The most handsome man in Europe in the days of his life, who was not forgotten even after his death, is Nicholas 1. The years of rule are from one thousand eight hundred twenty-five to one thousand eight hundred and fifty-fifth. It immediately becomes in the eyes of 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 the heyday of Russian culture, but, on the other hand, cruel serfdom. Strict systematization of the codes of legislation and absolutely uncovered arbitrariness of the authorities. The acquisition of great international prestige and the tragic and cruel defeat 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 a great-age heir Pavel Petrovich and his wife Maria Fedorovna. Aging Catherine II still managed to nurse little Nicholas, her grandson. But she did not plan to connect his fate with the great affairs of the state.
Youth, education and learning preferences
Then the very young prince was predetermined to receive a military education. He was immediately promoted to the chiefs of the Life Guards of the cavalry regiment. And after some time, and Izmailovsky, whose uniform he began to wear. The future sovereign received an excellent home education, which had a military bias. Nevertheless, he considered it unsatisfactory.
His teacher, General Lamsdorf, was a very severe man and punished more than once the stubborn and independent Nikolai, who recalled years later that he was always reluctant to study, since he saw continuous coercion in education. But the military order, barracks discipline always liked the young prince. He was never attracted to the humanities, but he was well versed in artillery and loved the engineering profession.
Happy father and an exemplary soldier
In the year 1880, Nicholas became the spouse of Princess Charlotte, who was the daughter of the Prussian king. In Orthodoxy, Alexandra Fedorovna. She really missed her distant homeland. To please her, her husband arranged in her honor the first real Christmas tree in the Russian state.
For thirty-eight years of marriage, seven children were born. The sovereign was the happiest father and a wonderful soldier. But he was distinguished by a dismissive attitude towards officers and a very picky character, so they did not favor him in the guard.
The abdication of Constantine, or the Manifesto of the sixteenth of August
In the summer of eighteen nineteen, Emperor Alexander announced that Constantine was refusing to reign, so the right to govern the state passed to the next brother, that is, Nicholas. On August 16, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-third, a manifesto was signed, which declared Nikolai Pavlovich the heir to the throne.
But the signed document was strictly classified and not disclosed. The reign of Nicholas 1 had not yet come, and Alexander, for whatever his own reasons, did not begin to involve him in state affairs. Either by these actions he showed that he might still change his mind, and perhaps he was afraid for the possibility of certain movements that could be carried out in Nikolai’s favor. Thus, Alexander, without even suggesting the possible consequences, put the youngest in an uncomfortable position.
The unexpected demise and consequences of a hidden manifest
When the emperor unexpectedly passed away in Taganrog, most of the subjects, naturally, accepted Constantine as sovereign. The Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count Miloradovich, insisted on taking his oath. Nikolai, fearing protest from the guards, hastened to swear the oath first. The following were the guard, the senate, the troops and the people.
Konstantin Pavlovich confirmed in writing the rejection of the board and swore allegiance to Nicholas in Warsaw, but did not return to Petersburg. The confusion on the throne created interregnum. This moment, in order to prepare an uprising, was used by members of a secret society. So began the reign of Nicholas 1.
The beginning of reign and bloody historical rebellion
On the twelfth of December, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-fifth, Nikolai Pavlovich makes a decision and declares himself emperor. All higher institutions and the Council of State swore allegiance to him. But the first day, from which began the reign of Nicholas 1, marked a rebellion on Senate Square.
The young tsar managed to maintain his composure, and when he came face to face with the rebel life-grenadiers of Lieutenant Panov at the gates of the Winter Palace, and when he was persuading, standing in the square, the rebel regiments to obey. The most amazing thing, as he later said, is that he was not killed on the same day. When the persuasion did not work, the king launched artillery. The rebels were defeated. Decembrists were convicted, and their leaders hanged. The reign of Nicholas 1 began with bloody events.
Briefly summarizing the uprising, we can say that the tragic events of December fourteenth 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.
Social movements under Nicholas the First| Conservative | Proponents of the theory of official nationality |
| Liberal | Westerners | Slavophiles |
| Revolutionary democratic | Mugs of the 20-40s of the 19th century |
A handsome man and a brave man with a stern look
The military service made the emperor an excellent builder, demanding and pedantic. During the reign of Nicholas 1, many military schools were opened. The sovereign was brave. During the cholera riot on June twenty-one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, he was not afraid to go out to the crowd on the Sennaya square of the capital.
And it was an absolute heroism to go out to the angry crowd that killed even the doctors who tried to help her. But the sovereign was not afraid, alone, without retinue and security, to go out to these distraught people. Moreover, he was able to reassure them!
After Peter the Great, the first ruler-techie who understood and appreciated practical knowledge and education was precisely Nikolai 1. The years of the sovereign’s reign are connected with the founding of the best technical universities, which today remain the most demanded.
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 until the breath of life in the country was preserved. 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 one thousand eight hundred and thirty-fourth and fifth years, the first railway in Russia and the steam locomotive of the Cherepanov craftsmen were built at a plant in Nizhny Tagil. And in the forty-third, between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, experts laid the first line of the telegraph. Huge steamboats sailed along the Volga. The spirit of modern time has gradually begun to change the way of life itself. 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 traction - stagecoaches for ten or twelve people, as well as omnibuses, which were more spacious. Residents of Russia began to use domestic matches, and they began to drink tea with beet sugar, which used to be only a colonial commodity.
The first public banks and exchanges for wholesale trade in industrial and agricultural products appeared. Russia became even more majestic and powerful. In the reign of Nicholas 1, she gained the great reformer.