What Nicholas 2 did for Russia: years of reign, historical facts, reforms, transformations and consequences of the reign

Almost a hundred years have passed since the execution of the royal family in the house of the merchant Ipatiev in Yekaterinburg, and among professional historians and amateurs, there is debate about what Nikolai 2 did for Russia. After seventy years of Marxist historiography, where it was considered a rule of bad taste to say something good about the last Russian autocrat, the reappraisal of the events of his reign is currently beginning. However, it is difficult to find objective assessments in the latest works: from the blackening of the king’s figure, many moved on to exaltation of it.

Heir to the throne

The future king was born on May 18, 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo. According to the traditions of the education of the time, the crown prince was enrolled in the leading guard regiments and gave patronage to one of them. The educational plan of the future Russian emperor included both general gymnasium disciplines and special ones: military strategy and geography, jurisprudence - with special attention being paid to international law and diplomacy, as well as economics. Nikolai did not show much zeal for study, but was not stupid at all, which can often be read in the works of Soviet historians. For example, the future emperor was given foreign languages: he easily spoke French, English, German and Danish.

Military training was especially important for the future emperor, so Nicholas served in the army and reached the rank of colonel. Since 1889, on behalf of his father, he takes part in the work of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers. It was important to know better both your country and foreign countries. In order to make this acquaintance, Emperor Alexander, along with the heir, takes a nine-month journey, during which he managed to travel around almost all of Russia, as well as to visit Greece, India, China, Egypt and other countries.

In 1894, Nikolai was engaged to Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, who received the name of Alexander Fedorovna in Orthodoxy. But this happy event was overshadowed by the death of Emperor Alexander. One of the terrorist organizations, in which there was no shortage in Russia at that time, attempted the Tsar by blowing up a railway track at the moment the imperial train followed it. From his youth, distinguished by remarkable strength, the emperor held the wreckage of the carriage on his shoulders while his family members got out, but received serious injuries, which subsequently received complications.

The beginning of the reign

Russia at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas 2 was a dynamically developing state. Economic indicators showed steady growth, overtaking many European countries and second only to the USA and Germany in certain sectors. However, there were also negative features, in particular, unequal opportunities in using the benefits of economic growth. This was largely due to the fact that the population of many regions was also increasing. For the central regions, this turned into poverty, especially for peasants still living in large communities.

What economically Nicholas 2 did for Russia can be briefly described as a strengthening of the ruble. At the very beginning of his reign, the gold standard was adopted, according to which one ruble at a price corresponded to 0.77 grams of pure gold. The Russian currency became more stable than other European currencies and was valued even higher than the German mark. One of the positive consequences of the reform was the great interest of foreign investors in investing in the Russian economy. This was especially important for industry, especially the military. In the reign of Nicholas 2, the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange was quoted above New York.

Another important undertaking of the king is to conduct a general census. The emperor himself in the column "Occupation" wrote the famous phrase: "The owner of the Russian land." This was not at all a manifestation of tyranny or dictatorial inclinations. On the contrary, all the good things that Nicholas 2 did for Russia were based on this principle: a good owner should properly arrange his farm. And he succeeded, as can be seen from this table:

Rearmament of the country's army

Thanks to enhanced military training, Nicholas perfectly understood the basic needs of the army. A visit to many European countries allowed him to learn better how their soldiers were equipped, and what should be adopted from this and as soon as possible. He was even more entrenched in the thought of the need for rearmament after a lost war with Japan. It is precisely in measures to raise the combat level of the army that it is most clearly seen that Nikolai 2 did good for Russia.

Back in 1864, the Americans used a submarine in battle. By the beginning of the 20th century, Russia did not even have prototypes. Knowing full well that such boats are actively being built by Great Britain and Germany, Nikolai decides to close the gap and signs a decree on the construction of a submarine fleet. Already in 1901, the first batch of rebuilt submarines was successfully tested. During the reign of Nicholas 2, one of the most powerful submarine fleets in the world was created from scratch in Russia: by the beginning of World War I there were 78 submarines, and some of them were used even in World War II.

A fundamentally new armed formation was military aviation. Initially, it was assumed that the role of aircraft in military operations would be reduced to obtaining information and its prompt transfer to the high command. In 1913, Russia acquired the world's first bomber. The plane "Ilya Muromets" broke all records in terms of carrying capacity, altitude and flight duration. Perhaps aviation is the most obvious example of the fact that Nicholas 2 has done a lot of good for Russia. By the time the revolution began, about twenty aircraft plants were built in the country, and approximately 5600 aircraft were operated.

Even more impressive is the creation of aircraft carriers. The Russian army of the era of Nicholas 2 acquired many advanced technologies at that time, for example, "flying boats." They were a special type of aircraft that could take off not only from the usual strip, but also from the water surface. In the five years that came during the First World War, 12 aircraft carriers were put into operation.

Changes in the education system

Although it was already said that the distribution of economic benefits in society was uneven, in essence, the life of ordinary citizens of the Russian Empire was changing for the better. In the middle of the XIX century, only large cities could boast of decent medical care and the availability of good schools: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Kharkov. The face of Russia during the reign of Nicholas 2 is rapidly changing. From the census it became known that only every fifth resident of the empire can call himself literate. To change the situation, more and more significant amounts began to be allocated from the budget of the country to the development of education. If in 1893 deductions to the educational sphere amounted to 22.4 million rubles, then in 1914 the amount amounted to 153.5 million. Moreover, this is money received only by the Ministry of Education, while they also created parochial schools funded through the Synod. In addition to state schools, there were zemstvo schools with their own budget. This already shows the role of Nicholas 2 in the history of Russia. The policy of eradicating illiteracy initiated by the Soviet government would not have been possible if the cadres (teachers and professors) had not been trained during the reign of the last king. By the end of the empire of literate people, approximately 42% of the total population lived in it. In comparison with the time of the census, the number of educated people has more than doubled.

Healthcare

In the field of medicine, Russia under Nicholas 2 also made a significant step forward. For all indicators in this area, steady growth was observed.

A negative value in the table indicates a drop in mortality. However, against the backdrop of European achievements, mortality from infectious diseases in Russia was quite high, especially among children. But even with this in mind, it cannot be denied that the government of Nicholas 2 has done much good in this area for Russia.

For example, the Soviet government borrowed from imperial times the territorial principle of the organization of medical sites, which even Europe did not know. Medical assistance to the population was carried out at three levels: at the medical station, in the county hospital and in the provincial health care center.

The proletariat in the Russian Empire

With particular pleasure, Soviet historiography indulged in speculation on the unbearable conditions of the working class. In studies of this period, one can find stories about the huge length of the working day, low salaries and fines even for such an innocent occupation as singing in the workplace.

In fact, this is not true. Even if we take a brief look at what Nicholas 2 did for Russia in the field of social security, it turns out that the emperor did not feel any hatred for the proletariat, which was readily attributed to him by Soviet historians, but quite the contrary. Already in 1896, he passed a law that limited the working day to 11.5 hours and introduced new days off. In 1903, everyone injured in the workplace received the right to compensation. Each businessman had to pay such a worker an amount of about 60% of his maintenance. A few years later, compulsory health insurance was introduced.

The average salary of a person employed in industrial production on the eve of World War I was 24 rubles (36 thousand rubles in 2016 prices). This amount was significantly lower than that received by workers in European countries. However, it must be borne in mind that the cost of renting and buying a home, as well as the prices of many categories of goods in the Russian Empire were significantly lower than French or English. A worker in 1913 could rent an apartment with his wife not working for his salary. Under the Soviet regime, which positioned itself as the power of workers and peasants, he often could not even buy ordinary food.

Agricultural development

During agitation among peasants for joining the collective farms, Soviet propaganda stubbornly painted the weakness of imperial agriculture. At the same time, statistics were completely ignored, indicating that the agrarian development of Russia under Nicholas 2 went at a high pace. In the export of agricultural products, the country has consistently held a leading position. At the same time, it is erroneous to assume that trade was carried out by starving peasants: in general, the level of consumption of potatoes, wheat and corn increased by 15, 25 and 116 percent, respectively.

Moreover, management was carried out to a greater extent by extensive methods. Despite the increase in productivity both in general and in individual crops, Russia was much inferior to European countries in this indicator.

Among the merits of Nicholas 2 to Russia can safely be attributed to the reform of agriculture under the project of Prime Minister P. A. Stolypin. Peasants were given the opportunity to leave the community with a certain land allotment and develop farming on it. His organization was given state loans on concessional terms. Even earlier, redemption payments that had been paid since the abolition of serfdom were canceled. The positive effect of the reform is improving the welfare of the peasants. This can be seen in the growth of deposits in savings banks. If by the beginning of 1906 the peasants in the aggregate had 219.4 million rubles in their accounts, then by 1916 the amount had grown to 683 million rubles. On average, every peasant had a contribution of 200 rubles, which by modern standards corresponds to 350 thousand.

Political Reform

During the reign of Nicholas 2, Russia began to move towards a constitutional monarchy. Previously, the king was an autocrat, not obliged to keep an account to anyone. Almost all Russian emperors were conservatives and feared the consequences of weakening their power, but in crisis situations they found the strength to carry out liberal reforms, as Alexander 2. did. His grandson was no exception. The revolution of 1905, which was largely a reaction to the lost war with Japan, clearly demonstrated to the monarch the need to reform the political system, and Nikolay was able to do this.

If it is not always possible to trace what Nikolai 2 did for Russia in the economic and social spheres, then everything is extremely clear in the political sphere. No change could have been without a clearly expressed position of the emperor. Understanding that in a changing era it is necessary to give up part of his rights and privileges, Nikolai published a Manifesto on the adoption of the Basic State Laws, that is, the first Russian constitution.

Russia became a constitutional monarchy, where autocratic power limits the bicameral parliament. The upper house remained the State Council appointed by the tsar, and the lower house was the State Duma, formed as a result of restricted qualifications. Political parties got the opportunity to act legally.

The qualification system looks like the weakest link in this system. However, their presence was still more a necessity than a whim. This is demonstrated by the activities of the first two Dumas, where deputies not accustomed to political life could not agree with each other to create new bills. By manipulating qualifications, the government of Nicholas 2 managed to achieve an optimal system that allowed the Duma to function normally. With the increase in the number of educated people and the formation of the middle class, it was planned to liberalize this system.

Foreign policy

The reign of Nicholas 2 in Russia began with a step that was completely not expected from the head of such a large and powerful state. The fact is that at the end of the century the tsar came up with an unusual concept of "state pacifism" and invited the leaders of leading countries to hold a conference on disarmament issues.

This initiative was also based on practical necessity: German military industry went far ahead. The maritime position of England was in doubt. Russia could not compete with the Germans, so one of the reasons for the Hague Conference was precisely the restriction of German weapons. The conference was attended by 26 states. As an initiator, her work was led by a Russian representative.

As a result, a joint decision was made to ban the throwing of explosives from balloons, and to ban the use of gas attacks and explosive bullets. It was supposed to create a body that diplomatically resolves interstate contradictions - the Hague Arbitration Court.

However, the initiative of the Russian emperor did not receive proper development. It affected the desire of Germany to redistribute the world, which could not allow other European countries.

Nicholas II in history

Perhaps not a single Russian ruler received such conflicting assessments. On the one hand, even if we list briefly what Nicholas 2 did for Russia, the image of one of the prominent Russian tsars is emerging. On the other hand, the clinging nickname "bloody" for a crush on the Khodynka field and the shooting of a peaceful working delegation on January 9, 1905. It should be said that in Soviet studies on the history of Russia, the role of Nicholas 2 in these events is greatly exaggerated. The events of the beginning of the first revolution were provoked by both the workers themselves and the police, and the emperor did not have to delve into the details of the organization of the celebration in honor of the coronation.

The facts nevertheless testify that under Nicholas 2, Russia was a fairly strong state and had the potential for further development. In his reign, a number of necessary reforms were carried out, the economy was at its best, and the social welfare of the people, although it did not reach the proper level, was not at low levels. The industrialization carried out in the USSR under Stalin, although it allowed the country to catch up with the leading European states, was still a necessary measure. Similar processes that took place in the empire on the eve of World War II did not require such a strain of forces from society.

Soviet history seemed to provide an indirect opportunity to doubt the validity of its assessments of what Russia was under Nicholas 2. We are talking about the indicators of 1913, the benchmark for Soviet statistics. Each direction of Soviet economic development was compared precisely with these data, and for a very long time the comparison was in favor of the Russian Empire. The Soviet Union managed to overtake them only in the 60s.

Perhaps, realizing the tension of their accusations, Soviet propaganda sought to denigrate the last tsar as a person. Incredible stories were told about his passion for killing dogs and cats, love affair with the ballerina Kshesinskaya, and after a while they were added to the fact that, on the whole, Nikolai was a weak and weak-willed man, completely subordinate to the influence of a German wife. The abundance of fables, sometimes contradicting each other, eventually overshadowed the real image of the last Russian emperor. What Nikolai 2 did for Russia during the years of his reign, they completely forgot. Fortunately, the situation is changing. Both biased studies and panegyrics are being replaced by more balanced assessments of the reign of the last Russian emperor.