Many are interested in the history of Russia, the 19th century in which it became one of the most controversial eras. And no wonder, because this is a special time in our country, full of reforms and transformations, comparable only to the era of Peter the Great.
The history of Russia, in which the 19th century fell on the reign of three emperors, is of great interest to researchers. At the beginning of the century, Russia entered as a feudal serfdom, autocratic state. In terms of population and military power, it in this period was in first place among the European powers.
But the history of Russia, in which the 19th century became almost one of the most reactionary and at the same time progressive, testifies to the archaic nature of the country's economy due to the backwardness in the development of the economy. The country's budget was built on peasant taxes.
By law, the country was ruled by the emperor with the help of officials who concentrated serious power in their hands.
History of Russia: 19th century, briefly
This is the story of three emperors and their associates from among the many officials. The bureaucracy was hosted both in the central governing bodies and in the localities. The country was ruled by a bureaucracy.
When Alexander I was on the throne , great hopes were pinned on him for reforming the country until the abolition of the feudal system. However, these hopes were not destined to come true. Then all the people's aspirations were transferred to Emperor Nicholas I.
But reforms were never carried out by either emperor. Both rulers acted almost the same.
The liberal mood at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I was replaced by a reactionary stage at the end. Under this emperor, Arakcheev was actually in power, who was so cruel that his name became a household name.
The history of Russia, the 19th century in particular, is of interest from the point of view of the formation of various new ideological trends. Several main currents of socio-political thought appear. This time was a period of an extraordinary upsurge of social thought, which the history of Russia did not know before; the nineteenth century becomes epoch-making in this sense.
The official ideology is the "theory of official nationality" by Uvarov. This theory was built on three pillars: "autocracy" - "Orthodoxy" - "nationality". To some extent, the Slavophiles agreed with this theory, advocating for a special path of development of the Russian state, which does not coincide with the Western (European) path of development.
Westerners, in contrast to the Slavophiles, on the contrary, offered to orient themselves to developed European countries in order to overcome developmental backwardness.
At the same time, another stream of social thought appeared in Russia, which in its own way interpreted the country's political and economic development. It was called socialist.
Even the very existence of several theories that unequally interpret the country's development paths suggests that the country was in a rather difficult situation and urgently needed reform.
The second half of the 19th century was a special time for Russia, when, finally, the long-awaited period of transformations nevertheless came. It is associated with the name of Emperor Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom in Russia .