In our article, we will draw a political and historical portrait of Alexander 1, briefly, of course. The activities of the emperor of Russia are rich in a variety of facts, which will require more than a dozen pages to fully cover them.
Early ideas
Alexander Pavlovich was born on December 12, 1777. The heir to the throne was brought up by his grandmother Catherine II. She believed that she could grow an ideal emperor for Russia. The young man's teacher was a Swiss by the name of Lagarpe. The Empress loved and pampered her grandson. She married him early, at 16. And his wife, Countess of Baden, was only 14. Despite their young age, they lived together, although the two children whom Elizabeth gave birth to (before Louise's baptism) died in infancy.
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The political portrait of Alexander 1 will be complete, if not to mention that in his youth he hoped to create a humane society. He was close to the idea of abandoning the autocracy. In the French Revolution, he saw nothing wrong. His father died during the palace coup of 1801. Alexander was only 24 years old, but he already clearly saw the mistakes that must be avoided so that he would not suffer the same sad fate.
Start of activity
Therefore, having ascended the throne, he first returned the privileges to the nobility, which was canceled by Paul I. Namely: he allowed to go abroad, granted amnesty to the repressed, lifted the ban on foreign literature in Russia. The portrait of Emperor Alexander 1 is supplemented by information that he cared not only for the nobility, but also for ordinary people, peasants. In 1803, he issued a decree according to which a peasant could become a free man if he paid a ransom to his master. Of course, if the landowner was against this, the deal would not have taken place, but a serf had a certain chance to get freedom. This law was called the “Decree on Free Tillage”. During the reign of Alexander I, other schemes were developed, according to which the peasant could become a free man, but they were not implemented. However, even at that time, ordinary people who were given freedom could have their own property.
No autocracy
During the reign of Alexander I, a reform of public administration was carried out. After it, the decrees of the emperor could be canceled by a specially created body, which was called the Permanent Council. This body was legislative. It included young people who surrounded the emperor from his youth. Many of their ideas were never realized. When Alexander I ascended the throne, he began to think about how to maintain his power. And he noted that the reforms proposed by the Permanent Council could lead to him losing it under pressure from the upper class, whose members they did not like. The main member of the council was Mikhail Speransky. But the cautious emperor was forced to remove him from his post and send him into exile. As if emphasizing that he did not agree with his ideas, among which equalization of the rights of nobles, peasants, philistines, workers and servants, the transformation of the legislative and executive powers.
Best the enemy of the good
However, some progressive ideas have been implemented. For example, the Cabinet of Ministers became the administrative authority. It was formed after all the colleges were replaced by ministries. At the same time, the monopoly of the nobility on land ownership collapsed. Now the land could be acquired by merchants and bourgeois. At their sites, they were engaged in economic activities using wage labor. After Speransky, Arakcheev became an important person in the state. With his help, Alexander I began to implement the idea of creating military settlements. He dreamed of ridding the state of the need to maintain an army. And in these settlements would live people who were engaged in agriculture and fed and dressed themselves. However, the experience was not entirely successful. People protested against being military and farming at the same time. The uprisings were severely suppressed by the Arakcheev. No matter how the people resisted innovations, by 1857, when the settlements were abolished, they numbered 800 thousand soldiers.
Need to study
In the historical portrait of Alexander 1, you need to add some more bright colors. It's about education reform. Being a highly educated man himself, the emperor understood that the more literate people there were in Russia, the better for the country. Therefore, during his reign, many gymnasiums and schools were opened. 5 universities were also opened. Russia was divided into educational districts, each of which had its own university.
Our victory
The political portrait of Alexander 1 will be incomplete, if not to say that it was during his reign, in 1812, that the war with France began. Under the leadership of the emperor, our country was able to defeat Napoleon, defend its borders. But the enemy was strong and was able to conquer all of Europe. Few people know that Napoleon requested the hands of Alexander I’s sister, Anna Pavlovna, but they refused.
Another interesting fact is that Russia and France were originally allies. But they could not agree on who will own some lands.
End of life
Gloomy colors in the portrait of Alexander 1 adds the story of his death. He died in Taganrog. According to one version, from typhoid fever, according to another - from inflammation of the brain. This happened in 1825. He was only 48 years old. This death was so ridiculous that the people came up with their own version. According to her, the emperor did not die, but went into the people and lived as a hermit until old age.
A coin with a portrait of Alexander 1 can remind of past times, although during his lifetime he forbade minting his profile. But in the 19th century, several such coins were still issued. In total, 30 were minted. Nowadays, one such coin, which depicts a portrait of Alexander 1, costs about 2 million rubles.
Successor
To whom did the power pass after the death of Alexander I? He wanted his brother Constantine to become emperor after his death, but he abdicated. Therefore, in 1923, Alexander wrote a secret manifesto on the appointment of his second brother, Nicholas, as emperor. But since no one knew about this, the guard and Nikolai swore allegiance to Konstantin, which meant the appointment of the latter as emperor. However, the secret society of the Decembrists prepared an uprising in order to try to overthrow Nicholas, who allegedly illegally occupied the throne. At the same time, they wanted to abolish serfdom and kill the king, once and for all ending the autocracy. However, they did not succeed. And Nicholas I ascended the throne . But this is a completely different story ...