14.2. Russia era of Nicholas I

Domestic policy of Nicholas I. The defeat of the Decembrist movement strengthened the new autocrat on the Russian throne. The revolution on the threshold of Russia. But, I swear, it will not penetrate into Russia as long as the breath of life remains in me, ”Emperor Nicholas I (1796-1855) defined the program of his reign. His thirty-year reign is a time of hard suppression of free-thinking, democracy and the liberation movement both inside the country and in Europe. At the same time, this time is the golden age of Russian literature, the heyday of young Russian science, theater, art, and the rise of social thought.

Nicholas I tried to preserve the existing order, not to introduce new things in the country, but only to maintain the established state and social system for centuries, which did not contribute to the growth of Russia's international influence and the resolution of internal problems.

The investigation of the Decembrists' case led Nicholas I to the conclusion that it was necessary to centralize the activities of the political police under his personal control. In 1826, the III branch of His own Imperial Majesty's office was created. At the disposal of the III department, headed by General A.Kh. Benkendorf (1781 / 83-1844), was the corps of gendarmes. It was given enormous power and rose above all state institutions of the country as a punishing power.

In order to prevent the penetration of revolutionary ideas, a new censorship charter was approved, according to which any publication that undermined reverence for the government, questioning the monarchist form of government, which suggested the need for change in the state, was prohibited.

The school charter, published in 1828, eliminated the continuity between elementary, secondary, and higher schools in order to prevent admission of children of lower classes in secondary and higher educational institutions. In 1835, a new university charter was adopted, significantly reducing the autonomy of universities.

In an effort to preserve and strengthen the existing socio-political system, Nicholas I carried out the task of codifying Russian legislation. The result is conducted under the guidance of MM. The work of Speransky was a collection “The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire”, which included all decrees, beginning with the Council Code of 1649 and ending with the last decree of Alexander I, and a fifteen-volume collection “Code of Laws”, which included the existing laws. The “Code of Laws” contained the most important principle of the reign of Nicholas I - to introduce nothing new and only repair and put in order the old one. The legislative basis of Russian society has remained the same, only the central control mechanism has become complicated. Under him, the system of the Russian bureaucracy and the military was finally established — the support of autocracy. If at the beginning of the XIX century. the army of officials was 16 thousand people, then in the middle of the XIX century. - 100 thousand. The activity of the apparatus was not controlled by the society, impunity and collective responsibility in the sphere of officialdom testified to the crisis of the state apparatus.

Despite positive developments in the economic development of the country (industrial output doubled ¹ , the number of enterprises increased to 14 thousand, freelance labor became predominant in manufactories, an industrial revolution began in the 1930s), the general state of the national economy testified to a retarding feudal effect - serf relations and foreshadowed the escalation of the crisis of the serf system. The discontent of the peasantry increased. Peasant unrest is becoming more widespread. The government understood the need to address the main issue of Russian society - the peasant. The chief of gendarmes convinced the emperor that the serfdom of the peasants "is a powder cellar under the state." Worked 11 secret commissions on the drafting of the law of the liberation of the peasantry. The result of the activities of the committees was the creation of a system of state peasants management, subordinated to the new ministry, the Ministry of State Property, which was headed by PD. Kiselev (1788 1872). In the years 1837-1841. he carried out an administrative reform, according to which state peasants became legally free farmers with community management. By 1858, this reform made it possible for 270 thousand peasants to buy more than 1 million dessiatines of land, cease to be a burden for the state budget and raise their welfare somewhat.

In the years 1839-1843 Minister of Finance E.F. Kankrin (1774-1845) carried out a monetary reform, which approved silver monometallism. New paper money was introduced, the exchange rate was set at one ruble in silver to 3 rubles. 50 kopecks banknotes. The reform helped strengthen the country's financial system. However, innovations in the domestic political life could not destroy the conservatism of the policies of tsarism. The crisis of the serf system manifested itself in all spheres of public life.

Nicholas I foreign policy

The foreign policy of Nicholas I. The main directions of foreign politicians The rights of Nicholas I were: the struggle against the revolutionary movement in Europe, the desire to seize the Middle Eastern markets, the accession of the Caspian coast to Russia and the solution of the Eastern question, which meant dominance in Turkish affairs, the establishment of control in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and influence in the Balkans.

Russian-Iranian War of 1826-1828 ended with the Turkmanchai world, according to which eastern Armenia joined Russia. Russia also won the war with Turkey in 1828-1829, and Anapa, Poti, Akhaltsikh, and Alkhalkalaki retired across the world of Adrianople. In this situation, Russia's submission to the entire Caucasus became possible and inevitable.

The beginning of the movement of the Murids ¹ in the 30s. headed by Imam Shamil, who won a number of victories over the Russian troops. In the territories of Dagestan and Chechnya, he created a state system - the Imamat - with a large army. But in the late 40s. signs of crisis began to appear in the state system of Shamil. Tsarism took advantage of the economic and military weakening of the Imamate. The rearmed and numerically increased Russian army launched an offensive. In 1859, the remnants of the troops of Shamil were finally defeated.

The accession of the Caucasus to Russia was completed in 1864.

The contradictions between Russia and the European countries were greatly aggravated after the signing of the Unkiyar-Iskelessi treaty between Turkey and Russia in 1833, which established a defensive military alliance with the obligation of mutual military protection.

By the middle of the XIX century. The Eastern question in the foreign policy of the countries of Europe took the most important place. France and England sought a military and commercial priority in the Mediterranean; Austria - to the expansion of the territory of the Ottoman Empire; Russia - to the complete defeat alone of Turkey, the exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the closure of the entrance to the Black Sea to a foreign fleet and increased influence on the Slavic peoples of the Balkans. All this led to the Crimean War (1853-1856), which began with the crossing of Russian troops across the r. Prut and occupation of the territory of Moldova and Wallachia. In the autumn of 1853, the Russian squadron under the command of Admiral P.S. Nakhimov (1802-1855) defeated the Turkish fleet in Sinop Bay. But the European powers did not intend to allow the victory of Russia over Turkey. British and French military squadrons entered the Golden Horn Bay. Russia was now forced to fight against England, France, the Italian states - Piedmont and Sardinia. Military operations were moved to the Crimea. The main naval base of Russia on the Black Sea - Sevastopol was under siege. After 11 months of defense, Sevastopol fell.

March 18, 1856 in Paris, peace was signed, according to which Russia ceded part of Bessarabia to Turkey, and returned to Kars Fortress. Russia was forbidden to have a navy on the Black Sea and restore Sevastopol as a fortress.

The defeat of Russia showed a deep crisis of the autocratic-serf system, its backwardness from the advanced countries of Europe, strongly dictated the need for radical transformations in all areas of life, brought the country out of its state of political immobility, provoked protest by broad sections of society against the existing order, caused the growth of peasant uprisings. Autocracy was forced to proceed to self-improvement and self-regulation based on market relations and the freedom of citizens.