Tsarist Russia is a historical period covering a fairly large period of time. It begins with the reign of the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible and ends in 1917, when autocracy was abolished. A lot of historical relics and artifacts have come down to our time, which open up new facets and details of history to us. Perhaps the most studied of them are various military awards, since they were awarded for special merits, deeds and heroism. Mostly men were awarded, as women did not serve in the ranks of the regular army. But still, the fair sex had their own insignia.
Order of Liberation
The most important and honorary award of all women was the Order of St. Catherine. It was first presented by Peter I to his wife. The history of its origin is interesting. During the Prut campaign, the troops of the first emperorgot surrounded. And if it weren’t for Catherine’s jewelry and skillful negotiation, then the Russian army would have been in for a complete failure. As a sign of gratitude, Peter established this order, decorated with an abundance of precious stones, with the motto "For Love and Fatherland." Ribbon color is pink. Sometimes it is called differently - the Order of Liberation. It existed in 2 degrees, it was given to all female children of royal blood at birth, as well as especially noble and distinguished ladies. Echoes of this custom have now come down to us in the form of bandaging newborn girls with a pink ribbon.
Women's Awards
Women's awards in Tsarist Russia were not limited to one Order of St. Catherine, there were medals for performing medical duties while caring for the wounded, or simply for long-term good performance of duties. For example, the Mariinsky insignia. It was awarded to women who performed excellently in their duties for 15 years or more.
The fair sex, who served in hospitals and hospitals, received their awards. For example, medals “For the sisters of mercy in the Crimea” or “For the sisters of the Ex altation of the Cross community in Finland.”
Another insignia that was created at the end of the period of Tsarist Russia is the Order of St. Olga. It was awarded once to a woman whose three sons, awarded the St. George Order, gave their lives for the Fatherland.
Studying the shape, inscriptions, images and decorations on the awards, you can get a general impression of what Tsarist Russia was like. This isan interesting and voluminous layer of our history.
Ranks and titles
There were much more men's awards, they were awarded for feats in military battles and for achievements in civilian service. In addition to awards, it was customary to give people ranks and titles.
Before Peter I, there was no clear ranked system of positions and titles. People who were members of the Boyar Duma were called duma ranks, among which they singled out duma nobles and clerks, as well as boyars, okolnichy.
In 1722, a table of ranks was introduced, which indicated a clear hierarchy of positions in the military and civil service. From now on, the ranks in tsarist Russia began to be divided into 14 classes. The military were more honorable than the civilians and gave more privileges. It was easier and faster to rise to the top class in the army than in the civilian field.
Ranks in tsarist Russia are distinctions that were honorable to wear for all service people: in military, civil and court service. For the military, they meant belonging to the imperial escort, for example, adjutant general or adjutant wing.
Female ranks
The table of ranks also made adjustments to the social status of women. Now it was determined by the rank of her father, if she had not yet married, or by the rank of her husband, if she had. The address was appropriate, for example, "Madam Counselor", when they addressed the counselor's wife. Some women were in the court service, and, according to the table of ranks, they had their own personal ranks, independent of the position of their husband or father.
Ranks in the royalRussia is a system that has left its mark on modern society. Despite the fact that they were canceled in 1918, they were later partially restored, already as the ranks of the officers of the Navy.
Coins
The history of money is very exciting and educational. Numerous reforms, changing the shape, size and content of precious metals in coins - all this gives a good cut of the era. And besides, it helps to understand and present many events in detail. Each coin has its own ruler and a certain range of use. Numismatists collect them and the stories associated with them. There are inexpensive coins of tsarist Russia, and there are - at a price of a fortune. Most often, no more than a dozen of them were released. Consider the most interesting.
Konstantinovsky ruble
The story of this coin is amazing, because tsarist Russia does not know a ruler named Konstantin. The fact is that after the reign of Alexander I, his brother, Konstantin, was to take his place, but he abdicated in advance, back in 1819. Only a few people knew about this, therefore, as soon as it became known about the death of Alexander, the guard took the oath to Konstantin. A manifesto from the former ruler, in which he announced that Nicholas I would be the heir, arrived in the capital 2 weeks later. During this uncertain period, the mint began preparations for issuing new coins featuring Constantine. 5 samples were released, which were subsequently distributed among the nearestrelatives of Alexander II. Now 2 coins are in Russian museums and 3 in foreign collections. Their cost currently exceeds 100 thousand US dollars.
Square penny
In 1726, the largest kopeck in the history of Russia was issued in Yekaterinburg. Its dimensions were 2.3 by 2.3 cm, and its weight was 16.38 grams. The price at the moment is 2 million rubles. 10 copies of such coins have come down to us. It is worth noting that at that time square money was not uncommon. There were other denominations in a square version, in particular, at the same time a weight record holder was issued - a copper ruble, weighing 1,638 kg.
Most expensive coin
In 2008, a new record value of a coin of Tsarist Russia was set - 1 million 550 thousand pounds sterling. Its face value was 20 rubles. And it was released during the monetary reform of 1755. These were test samples in only 2 copies. Now one of them is kept in the Hermitage, and the other is in a private collection.
25 rubles from a nugget
In Siberia at the beginning of the last century, a large gold nugget weighing 5 kg was found. Emperor Nicholas II decided to make souvenirs from this ingot to give to close friends and relatives on his birthday in 1908. By his order, several coins were made in denominations of 25 rubles. Now such a coin is considered very rare, its price is 1.9 million rubles.
100 coins at the base of the temple
In August 1907, exactly one hundred years passed from the victory overNapoleon's army near Friedland. In honor of such an event, the foundation of a new church near St. Petersburg was laid. 100 gold coins worth 5 rubles were placed at its base. They were ordinary, the only thing that distinguished them was the year of issue. In 1907, the mint did not issue coins of this denomination for the sphere of circulation. The ceremony was attended by Nicholas II himself, his wife and Princess Olga, after whom the church was named. From the special issue, 9 coins remained, which were presented to the participants of this event. At the moment, the cost of 5 rubles in 1907 is 4.35 million rubles.
Coins tell us such interesting and unusual stories, revealing the details of the distant past. They reflect the centuries-old era of the Russian state and help to look at past events from a new, unusual angle. In order to feel our history even more, let's consider such an interesting detail as buttons on clothes, because they also carry a lot of information about the country and people.
Buttons
In ancient times, buttons were worn not only as part of clothing, but also as a talisman against evil spirits. The name "button" comes from the word "scare", which corresponds to its main function at that time - to drive away evil spirits. Then her role changed, and she became a kind of calling card of a person. Kaftans, fur coats and any other dress had a strictly defined number of buttons. In shape, they resembled weights and were very common everywhere. Gradually changing, they took the form already familiar to us and became an object that directly indicates belonging toa certain group. From it one could learn about the position in society and about the merits to the Fatherland. Buttons, like other signs of tsarist Russia, began to designate the place of service or study, they depicted, for example, the coat of arms of the institution or certain symbols indicating a person's belonging to a particular profession.
Uniform buttons
Uniform buttons represent the most interesting layer of history and clearly show us the development of society. This is evident because the images on them, the manufacturing methods change and improve over time. The buttons of tsarist Russia before Nicholas I did not differ in a special variety of patterns. They were smooth and made of tin and copper. But the time of the last three emperors is replete with a variety of forms and images. A large number of plots and various coinage of numerous factories allow everyone to form their own opinion about the era.
The imperial eagle and grenada are perhaps the most common symbols of those years. Buttons with such images were worn by grenadiers, some infantry units. Still often there are postal-telegraph and railway. Among the rare ones are the buttons of lighthouse keepers, students of private educational institutions and officers of the guard.
Production Methods
The simplest buttons that abound in Tsarist Russia are stamped. When they are made, an image is applied to the metal surface - a stamp.
More complex - puffy buttons. They were made up of 2 parts. On top, frontthe side was stamped out from the inside, and the lower side was soldered later. Thus, it remained hollow inside.
The most expensive way to make buttons. The image on the front side is not stamped, but is made separately, then it is attached to the base with special antennae. Tsarist Russian false buttons are the most beautiful and expensive at the moment.
Studying history from artifacts is very interesting and informative, but you always want to look at people live, plunge headlong into the era. A photograph can help us with this.
Photo
From the moment of the invention of photography, it immediately ends up in Russia. And after successful experiments, it becomes popular everywhere. Among the early photographers, one can note Levitsky S. L. - the master of photo portrait, Carrick V. A. - the founder of genre photography, Bullu K. K. - photojournalist, Barshchevsky I. F. - architecture photographer, Boldyreva I. V. - the author of "folk" pictures and the first woman photographer - Morozovskaya E. L. Their photographs capture both the emperors and the life of the people. Before us in their work appears a new and amazing tsarist Russia. The years of the first photographs are perhaps the most interesting from a historical point of view.
Color photographs of Tsarist Russia have come down to us thanks to the efforts of the most famous photographer - Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky. He received permission from Emperor Nicholas II for a photo review of the Russian Empire. In his trailer, he traveled around the country, giving lectures on the work.
Ourhistory in detail
Summing up all of the above, I would like to note that the history of tsarist Russia is not just a period, knowledge about which is necessary only for general development, but a whole milestone that carries a lot of initial data for events that take place in the modern world. Many of the customs, rituals and traditions that are still popular today date back to that time. For every person living in our country, the details that carry such an important historical era as tsarist Russia are interesting. The photos in which she is captured contain a huge amount of information about the life of that time, and the study of coins, buttons and awards will help you to feel our history even deeper.
