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 the autocracy was abolished. Many historical relics and artifacts have come down to our time that open up new facets and details of history to us. Perhaps the most studied of them are various military awards, as they were awarded for special merits, exploits and heroism. Mostly awarded were men, since women did not serve in the ranks of the regular army. But nevertheless for the fair sex there were their insignia.
Order of Liberation
The most important and honorable award of all women was the Order of St. Catherine. It was first presented by Peter I to his wife. An interesting story of its origin. During the Prut campaign, the troops of the first emperor were surrounded. And if it weren’t for Catherine’s jewels and skillful negotiation, the Russian army would have been in complete failure. As a token of gratitude, Peter instituted this order, decorated with an abundance of precious stones, with the motto “For Love and Fatherland”. The color of the tape is pink. Sometimes it is called in another way - the Order of Liberation. It existed in 2 degrees, it was given to all female children of royal blood at birth, as well as to especially noble and distinguished ladies. Now echoes of this custom have come down to us in the form of a pink ribbon bandaging newborn girls.
Women's awards
Women's awards of 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. They were awarded to women who performed their duties perfectly for 15 years or more.
The fair sex, who served in hospitals and hospitals, received their awards. For example, medals “For Sisters of Charity in Crimea” or “For Sisters of the Holy Cross Exaltation 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 handed once to a woman whose three sons, awarded the Order of St. George, gave their lives for the Fatherland.
By studying the form, inscriptions, images and decorations on the awards, you can make a general impression of what Tsarist Russia was like. This is an interesting and voluminous layer of our history.
Ranks and ranks
There were significantly more male awards; they were awarded for accomplishing feats in military battles and for achievements in peaceful service. In addition to awards, it was customary for people to give ranks and titles.
Before Peter I there was no clear ranked system of posts and ranks. The people who were members of the Boyar Duma were called the Duma ranks, among which the Duma nobles and clerks, as well as the boyars and the deceased, were distinguished.
In 1722, a ranking table was introduced, which indicated a clear hierarchy of posts 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 civilians, and gave more privileges. Reaching the upper class in the army was easier and faster than in the civilian field.
Ranks in tsarist Russia are distinctions, which were honorable to wear for all the service people: in military, state and court service. For the military, they meant belonging to the imperial escort, for example, the adjutant general or the adjutant wing.
Female ranks
The ranking table also made adjustments to the social status of women. Now he was determined by the rank of her father, if she had not yet married, or the rank of her husband, if she had left. The appeal was appropriate, for example, “Madam Counselor”, when they addressed the counselor's wife. Some women were in the court service, and they, according to the ranking table, had their personal ranks, regardless of the position of the husband or father.
The ranks in tsarist Russia is a system that has left its mark in modern society. Despite the fact that they were canceled in 1918, their partial restoration later took place, already as the ranks of the officers of the Navy.
Coins
The history of money is very exciting and informative. Numerous reforms, changes in the shape, size and content of precious metals in coins - all this gives a good cut of the era. And, in addition, 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 stories associated with them. There are inexpensive coins of Tsarist Russia, and there are - at the cost of a fortune. Most often, no more than a dozen of them were released. Consider the most interesting.
Konstantinovsky ruble
The history of the appearance of this coin is amazing, because tsarist Russia does not know a ruler named Constantine. The fact is that after the reign of Alexander I, a brother, Konstantin, was to take his place, but he had 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 after 2 weeks. During this indefinite period, the mint began preparations for the release of new coins with the image of Constantine. 5 samples were produced, which were subsequently distributed among the closest relatives 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 penny in the history of Russia was released in Yekaterinburg. Its dimensions were 2.3 by 2.3 cm, and weight - 16.38 g. The price at the moment is 2 million rubles. We have reached 10 copies of such coins. It is worth noting that while square money is not uncommon. There were other denominations in the square version, in particular, at the same time a weight record holder was released - a copper ruble weighing 1,638 kg.
The most expensive coin
In 2008, a new record was set for the value of the coin of Tsarist Russia - 1 million 550 thousand pounds. Its face value was 20 rubles. And it was released during the monetary reform of 1755. These were trial samples in just 2 copies. Now one of them is kept in the Hermitage, and the other in a private collection.
25 rubles from the nugget
In Siberia at the beginning of the last century, a large gold nugget was found, weighing 5 kg. Emperor Nicholas II decided to make souvenirs from this ingot in order to present his close friends and relatives on his birthday in 1908. By his order, several coins of 25 rubles were made. 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 over Napoleon’s army near Friedland. In honor of this event, the foundation was laid for a new church near St. Petersburg. At its base were placed 100 gold coins in denominations of 5 rubles. They were ordinary, the only thing that distinguished them was the year of release. 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, in whose honor the church was named. From the special issue, 9 coins were left that were donated to the participants of this event. At the moment, the cost of 5 rubles in 1907 is 4.35 million rubles.
Such interesting and unusual stories tell us coins, revealing 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 further penetrate our history, we will consider such an interesting detail as buttons on clothes, because they also carry a lot of information about the country and about 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 correlates with 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. On caftans, fur coats and any other dress there was a strictly defined number of buttons. They looked like weights in shape and were very common everywhere. Gradually changing, they took the form that was already familiar to us and became an object that directly indicates belonging to a certain group. From it one could learn about the situation in society and about the merits to the Fatherland. Buttons, like other signs of tsarist Russia, began to designate a place of service or study, they depicted, for example, the emblem of the institution or certain symbols indicating that a person belongs to a particular profession.
Tunic Buttons
Tunic buttons represent the most interesting layer of history and clearly show us the development of society. This can be seen, since 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 designs. They were smooth and made of tin and copper. But the time of the last three emperors is replete with a variety of shapes 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 granada are perhaps the most common symbols of those years. Buttons with such images were worn by the grenadiers, some infantry units. Still often there are postal telegraph and railway. Among the rare ones, there are the buttons of lighthouse keepers, students of private educational institutions and guard officers.
Manufacturing methods
The simplest buttons that tsarist Russia abounds are stamped. In their manufacture, an image is applied to a metal surface - a stamp.
More complex are puffy buttons. They were composed of 2 parts. On the upper, front side, a stamp was extruded from the inside, and the lower side was soldered later. Thus, inside she remained hollow.
The most expensive manufacturing method for patch buttons. The image on the front side is not stamped, but made separately, then it is attached with a special antennae to the base. The overhead buttons of tsarist Russia are the most beautiful and expensive at the moment.
Studying history on artifacts is very interesting and informative, but you always want to look at people live, to plunge headlong into the era. A photo can help us with this.
The photo
Since the invention of photography, she immediately goes to Russia. And after successful experiments, it becomes popular everywhere. Among the early photographers, one can note Levitsky S.L. - master of the portrait, Carrick V.A. - Founder of genre photography, Bull K.K. - photojournalist, I. Barshchevsky - photographer of architecture, Boldyreva I.V. - the author of "folk" pictures and the first woman photographer - Morozovskaya E.L. Their photographs capture both 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 to regions of the country, giving lectures on work.
Our story in detail
Summarizing all of the above, I would like to note that the history of tsarist Russia is not just a period, knowledge of which is necessary only for general development, but a whole milestone that carries a lot of initial data for events that occur in the modern world. Many of the customs, rites, and traditions that are still popular today date back to that time. For every person living in our country, the details are interesting that carry such an important historical era as Tsarist Russia. The photos in which it is captured contain a huge amount of information about the life of that time, and the study of coins, buttons and awards will help to penetrate our history even more deeply.