The most beautiful man in Europe in the days of his life, who was not forgotten even after his death, is Nicholas 1. The years of reign are from one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five to one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. He immediately becomes in the eyes of his contemporaries a symbol of formalism and despotism. And there were reasons for that.
The reign of Nicholas 1. Briefly about the birth of the future king
The reign of Nicholas I is traditionally perceived as an era of stagnation, but at the same time it is filled with internal contradictions. This is also the heyday of Russian culture, but, on the other hand, cruel serfdom. Rigid systematization of codes of legislation and absolutely undisguised arbitrariness of the authorities. The acquisition of huge international prestige and the tragic and brutal loss in the Crimean War.
Little Nikolai was born on the twenty-fifth of June one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six and was the son of the overgrown heir Pavel Petrovich and his wife Maria Fedorovna. Aging Catherine IIstill managed to babysit little Nikolai, her grandson. But she did not plan to link his fate with the great deeds of the state.
Young years, education and learning preferences
Then the very young prince was destined to receive a military education. He was immediately promoted to chief of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. And after some time, and Izmailovsky, whose uniform he began to wear. The future sovereign received an excellent education at home, which had a military bias. Nevertheless, he considered it unsatisfactory.
His tutor, General Lamzdorf, was a very stern man and more than once punished the little stubborn and independent Nikolai, who years later recalled that he was always reluctant to study, as he saw sheer coercion in education. But the military order, barracks discipline always liked the young prince. He was never attracted to the humanities, but he was excellently versed in artillery and loved engineering.
Happy father and exemplary soldier
In 1817, Nicholas became the husband of Princess Charlotte, who was the daughter of the Prussian king. In Orthodoxy Alexandra Fedorovna. She missed her distant homeland very much. To please her, her husband arranged in her honor the first real Christmas tree in the Russian state.
In their thirty-eight years of marriage, they had seven children. The sovereign was the happiest father and a wonderful soldier. But he had a disdainful attitude towardsofficers and a very picky character, so he was not favored in the guard.
The Abdication of Constantine, or the Manifesto on August 16
In the summer of 1819, Emperor Alexander announced that Constantine was renouncing his reign, so the right to govern the state passes to the next brother, that is, Nicholas. On August 16, 1823, a manifesto was signed declaring Nikolai Pavlovich heir to the throne.
But the signed document was strictly classified and was not made public. The reign of Nicholas 1 had not yet come, and Alexander, for some reason of his own, did not involve him in state affairs. Either by these actions he showed that he might still change his mind, or perhaps he was afraid for the possibility of some movements that could be carried out in favor of Nikolai. Thus, Alexander, without imagining the possible consequences himself, put the younger one in an uncomfortable position.
Unexpected death and aftermath of the hidden manifesto
When the emperor unexpectedly died in Taganrog, most of the subjects, of course, accepted Constantine as sovereign. The governor-general of the city of St. Petersburg, Count Miloradovich, insisted on taking his oath. Nicholas, fearing a protest from the Guards officers, hurried to swear in first. The guards, the senate, the troops and the people were next.
Konstantin Pavlovich confirmed his resignation in writing and swore allegiance to Nicholas in Warsaw, but did not return to St. Petersburg. Confusion onthrone created an interregnum. This moment, in order to prepare an uprising, members of a secret society took advantage. Thus began the reign of Nicholas 1.
The beginning of the reign and the bloody historical riot
On the twelfth of December, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-fifth, Nikolai Pavlovich makes a decision and declares himself emperor. All the highest institutions and the State Council swore allegiance to him. But the first day, from which the reign of Nicholas 1 began, marked itself with an uprising on Senate Square.
The young tsar managed to keep his composure, and when he came face to face with the rebellious life grenadiers of Lieutenant Panov at the gates of the Winter Palace, and when he persuaded, standing on the square, the rebellious regiments to submit. The most surprising thing, as he later said, is that he was not killed on the same day. When the persuasion did not work, the king set in motion artillery. The rebels were defeated. The Decembrists were convicted and their leaders hanged. The reign of Nicholas 1 began with bloody events.
Briefly summing up this uprising, we can say that the tragic events of the fourteenth of December left a very deep mark in the heart of the sovereign and the rejection of any free thought. Nevertheless, several social movements continued their activities and existence, overshadowing the reign of Nicholas 1. The table shows their main directions.
| Conservative | Proponents of the official nationality theory | |
| Liberal | Westerners | Slavophiles |
| Revolutionary Democratic | Mugs of the 20-40s of the 19th century. | |
Handsome and brave with a stern look
Military service has made the emperor a fine fighter, demanding and pedantic. During the reign of Nicholas 1, many military educational institutions were opened. The emperor was brave. During the cholera riot on June 22, 1831, he was not afraid to go out to the crowd on Sennaya Square in the capital.
And it was absolute heroism to go out to an angry mob that killed even the doctors who tried to help her. But the sovereign was not afraid to go alone, without retinue and guards, to these distraught people. Moreover, he was able to calm them down!
After Peter the Great, it was Nicholas 1 who became the first techie ruler who understood and appreciated practical knowledge and education.
Major industry achievements during the reign
The sovereign often repeated that the revolution, although on the threshold of the Russian state, would not cross it as long as the breath of life was preserved in the country. However, it was during the reign of Nicholas 1 that the period of the scientific and technological revolution, the so-called industrial revolution, began in the country. In all factories, manual labor was gradually replaced by machine labor.
In 1834 and 1955, the first Russian railway and steam locomotive built by the Cherepanov masters were built at the plant in Nizhny Tagil. And in the forty-third between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, experts laid the first telegraph line. Huge ships sailed along the Volga. The spirit of modern times gradually began to change the very way of life. In large cities, this process took place first.
In the forties of the nineteenth century, the first public transport appeared, which was equipped with horse-drawn traction - stagecoaches for ten or twelve people, as well as omnibuses, which were more spacious. Residents of Russia began to use domestic matches, and began to drink tea with beet sugar, which used to be only a colonial product.
The first public banks and exchanges for the wholesale trade of industrial and agricultural products appeared. Russia became even more majestic and strong power. In the reign of Nicholas 1, she found a great reformer.
