
"schismatics" were forcibly enrolled in schools
cantonists. This "protection" of the interests of the official
Orthodoxy, however, was not good for the latter.
Orthodox Church under Nicholas I finally
has become an integral part of the bureaucratic machine.
The Synod became more and more a "department of the Orthodox
confession ", ruled by a secular official -
Chief Prosecutor. All this could not but undermine the authority
churches.
December 6, 1826 Nicholas I formed
a special secret committee to consider
the situation in the state and develop a program of necessary
reforms. "Committee of December 6, 1826" acted for
three years. He has outlined a rather extensive program
transformations, which provided, in particular, some
limitation of landlord power over the peasants, perestroika
central and local administration in a spirit of principle
separation of powers, etc. Extremely conservative circles
opposed these plans. Uprising in Poland
"cholera riots" of 1830-1831 finally buried
most of the undertakings of this Committee. To provide
legality should have a certain meaning
codification of laws, completed by 1833 The result
this extensive work on the systematization of laws,
appeared after the Cathedral Code of 1649, it became
publication of the "Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire" and
"Code of Laws of the Russian Empire". However, the meaning
which all these measures that streamlined the legislation had,
was small, since the bureaucracy was acting,
absolutely disregarding any legal norms.
In the following years of his reign, Nicholas I
repeatedly returned to thought about the need
settlement of the issue of serfdom... Various
solutions to this problem were developed in 8
secret committees that literally one after another
created by the emperor. The position of Nicholas I himself in
the peasant issue was highly controversial. "No
doubts that serfdom in its current position has
we are evil ... - said the king once, - but to touch
it would now be even more disastrous for him. "
conditions the practical results of the mentioned
committees were negligible. By no means
any significant change in the position of the serfs,
Nicholas I did not go. Disappointing results were obtained and
carried out in the mid-30s of the XIX century. reform
management of state peasants. Summoned
improve their situation and realized one of the most
enlightened and capable dignitaries of Nikolaev
reign of P.D. Kiselev, this reform turned around for
the state village by strengthening administrative trusteeship with
side of corrupt officials, the growth of arbitrariness
bosses. The bureaucratic apparatus acted on its own
and against the will of the autocrat, guided by their own
interests. Ultimately, therefore, to reform
P.D. Kiselev, the peasantry responded with an outbreak of serious
unrest.
Nicholas I paid great attention strengthening
positions of the first estate of the empire - the nobility as
the most important pillar of the throne. Gradual economic process
the impoverishment of the nobility made itself felt as the decay
serf system. In this regard, the autocracy
sought to strengthen the position of the upper and middle strata
landlords, sacrificing the interests of the economically weakened, and
therefore seeming and politically unreliable representatives
nobility. The manifesto of December 6, 1831 admitted to participation
in elections for noble public positions, only those
landowners who had at least 100
souls of peasants or 3 thousand acres of unsettled land. For
in order to make it difficult to penetrate the noble environment
immigrants from "taxable states", in 1845 was published
law by which military service
hereditary nobility was acquired only upon reaching
senior officer rank, and in the civilian - rank V, and not
Grade VIII, as was the practice before. A kind
a barrier to the increasing harassment of the nobility
constructed the Manifesto on April 10, 1832. He created
institutions of "hereditary honorary citizens" (to them
were large entrepreneurs, scientists, children of personal
nobles, etc.) and "honorary citizens" (lower officials,
graduates of higher educational institutions). They all received
some of the noble privileges - freedom from
corporal punishment, etc. This, according to the ruling circles,
was to reduce the desire for "ignoble" elements
seek to obtain the nobility. To strengthen
material base of the first estate in 1845 Nicholas I
created the institute of reserved hereditary estates
(majorates). They were not subject to crushing and, making up
property of a noble family, passed by inheritance to
eldest son.
In its economic policy Nicholas I in the famous
degree took into account the interests of the nascent bourgeoisie,
the needs of the country's industrial development. This line found
reflected in protective customs tariffs,
organization of industrial exhibitions, railway
construction. Financial reform 1839-1843 provided
ruble stability and had a positive impact on the development
domestic trade and industry. Workers unrest
at the enterprises forced the autocracy in the 30s - 4Os of the XIX
c, to issue laws regulating labor relations in
industry and somewhat limited arbitrariness
employers.
Protective principles in government policy sharply
intensified in the last years of the reign of Nicholas I.
Revolution of 1848-1849 in Europe frightened the ruling circles
Russian Empire. Persecution of the press and school began.
To strengthen the current censorship,
special committees (under the leadership of A.S. Menshikov - for
observation of journals and D.P. Buturlin - to supervise
"the spirit and direction of all works ...
typography "). Writers whose works
displeased the authorities, punished. One of
leaders of Slavophilism Yu.F. Samarin was imprisoned in
Peter and Paul Fortress for an essay directed against
Baltic Germans, which was read by only 13 relatives
friends of the author. Paid for their works with links
M.E.Saltykov-Shchedrin and I.S. Turgenev. In higher education
institutions curtailed the teaching of philosophy,
was limited to admission to universities that Nicholas I
in general it was not averse to close. Surveillance over
professors and students. The fight against the "revolutionary
contagion "activated. Strong impression on society
routed the Petrashevsky circle.
The results of the thirty-year reign Nicholas I failed
Crimean war of 1853-1856, which showed that during
preserving the existing order, Russia cannot
compete on equal terms with the advanced states of Western
Europe. Progressive economic backwardness
caused a discrepancy in the level of the country's military power
the requirements of the time. The Nikolaev system went bankrupt.
The autocracy, which had reached its climax, was not in
able to provide efficient, appropriate
era of the functioning of the state machine. Possessed
unlimited power, the monarch could not cope with
corruption and incompetence of the bureaucracy. From society
the bureaucratic apparatus was not dependent, but control from above,
despite all the efforts of Nicholas I, he did not bring any
effect. "Take a look at the annual reports," wrote in 1855.
the governor of Courland P.A. Valuev - everything has been done everywhere
possible, success has been gained everywhere ... Look at the case,
peer at it, separate the essence from the paper
shell ... and rarely, where there is a strong fruitful
benefit. Shine above, rot below. "In 1855, in the setting
military failures Nicholas I died. Obvious failure
the course he had pursued put on the agenda the issue of
reforms that can renew the country, overcome
Russia's lag behind the leading powers.
Decembrists.
Agriculture and industry. The beginning of the industrial revolution.
XIX century, its historical place.
Lecture 13: Economy and social structure of Russia in the first half of the XIX century.
Plan:
3. The era of liberal transformations. The main questions of the internal policy of Alexander I:
a) government and education system;
b) reforms of the public administration system: ideas and implementation;
c) the peasant question.
Literature:
Klyuchevsky V.O. Course of Russian history. Op. in 9 vols. vol. 5 - M., 1989.
Kornilov A.A. Course of the history of Russia in the XIX century. - M., 1993.
Bokhanov A. N. Russian autocrats. 1801 - 1917.Moscow, 1993.
Crimean War 1853 - 1856: unknown pages // Motherland. 1995, no. 3
Reforms and reformers of Russia. - M., 1995.
Fedorov V.A. Speransky and Arakcheev. - M., 1997.
Chibiryaev S.A. Great Russian reformer. - M., 1997.
1. The 19th century began and passed under the sign of the Great French Revolution (1789 - 1794). This is an event of global significance, for it marked the transition in Europe and North America to an industrial civilization. Its defining feature was a technological revolution, which created opportunities for increasing the pace of production development.
In the political sphere, the revolution gave birth to a parliamentary republic, which led to the expansion of civil rights.
In the social sphere, as a result of class-forming processes, the struggle of the proletariat is sharpening, social revolutions unfolded (Germany, Italy, France, England). The theoretical formulation of socialist doctrine takes place.
2. By 30 - 40 years. XIX century. in Russia, an industrial revolution began, the transition from manufactory to factory. Everywhere manual labor was replaced by machine labor, a market for hired labor was formed. But unlike European states, Russia remained an agrarian country. Agriculture employed 9/10 of its population. Serfdom fettered the development of the productive forces. In terms of industrial production, Russia lagged behind Great Britain and 18 times, 9 times behind Germany, and 7.2 times behind France. The share of Russia in the world industrial production was 1.7 percent.
Analyzing the socio-political development of Russia, V.O. Klyuchevsky highlighted the main issues of the time: socio-political - new relations between classes; codification - streamlining new legislation; pedagogical - education of minds; financial - the organization of the state economy 2.
3. V.O. Klyuchevsky emphasized that in the process of solving these problems, the personality of the emperor himself, his character, played an important role. In the first half of the 19th century. accounts for the reign of two emperors: Alexander I (1801 - 1825) and Nicholas I (1825 - 1855).
Alexander I was raised by his grandmother Catherine II. She strove to prepare, to make him, if not an ideal person, then an ideal sovereign. Alexander received a brilliant education for that time. But he was a complex and contradictory nature. At the beginning of his reign, he was known as a liberal, looking for ways to decisively reform Russian reality, and ended his life with a reputation as a persecutor of liberal ideas, a religious mystic.
To carry out reforms, the Indispensable Council was formed - an advisory body under the emperor. However, the main center in which the ideas of transformations were developed was the Secret Committee, which included those brought up on the advanced ideas of the 18th century. young friends of the tsar - Count P.A.Stroganov, Count V.P. Kochubei, Polish prince Adam Czartorysky, Count Novosiltsev N.N.
The most liberal, if controversial, was the government's attempt at education. Universities were created: Kazan, Kharkov, Petersburg. Universities were opened in Dorpat and Vilna. In 1804, the Moscow Commercial School was opened, which laid the foundation for special economic education. In 1811 the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was opened, the first graduation of which was glorified by A.S. Pushkin. A wide import of foreign books began, and the works of Adam Smith were translated and published for the first time.
The main attention was paid to reforming the public administration system. An exceptional role in the development of these reforms was played by the State Secretary of the Permanent Council M. M. Speransky. The son of a poor village priest, he made a dizzying career and became the closest advisor to the emperor. The great worker M. M. Speransky achieved encyclopedic knowledge by constant self-education. He prepared the document "Introduction to the Code of State Laws". As a result, in 1802, a Cabinet of Ministers was established under the leadership of the emperor himself. The ministries replaced the outdated collegia, and one-man management was established.
The Senate was reformed to become the highest judicial body overseeing the rule of law in the empire. In 1910, on the initiative of Speransky, the State Council was created - the supreme legislative body under the tsar.
Speransky's projects could have contributed to the start of the constitutional process in Russia, but they were implemented only a hundred years later - the convening of the State Duma, for example.
Some steps were taken to reform the soil structure, change the plight of serfs. Restricted the sale of peasants, they could not be sold "at retail", that is, without a family. It was forbidden to transfer state peasants into private hands. The decree "On Free Plowmen" provided for the release of the peasants to freedom by mutual agreement with the landowner. But by 1825 less than 0.5% of the serfs were freed. In 1801 - 1805 serfdom was abolished in the Baltic States, the peasants received personal freedom, but did not receive land.
But even all these modest measures met with strong resistance from the conservative forces, the nobility. N.M. Karamzin became the ideologist of conservatism. In the note "On Ancient and New Russia", he insisted on the inviolability of autocracy and serfdom.
In practical life, conservative tendencies manifested themselves especially quickly in the "Arakcheevshchina". Count A. A. Arakcheev pursued a policy aimed at strengthening absolutism and tightening serfdom. The most striking manifestation of "Arakcheyevism" was military settlements - a special form of recruiting and maintaining the army.
The foreign policy situation associated with the expansionist activities of Napoleon Bonaparte forced the emperor to abandon reformatory activities. Russia joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition and since 1805, in fact, waged a struggle with France. In the summer of 1807, she signed an extremely disadvantageous peace treaty with France at Tilsit. He obliged Russia to join the continental blockade of Great Britain, which caused significant damage to the economy and international prestige of Russia.
June 12, 1812 Napoleon, at the head of the "Great Army", invaded Russian territory. The French invasion caused a rise in patriotic feelings in Russian society. The army and people were ready for any hardships in the name of victory. It was the nationwide resistance to the invasion that ensured victory in the Patriotic War. On December 25, 1812, Alexander I, in the Manifesto, informed the citizens of Russia of the victorious end of the war. In 1813 - 1814. the Russian army continued to fight Napoleon outside the country. The successful foreign campaigns of the Russian army were of great importance for the prestige of Russia in Europe. Alexander I became one of the founders of the Holy Union, which united all the monarchs of Europe. The basis of the union was the recognition of the inviolability of the existing European monarchies. Russia, together with other countries, was now deciding the fate of European civilization.
4. In Russia itself, the Patriotic War became one of the sources of the birth of "free thinking". Educated people revived hopes that Russia would move towards democracy, that the emperor would grant the Constitution. Many believed that the courage of the peasants in war would be rewarded with liberation from serf slavery. But this did not happen, and political opposition began to form in Russian society. In 1816, secret societies emerged, movements that received the name Decembrist: the Decembrists, the core of which were young officers and officials with advanced views, came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bestablishing constitutional order, against serfdom, for freedom and equality of citizens. Having seen a prosperous, dynamically developing Europe during their overseas campaigns, the Decembrists strove for the accelerated advancement of Russia and the creation of a state of the Western European type.
In November 1825, Alexander I died in Taganrog. A dynastic crisis arose, for by the will of the deceased, not Constantine, but his younger brother, Nikolai Pavlovich, was to become emperor. While the situation was being clarified, an interregnum atmosphere was created. This created a favorable environment for the performance. On December 14, 1825, officers with their regiments entered the Senate Square in St. Petersburg. The uprising was brutally suppressed.
Five leaders were hanged, hundreds of officers were exiled to Siberia and to the Caucasian regiments. About 2.5 thousand soldiers were tried in a special court. For many years in Russia it was forbidden to mention the performance of the Decembrists. The defeat of the uprising and the tragic withdrawal from the active social and political life of a whole generation of the best, most educated and honest people of the country became a national tragedy, the consequences of which had a long impact on the fate of society.
5. With the brutal suppression of the uprising began the reign of Nicholas I. The Tsarevich was brought up for a military career, and not for government, he transferred the army methods of command to state affairs. The military was appointed to a wide variety of positions. Generals ruled public education, the spiritual department, provinces and cities. Half of the 70,000-strong army of officials was military.
Nicholas I believed that the strict adherence of all citizens to the letter of the law would ensure order in the country. Therefore, the codification (streamlining) of the confusing Russian legislation was carried out. Under the leadership of M.M. Speransky, the laws adopted after the Cathedral Code of 1649 were generalized. They were published in the "Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire" in 45 volumes. The first article read: "The Russian Emperor is an autocratic and unlimited monarch."
Nicholas I, of course, could not see the deepening economic and socio - political lag of Russia from the advanced European countries. But he was not going to change anything, especially drastically. Outwardly, Nicholas Russia was an example of tranquility and stability in contrast to Europe, torn apart by social conflicts (revolutions of 1830, 1831, 1840, 1844 and 1848), the army shone at military reviews and maneuvers. The economy was developing at a slow pace. The number of manufactories has increased almost 6 times. Cities turned into industrial centers. Trade volumes increased. 1801 - 1860 the volume of the average annual export increased almost 4 times, and the export of grain - 6 times. The system of communication lines has improved. In 1837, the St. Petersburg - Tsarskoe Selo railway was built. In 1851, the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway began to operate, and highways were built.
However, in comparison with Europe, Russia developed insufficiently and contradictory. The retribution for backwardness was not slow to affect. If in 1812 Russia won a victory over the united forces of Europe, then 40 years later it was defeated in the Eastern (Crimean) War of 1853-1856.
1855 marked the beginning of a new period in the political life of Russia. In February, Nicholas I died and his son Alexander, Emperor Alexander II (1855 - 1881) ascended the throne.
Thus, the reign of Nicholas I was a direct logical continuation of the policy of the second half of the reign of Alexander I.
Nikolai 1 Pavlovich (born June 25 (July 6) 1796 - death February 18 (March 2) 1855) - All-Russian Emperor. The reign of Nicholas 1: 1825-1855
Nikolay 1 (short biography)
Nikolai was the third of five sons, therefore, in principle, he could not count on the throne, which determined the direction of his upbringing and education. From an early age, he became interested in military affairs, especially its outer side, and prepared for a military career.
1817 - Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich married the daughter of the King of Prussia, who was named Alexandra Feodorovna in Orthodoxy. They had seven children, the eldest of whom, later, became Emperor Alexander II.
According to the "theory of official nationality", which was developed by S. S. Uvarov, Russia has its own way of development, it does not need the influence of the West and it should be isolated from the world community. The Russian Empire under Nikolai Pavlovich was called the "gendarme of Europe" for keeping the peace in European states from revolutionary uprisings.
Social politics
In social policy under Nicholas 1, emphasis was placed on strengthening the estate system. To protect the nobility from "littering", the "December 6 Committee" proposed to establish an order according to which the nobility was acquired only by inheritance. And for service people to create new estates - "bureaucratic", "eminent", "honorable" citizens. 1845 - the emperor issued the "Decree on the entitlements" (the indivisibility of noble estates during inheritance).
Serfdom
Serfdom during the reign of Nikolai Pavlovich enjoyed the support of the state, and the monarch signed a manifesto in which he stated that there would be no changes in the position of serfs. However, the emperor was not a supporter of serfdom and secretly prepared materials on the peasant question in order to make things easier for his followers.
The results of the reign of Nicholas 1
Emperor Nicholas 1 died on February 18, 1855. Summing up the results of the reign of Nicholas I, historians call his era the most unfavorable in Russian history, starting with.
After the uprising of the Decembrists, the sovereign lost confidence in the upper strata of the nobility. He now saw the main support of the autocracy in the bureaucratic bureaucracy. The tsar relied on that part of the nobility, whose incomes were not sufficient to do without public service and salaries.
A class of hereditary officials began to form, for whom the civil service became a profession. According to the famous Russian historian A. Korshelov, Nicholas 1 was guided by the ideas of N.M. Karamzin, which were outlined by him in the note "On ancient and modern history": "Autocracy is the most important element of the stable functioning of the state. The main goal of the monarchy is to serve the interests of the country for the benefit of its prosperity. "
The internal policy of Nicholas 1 was focused on maintaining the status quo in all areas of life, especially the foundations of serfdom, old political institutions. She ignored pressing problems in the economy (industry, transport, technical re-equipment of the army and navy). The reluctance to carry out bourgeois transformations manifested itself in the most tragic way already at the end of the reign of Nicholas I, turning into the defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War.
