“Big monkey in uniform” - with these words, contemporaries evaluated the state and military representative of the era of Alexander the First Count Arakcheev. Modern historians have a different view of his personality. Arakcheevschina is a concept that is associated with its activities.
Coming from poor noblemen
Alexey Andreevich Arakcheev was born in 1769. He came from an impoverished noble family. His father was a retired guards lieutenant.
He received primary education thanks to a rural clerk. Alexey mastered Russian literacy and arithmetic. He received further education in the artillery cadet corps. For this, the father had to ask for money from Metropolitan Gabriel, Madame Guryeva, Melissino. The latter turned out to be the patron of young Alexei.
The young man showed success in science, and soon received the rank of officer. He was engaged in the provision of artillery knowledge to children of Count Saltykov. It was he who recommended Arakcheev to the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich.
Alexey Andreevich was distinguished by his knowledge and observance of military discipline. The concept of “Arakcheevschina” is connected with this.
At the sovereign service
Colonel Arakcheev’s career continued with the accession to the throne of Pavel Petrovich. At twenty-seven, he became a baron. The emperor also granted him peasants with land. The baron chose the village of Gruzino as his estate. In 1798 he became a count.
But relations with the emperor were difficult. Several times Arakcheev was suspended from service and received again. He had a much better relationship with Alexander the First. He was near the emperor in the battle of Austerlitz.
Since 1808, Arakcheev became Minister of War. He carried out a series of transformations that made it possible to repulse Napoleon in the Patriotic War:
- changed the organization of the army;
- allocated artillery to a special branch of the army;
- increased the salaries of artillerymen;
- improved the material part of the army;
- improved guns.
Under Alexander the Great, Alexei Andreevich reached the heights of fame. He investigated denunciations and arrested the Decembrists. After the death of the emperor Arakcheev retired from business. He died in 1834.
Arakcheev often received important assignments from the emperor. One of them was the creation of military settlements. This project is connected with the concept of “Arakcheevschina”.
Military settlements
Alexander the First wanted to reduce military spending, while increasing the reserve of military personnel. He decided to transfer the infantry and cavalry for maintenance to the peasants. The troops were supposed to help in the economy and provide the peasants with military knowledge. The essence of the Arakcheevschina was that the soldiers lived at the expense of the peasants, and the men of the settlements mastered the foundations of military affairs.
The emperor planned to save the saved money on the redemption of peasants from their owners with lands. So he wanted to free them.
Researchers agree that military settlements were created on the model of the estate of the count. In Gruzino, he created a unique military economy. The life of the peasants was regulated and subordinate to the charter. There were even rules for nursing mothers. For example, how they should prepare for feeding, what diaper to use for wrapping.
The houses on the estate were built according to one plan. It was forbidden to stack firewood in front of the house. Good roads ran throughout the estate. The settlement had its own borrowed bank. The peasant had the right to take a loan and spend it to expand the economy. A similar system was quite innovative, but too cruel.
Settlements were built in the following provinces:
- Mogilev;
- Petersburg;
- Novgorod;
- Kherson;
- Ekaterinoslavskaya.
Military settlements were sharply negatively perceived by the population. Riots began, which had to be suppressed by force. It was possible to get out of the settlement through the cemetery or having risen to a certain rank. Because of this, men drank soundly and committed suicide.
Some researchers believe that part of the settlements lived better than the Soviet historians presented. Be that as it may, in 1856 they were abolished by order of Alexander the Second.
Arakcheevschina is a concept that arose due to the will of Alexander the First. Arakcheev only obeyed the emperor.
Assessment of contemporaries and the Soviet era
Arakcheeva was negatively evaluated by his contemporaries. In Soviet times, the opinion of him did not change. Moreover, the historical science of the past made a broader concept of the surname of the count.
Arakcheevschina is a term that has been associated with the despotism of the autocratic regime that existed in the Russian Empire.
Assessment of modern historians
Arakcheevschina is a concept that is gradually losing its significance in modern historical literature. Today, the count is considered a prominent military and statesman who was distinguished by his integrity, foresight, and practical mind.
The term "Arakcheevschina" was preserved because of the steep character of the count. In military settlements, he introduced a strict regime, severe regulation of life.