Nicholas 1: growth, personal characteristics, biography, interesting facts

The identity of the Emperor Nicholas I is very contradictory. Thirty years of rule – a series of paradoxical phenomena:

• An unprecedented flowering of culture and maniacal censorship;
• Total political control and corruption;
• The rise of industrial production and economic backwardness of European countries;
• Control over the army and its impotence.

The statements of contemporaries and historical facts also cause a lot of contradictions, so it is difficult to objectively assess the personality of Nicholas 1.

The Childhood of Nicholas I

Nikolay Pavlovich born on 25 Jun 1796 and was the third son of the Imperial couple of the Romanovs. A very young Nicholas was on the education of the Baroness Charlotta Karlovna von Lieven, to which very attached and adopted her some traits, such as strength of character, fortitude, heroism, openness. Then already manifested his interest in military Affairs. Nicholas loved watching military parades, divorce, to play with military toys. And already at the age of three donned my first military uniform of the life guards regiment.

The first shock the little Prince moved at the age of four years old when his father died, the Emperor Paul Petrovich. Since then, the responsibility of raising heirs rests on the shoulders of the widow Maria Feodorovna.

Mentor Nicholas

Mentor Nicholas 1801 and over the next seventeen years, he was appointed Lieutenant-General Matvei Lamzdorf, former Director of the gentry (the first one) cadet corps under the Emperor Paul. Lamzdorf had no idea about the methods of education of the royalty – future leaders – and any educational activities at all. His appointment was justified by the desire of the Empress Maria Feodorovna to protect sons from interest in military Affairs, and this was the main purpose of Lamzdorf. But instead of the interest of princes in other classes, he was in defiance of all their wishes. For example, accompanying the young princes to their trip to France in 1814, where they were eager to participate in military actions against Napoleon, Lamzdorf purposely drove them very slowly, and the princes arrived in Paris when the battle is already over. Because of incorrectly chosen tactics of educational activities Lamzdorf of the goal. When Nicholas I married, Lamzdorf freed from the duties of a mentor.

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Hobbies

The Grand Duke diligently and passionately studied all the intricacies of military science. In 1812 he was eager for war with Napoleon, but the mother would not let him. In addition, the future Emperor, was fond of engineering, fortification, architecture. But Humanities Nicholas disliked and negligent attitude to their study. Later he was very sorry about it and even tried to fill the gaps in training. But this he failed to do.

Nikolai Pavlovich was fond of painting, playing the flute, loved Opera and ballet. He had good taste in art.

The Future Emperor had a beautiful appearance. Growth of Nicholas 1 - 205 cm, slim, broad-shouldered. A slightly elongated face, blue eyes, always stern look. Nicholas was excellent physical preparation and good health.

Marriage

Elder brother Alexander I in 1813, having been in Silesia, chose Nicholas bride is the daughter of the king of Prussia Charlotte. This marriage was to strengthen the Russian-Prussian relations in the struggle against Napoleon, but all of a sudden young truly loved each other. July 1, 1817 they were married. Charlotte of Prussia in Orthodoxy, became Alexandra Feodorovna. Was a happy marriage and many children. The Empress gave birth to Nicholas of seven children.

After the wedding, Nicholas 1, biography and interesting facts which is presented to your attention the article, took command of the guards division, and was engaged in the performance of duties of inspector General of the engineering part.

Doing things, the Grand Duke was very responsible attitude to their duties. He opened for engineering army company and battalion school. In 1819 there was founded the Main engineering school (now the Nicholas engineering Academy). Thanks to the excellent memory for faces, allowing you to remember even ordinary soldiers, Nicholas gained respect in the army.

The Death of Alexander 1

In 1820 Alexander said Nicholas and his wife, Konstantin Pavlovich, the next heir to the throne, intends to renounce his rights in connection with childlessness, divorce and second marriage, and the next Emperor should be Nicholas. In this regard, Alexander signed a Manifesto claiming the abdication of Constantine Pavlovich and the appointment of heir to the throne of Nicholas. Alexander, as if felt its imminent demise, bequeathed reading the document immediately after his death. 19 November 1825 Alexander I died. Nicholas, in spite of the Manifesto, first swore to the Prince Konstantin. It was a very noble and honest thing to do. After a period of uncertainty, whenConstantine has not officially abdicated, but refused to take the oath. Growth of Nicholas 1 was rapid. He decided to become the next Emperor.

Bloody beginning of the Board

December 14, the day of oath-bringing by Nikolay I, there was organized a rebellion (called the uprising of the Decembrists), aimed at the overthrow of the autocracy. The uprising was crushed, the surviving participants were sent into exile, five were executed. The first impulse of the Emperor was to pardon all, but the fear of a Palace coup was made to organize a court to the fullest extent of the law. And all Nicholas did generous with those who wanted to kill him and his entire family. There are even proven facts that the wives of the Decembrists received monetary compensation, while the children born in Siberia, could study in the best schools at state expense.

This event influenced the course of the reign of Nicholas 1. All his activities were aimed at preserving the autocracy.

Domestic policy

The Reign of Nicholas 1 began when he was 29 years old. Accuracy and demanding, responsibility, fight for justice, combined with high performance were outstanding qualities of the Emperor. His character was influenced by years of army life. He led quite an ascetic life: sleeping on hard bed, covering up with his coat, observe moderation in food, not drink alcohol and do not smoke. Worked with Nicholas for 18 hours a day. He was very demanding in the first place to himself. The preservation of the autocracy considered it his duty, and his whole political activity served this purpose.

Russia under Nicholas 1 has undergone the following changes:

1. The Centralization of power and the creation of a bureaucracy of control. The Emperor only wanted order, monitoring and reporting, but in fact it turned out that the number of bureaucratic posts has grown significantly, and with them grew the number and size of bribes. Nicholas himself understood this and said to his eldest son, that in Russia do not steal only the two of them.
2. The question of the serfs. Thanks to a series of reforms, the number of serfs declined significantly (from 58% to 35% for about 45 years), they have rights, protection of which is controlled by the state. The complete abolition of serfdom did not happen, but the reform was the starting point in this case. Also at this time started to develop the education system for the peasants.
3. The Order in the army, the Emperor paid special attention. Contemporaries criticized him for being too close attention to the troops, while the army's morale a little interested. Frequent checks, reviews, punishments for the slightest of errors was distracting soldiers from their main tasks, made weak. But is it really? During the reign of Emperor Nicholas 1 of Russia was at war with Persia and Turkey in 1826-1829 and in the Crimea in 1853-1856 In the wars with Persia and Turkey, Russia has won. The Crimean war led to the loss of Russian influence in the Balkans. But the reason for the defeat of the Russian historians call the economic backwardness of Russia in comparison with the enemy, including the existence of serfdom. And here is a comparison of human losses in the Crimean war with other wars shows that they are less. This proves that the army under the leadership of Nicholas I, was a powerful and highly organized.

Economic development

The Emperor Nicholas 1 inherited Russia, devoid of industry. All the items of production were imported. By the end of the reign of Nicholas 1 the growth of the economy was noticeable. In Russia already existed a necessary country of production. Under his leadership, began the construction of paved roads and Railways. In connection with the development of railway transport started to develop the machine-building industry, including carriage works. An interesting fact is that Nicholas I decided to build the Railways wider (1524 mm) than in European countries (1435 mm), in the event of war to hinder enemy movement around the country. And it was very wise. This trick is not let the Germans in 1941 to put in full ammunition when the attack on Moscow.

In connection with growing industrialisation started the intensive growth of cities. During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the urban population has more than doubled. Thanks to the engineering education received in his youth, Nicholas Romanov 1 followed by the construction of large objects of St. Petersburg. His idea was to not exceed a height of eaves of the Winter Palace for all buildings in the city. In the end, St. Petersburg has become one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Under Nicholas 1 the rise in the educational sphere was also visible. It opened a lot of educational institutions. Among them the famous Kiev University and St. Petersburg Institute of technology, military and Maritime Academy a number of schools, etc.

Culture

The nineteenth century was the real flowering of literary creativity. Pushkin and Lermontov, Tiutchev, Ostrovsky, Turgenev, Derzhavin, and otherwriters and poets of this era were incredibly talented. At the same time 1 Nicholas Romanov introduced the most severe censorship, reaching the point of absurdity. Therefore, literary geniuses periodically experienced persecution.

Foreign policy

Foreign policy in the reign of Nicholas I included two main areas:

1. Return to the principles of the Holy Alliance, the suppression of the revolutions and all revolutionary ideas in Europe.
2. Gain influence in the Balkans to free navigation in the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus.

These factors were the reason the Russian-Turkish, Russian-Persian and Crimean wars. The defeat in the Crimean war led to the loss of all previously won positions on the Black sea and the Balkans, and provoked an industrial crisis in Russia.

The death of the Emperor

It tells the story of Nicholas 1 died on 2 Mar 1855 (58 years old) of pneumonia. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul fortress.

Finally…

The Reign of Nicholas I, no doubt, left a tangible trace in the economy and in cultural life of Russia, however, has not led to some landmark changes in the country. The following factors forced the Emperor to impede progress and to follow conservative principles of autocracy:

• Moral unpreparedness to govern the country;
• Lack of education;
• Fear of the overthrow of the events of 14 December.
• The feeling of loneliness (the conspiracy against his father Paul, brother of Alexander, the abdication of his brother Constantine).

Therefore on the death of the Emperor, none of the subjects was not sorry. Contemporaries often judged the personal characteristics of Nicholas 1, he was criticized as a politician and as a person, but historical facts say about the Emperor as a man of noble, devoted himself entirely to the service of Russia.