Nicholas I of Russia
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| Image:Nicholas1.jpg | |
| Reign | 1825-1855 |
| Predecessor | Alexander I |
| Spouse | Charlotte of Prussia |
| Issue | Tsar Alexander II Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Tsar Alexander III (Alexandrovich) Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna Grand Duke Constantin Nikolaevich Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Grand Duke Nikhail Nikolaevich |
| Royal House | House of Romanov |
| Father | Paul I |
| Mother | Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg |
| Born | 1796 |
| Died | 1855 |
Nikolai I Pavlovich (Russian: Николай I Павлович), July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855), also Nicholas, was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 and king of Poland from 1825 until 1831.
He was born in Gatchina to Paul I of Russia and Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg. He was a younger brother to Alexander I of Russia and Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia.
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Principles
Nicholas completely lacked his brother's spiritual and intellectual breadth; he saw his role simply as one paternal autocrat ruling his people by whatever means were necessary. Having experienced the trauma of the Decembrist Revolt, Nicholas I was determined to restrain Russian society. A secret police, the Third Section of Imperial Chancellery, ran a huge network of spies and informers with the help of Gendarmes. The government exercised censorship and other controls over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life. In 1833 the minister of education, Sergey Uvarov, devised a program of "autocracy, Orthodoxy, and nationality" as the guiding principle of the regime. The people were to show loyalty to the unlimited authority of the tsar, to the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, and, in a vague way, to the Russian nation. These principles did not gain the support of the population but instead led to repression in general and to suppression of non-Russian nationalities and religions in particular. For example, the government suppressed the Uniate Church in Ukraine and Belarus in 1839. See also Cantonists.
Culture
The official emphasis on Russian nationalism contributed to a debate on Russia's place in the world, the meaning of Russian history, and the future of Russia. One group, the Westernizers, believed that Russia remained backward and primitive and could progress only through more Europeanization. Another group, the Slavophiles, enthusiastically favored the Slavs and their culture and customs, and had a distaste for westerners and their culture and customs. The Slavophiles viewed Slavic philosophy as a source of wholeness in Russia and looked askance at Western rationalism and materialism. Some of them believed that the Russian peasant commune, or mir, offered an attractive alternative to Western capitalism and could make Russia a potential social and moral saviour. The Slavophiles, therefore, represented a form of Russian messianism.
Despite the repressions of this period, Russia experienced a flowering of literature and the arts. Through the works of Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, and numerous others, Russian literature gained international stature and recognition. Ballet took root in Russia after its importation from France, and classical music became firmly established with the compositions of Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857).
Foreign Policy
Image:NicholasIAtStPetersburg.jpg In foreign policy, Nicholas I acted as the protector of ruling legitimism and guardian against revolution. His offers to suppress revolution on the European continent, accepted in some instances, earned him the label of gendarme of Europe. In 1825 Nicholas I declined to be crowned king of Poland and instead continued to limit the liberties of constitutional monarchy in Congress Poland. In return, after the November Uprising broke out, in 1831 the Polish parliament deposed Nicholas as king of Poland in response to his repeated curtailment of its constitutional rights. The Tsar reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland. Nicholas crushed the rebellion, abrogated the Polish constitution, and reduced Poland to the status of a Russian province and embarked on a policy of repression towards Catholics[1]. In 1848, when a series of revolutions convulsed Europe, Nicholas was in the forefront of reaction. In 1849 he intervened on behalf of the Habsburgs and helped suppress an uprising in Hungary, and he also urged Prussia not to accept a liberal constitution. Having helped conservative forces repel the specter of revolution, Nicholas I seemed to dominate Europe.
Russian dominance proved illusory, however. While Nicholas was attempting to maintain the status quo in Europe, he adopted an aggressive policy toward the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas I was following the traditional Russian policy of resolving the so-called Eastern Question by seeking to partition the Ottoman Empire and establish a protectorate over the Orthodox population of the Balkans, still largely under Ottoman control in the 1820s. Russia fought a successful war with the Ottomans in 1828 and 1829. In 1833 Russia negotiated the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi with the Ottoman Empire. The major European parties mistakenly believed that the treaty contained a secret clause granting Russia the right to send warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. By the London Straits Convention of 1841, they affirmed Ottoman control over the straits and forbade any power, including Russia, to send warships through the straits. Based on his role in suppressing the revolutions of 1848 and his mistaken belief that he had British diplomatic support, Nicholas moved against the Ottomans, who declared war on Russia in 1853. Fearing the results of an Ottoman defeat by Russia, in 1854 Britain and France joined what became known as the Crimean War on the Ottoman side. Austria offered the Ottomans diplomatic support, and Prussia remained neutral, leaving Russia without allies on the continent. The European allies landed in Crimea and laid siege to the well-fortified Russian base at Sevastopol. After a year's siege the base fell, exposing Russia's inability to defend a major fortification on its own soil. Nicholas I died before the fall of Sevastopol', but he already had recognized the failure of his regime. Russia now faced the choice of initiating major reforms or losing its status as a major European power.
Legacy
From time to time efforts are made to revive Nicholas' reputation.
- Nicholas believed in his own oath and in respecting other people's rights as well as his own; witness Poland before 1831 and Hungary in 1849. He hated serfdom at heart and would have liked to destroy it, as well as detesting the tyranny of the Baltic squires over their 'emancipated' peasantry. . . . He must not be judged by the panic period of 1848-1855. . . we must not forget that his Minister of Public Education was Uvarov. . . who did an immense amount to spread education through the Empire at all levels. (Igor Vinogradoff)
The Marquis de Custine was open to the possibility that, inside, Nicholas was a good person, and only behaved as he did because he believed he had to. "If the Emperor, has no more of mercy in his heart than he reveals in his policies, then I pity Russia; if, on the other hand, his true sentiments are really superior to his acts, then I pity the Emperor."
Issue
Nicholas married Charlotte of Prussia (1798 - 1860). She was since then called Alexandra Feodorovna. Charlotte was daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tsar Alexander II | April 17 1818 | March 13 1881 | married 1841, Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; had issue |
| Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna | 1819 | 1876 | married Maximilian de Beauharnais |
| Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna | September 11 1822 | October 30 1892 | married 1846, Karl of Wüttemberg |
| Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevich | 1825 | 1844 | |
| Grand Duke Constantin Nikolaevich | 1827 | 1892 | married 1848, Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg; had issue |
| Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich | July 27 1831 | April 13 1891 | married 1856, Alexandra Friederike Wilhelmine von Oldenburg; had issue |
| Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich | October 13 1832 | December 18 1909 | married 1857, Princess Cecily of Baden; had issue |
See also
References
- The first draft of this article was taken with little editing from the Library of Congress Federal Research Division's Country Studies series. As their home page at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html says, "Information contained in the Country Studies On-Line is not copyrighted and thus is available for free and unrestricted use by researchers. As a courtesy, however, appropriate credit should be given to the series." Please leave this statement intact so that credit can be given.
- This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies which, as a United States government publication, is in the public domain.Template:Start box
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