5. Ancient to pre-Soviet Russian History

Through Swedish and Turkish wars, Russia gained access to the sea. The 19th century Socio-political thought in Russia and the growing internal crisis in Russia, and the Napoleonic war

Table of Contents

(no page numbers in here, but to get an idea.)

(1762- 1796) The "Enlightened absolutism" of Catherine II ...........................................................................193

Russian foreign policy in the first half of the 19th century. ............................................................................209

(1801-1825) Alexander I ascended the throne after Emperor Paul I was assassinated ..............................…………………………………………... 219

Socio-political thought in Russia .................227

1825 On December 14, was scheduled the oath to Nicholas I and the coronation of the new Emperor ………………………………………………….230

(1762-1796) The "Enlightened absolutism" of Catherine II

On the question of government, the Enlighteners shared John Locke's social contract theory. A government that violates the individual rights and freedoms of its citizens, the terms of the social contract, cannot remain in power. Any government exists to ensure the common good. The supreme value of every society is the individual. The French Enlightenment philosophers believed that Russia was a barbaric, despotic country. Absolute monarchy made its inhabitants slaves. Catherine, on the other hand, saw autocracy as the only possible form of government for the vast territory of the country. All others methods were not only ruinous, but ruinous to her. Moreover, the empress was convinced that if the citizens were law-abiding, there would be general welfare. Therefore, an important place in her domestic policy was taken by work to improve the legislation of the Russian Empire. The old Code, in force since 1649, was totally irrelevant to the historical conditions under which Catherine II had ruled the country. The Empress herself had been working on the "Edict" for about two years - a special instruction for the future Commission to draft the new legislation. The basic text of the "Decree" was borrowed by the empress from the works of Charles Montesquieu and G. Beccaria.

Two versions of the "Nakaz" were written, the first was particularly humane in its essence. It proclaimed the right of peasants' ownership of movable property and proposed to establish a peasant elective court. The tsarina condemned the cruel treatment of serfs, the use of torture and the death penalty in the state. Catherine's closest aides strongly advised her to return to real life and abandon her dreams, so by early 1767 she prepared a second, more moderate version of the "Decree", which was translated into German, Latin and French. The edict was a document in which the ideas of "enlightened absolutism" were substantiated and set out in detail. The main points of it were the justification of the inviolability of absolute monarchy and the assertion that the sovereign in Russia is the source of all state and civil authority. All subjects must comply unconditionally with the will of the sovereign.

Asserting the ideas of unlimited absolutism, Catherine called for moderation in the laws and government policies. Any punishment not justified by necessity was a manifestation of tyranny. The death penalty is generally undesirable and can only be imposed in exceptional cases on incorrigible and dangerous criminals. The most serious crime is against the monarch.

The Empress called the nobility the pillars of the state, but stipulated that belonging to the nobility gave not only certain rights and privileges, but also imposed their duties to the monarch and to the state.

Violation of the honor of nobility leads to exclusion from the nobility and deprivation of nobility. The content of the "Edict" showed the desire of Catherine II to follow the policy of "enlightened absolutism" in many respects. It was supposed to show all Europe the enlightenment, humanity and education of the sovereign.

The Ulozhenny Commission, convened to draw up new legislation, began its work on July 30, 1767 in the Moscow Kremlin. It was attended by 564 deputies from all strata of the Russian population, except serfs. The most acute was the discussion of the peasant question. Disputes on the peasant question became so acute and protracted that Catherine II was inclined to dissolve the commission. At the end of 1768 the war with Turkey began, a large part of the deputies had been recalled to the active army, and the Empress took advantage of this fact, and dissolved the commission for an indefinite period. Its work was not entirely useless. The materials prepared by the commission and the ideas expressed during the discussion were subsequently used by Catherine II in her legislative and administrative work.

An integral part of the policy of "enlightened absolutism" was the policy of secularization of the church estates. In 1764 was issued a decree which transferred monastic and church estates with their peasants to the board of economics. The meaning of this decree was, firstly, that the clergy was deprived of their economic base, secondly, monasteries and dioceses became totally dependent on the state and, finally, the situation of the peasants, freed from dependence, significantly improved. They passed into the category of state peasants. State institutions, established by Peter I, had significantly narrowed their powers. In 1763 the Senate was divided into six departments. Collegia were out of the power of the Senate, and later were abolished. The Senate was deprived of legislative initiative and increasingly turned into a judicial institution.

The historical-materialist theory assesses "enlightened absolutism" as a liberal demagogy of the government, maneuvering amidst the crisis of the feudal-serfdom system in order to expand the privileges of the nobility and avoid popular unrest. The historical-liberal approach is characterized by the assessment of the named period as a time of gradual reform of society without sharp upheavals, with the monarchic law dominating. It was a regulatory mechanism for exercising control over society, its function was to enforce obedience, rather than to protect individual rights or civil rights. From the point of view of the modernization approach, the reforms of the era of "enlightened absolutism" formed new aspirations of legislative policy, a special state and legal order, which remained unchanged until the early 19th century, and in some features of state and political principles - even later.

Serfdom already reached its apogee at the beginning of Catherine's reign. In the 1760s a series of edicts were issued which deprived peasants of any minimum rights: they were forbidden to own real estate, take contracts and payoffs, act as guarantors, trade without special permission, and leave their place of residence without written permission. In 1765 the landlords received the right to exile peasants to hard labor, and the peasants were forbidden to complain against the landlords: their complaints were considered a false denunciation, and the complainant was subject to severe punishment.

Strengthening of serfdom, powerless position of all segments of the population of the Russian Empire, except for the nobility, was the cause of a powerful peasant war led by E. I. Pugachev (1773 - 1775). It was attended by Cossacks, serfs, workers of the Ural plants and factories, the national composition - Russians, Bashkirs, Tatars, Mari, Kalmyks, etc. Russian people have always had strong traditions of naive monarchism, so ordinary people were so eager to respond to the appearance of the "resurrected" Peter III, under whose name was Yemelyan Pugachev. The center of the rebels was Yaitskoe town. Pugachev's Manifesto, in which he promised "to bestow the people with lands, waters, forests, fish catch, dwellings, meadows, seas, bread, faith, your law, salary, lead and gunpowder, etc." was proclaimed there. Pugachev's promises found fertile ground. The number of his supporters was constantly growing. In October of 1773, when he came to Orenburg, he had only 3 thousand people, and after a few weeks the number of Pugachev army increased up to 15 thousand people.

Pugachev firmly held on to his tsarist title, he organized something like a royal court, ordered to make a seal with the inscription "Great State Seal of Peter III, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia", instituted an order of brass, which he awarded to especially distinguished associates. A feature of this peasant war was its great organization and a wide participation of working people of the Urals. But still, like other peasant wars, it had no clear political goals and no constructive program, and turned into a bloody merciless destruction of the ruling classes and their servants, looting and stripping of their property. In his Manifesto of July 31, 1774, Pugachev granted all serfs freedom and promised to free peasants from oppression of villainous nobles and corrupt judges, from conscription, capitation fee and other taxes. But here he also declared the "freed" peasants to be his faithful serfs, and gave them, together with the land, to his associates as their property. Thus, they again became serfs, but under the new lords. According to some historians, this war was not of anti-feudal nature, E. I. Pugachev had no clear idea of the ultimate goals of his movement.

The Peasant war under the leadership of Pugachev triggered a number of state transformations. Already in November 1775 was issued "Institution for the government of the province". According to it, the country was divided into 50 provinces, which, in turn, were divided into 10-12 counties (provinces were abolished). Gubernias and counties had the same institutions and about the same number of officials. At the head of the province was a governor appointed by the emperor (or governor-general - in large provinces), he also headed the main institution of the province - the provincial assembly. He had executive power, supervision over the activities of all institutions and officials, ensuring law and order. All military units on the territory of the province were also subordinate to the governor. In the counties, executive power was transferred to the county nobles' assembly. New judicial institutions of class character were created: the upper (in provinces) and lower (in counties) zemstvo court for the nobility, the upper and lower rights of justice for state peasants (serfs were judged at their own discretion by the landlord himself).

Power was thus divided into administrative-political, financial-economic, and judicial. But this was only the first step toward the separation of powers, since all the fullness of power still remained in the hands of the Empress.

In 1775 was abolished Cossack self-government on the Don and the Zaporozhian Sich was abolished. Soon Zaporozhye Cossacks were resettled to the Kuban. Yaitsky Cossacks were renamed Ural Cossacks and police oversight was established over them. At the Don, the government introduced a special civilian administration, subordinate to St. Petersburg. The suppression of the peasant war, fear of its recurrence, forced Catherine II to further strengthen the position in the society of the nobility - the only support of the autocratic power. On April 21, 1785 there was issued the "Charter on the rights, liberties and privileges of the nobility of Russia”. It was a set of nobles' privileges, given the unofficial name of the Letters Patent to the Nobility. The nobility could not serve, did not pay taxes to the treasury, the land together with the peasants sitting on it passed into their private ownership, a nobleman could not be subjected to corporal punishment, he could not be deprived of noble dignity, honor, life and estates. Thus, the Russian nobility became a special corporation. It received the right to make representations through the governor about their various wishes. Henceforth and forever the nobility became the first estate of the Russian Empire.

At this time also came out the Letters Patent to the cities. According to it, all the population of cities was divided into six classes. The first included homeowners, nobles and clergymen. All of them were called "real townsfolk. The second class included merchants of the three guilds; the third class consisted of artisans, registered in the workshops, the fourth - foreign and non-resident merchants, etc. The population of cities had the right to elect the mayor and members of the City Duma once every three years at a meeting. Citizens, who reached 25 years old and had capital on which they paid at least 50 rubles tax, could take part in elections.

Catherine II carried out some transformations in the economy of the country as well. In 1765 she founded the "Free Economic Society," which began to publish regularly its works on various branches of economy, plant breeding, and cattle breeding. The main goal of the society was the rational organization of landowners' and peasants' farms, dissemination of useful advice and knowledge. But their introduction in practice went extremely slowly. The serf labor did not contribute to the introduction of innovations.

The tsarina paid special attention to education. When Catherine II took the throne, state expenditures on education in Russia amounted to 0.15% of the budget, by 1794 their share increased to 1.28%, and the content of the imperial court cost 9% of the budget. Extreme preoccupation with foreign affairs - the Turkish war and the Polish problem, as well as the reorganization of the administrative system after the suppression of Pugachev's rebellion - did not allow the Empress to focus on school reform. Only in 1786 there was issued the decree "Regulations of public schools in the Russian Empire”. Under this decree in each provincial town was to open one four-class public school. Small public schools were opened in district towns. In parallel with them functioned soldiers' schools, founded by Peter I. In 1786 was established a special teachers' seminary, which trained mathematics and history teachers. In total in Russia in the late 18th century there were 549 different educational institutions. The most important consequence of the school reform was the spread of education in non-nobility strata of the population.

The second half of the 18th century was characterized by a significant growth of Russian culture. Drama and musical theaters were widely spread. In St. Petersburg theatrical troupes existed under the Corps of nobles, in Moscow - under the University. In 1783 in St. Petersburg the first theater school was founded. Fortress theaters became widespread. Only in Moscow alone there were 15 of them. The Russian fine arts reached a high degree of perfection at that time. Catherine II continued the traditions of Peter I and invited the best-known European architects to Russia, including Rastrelli, Cameron, Rossi, Falcone and others. The time of Catherine II was the heyday of town planning. Under her reign the construction of St. Petersburg was carried out, new cities were built - Nikolaev, Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), Odessa, Sevastopol and others.

The foreign policy of Catherine II was no less controversial than the domestic one. On the one hand, she was guided by noble goals and sought not only to expand the territory of Russia, but also to strengthen its international prestige. On the other hand, Russia's foreign policy maintained an aggressive annexationist character. In many respects imitating Peter I, the empress remained his faithful student in this field. At first she adhered to a cautious line of behavior in foreign policy. The Chancellor of the Empire N. I. Panin also insisted on it. He wrote to the sovereign that Russia had no need of new conquests because she had a huge amount of land, which was not being cultivated.

But already from 1763 Catherine II began an active foreign policy and identified two major problems - Turkish and Polish. The first was caused by the need of Russia's access to the Black Sea, as well as the security of Russia's southern borders neighboring the Crimean Khanate. Catherine's attempts to negotiate with the Turkish sultan on the possibility of developing Russian trade ended unsuccessfully. Neither did Turkey agree to keep Russian merchant ships on the Black Sea. In 1768 on the initiative of Turkey itself, which intervened in the Polish-Russian conflict, the first Russian-Turkish war began. Its first period was unsuccessful for Russia, and only in 1770 was the turning point in its favor. On July 7, 1770 General P.A. Rumyantsev defeated the 80-thousand Turkish-Tatar army at Largo, and three weeks later, near the Cahul River he defeated another Turkish army, which was 10 times larger than the Russian one. In pursuit of the retreating enemy, P.A. Rumyantsev took Ishmael, Kilia, Ackermann, Bendery and others.

The success of the Russians on land was accompanied by good luck at sea. The Russian fleet under Admiral G.A. Spiridov, which left Kronstadt, rounded the whole of Europe and, entering the Mediterranean Sea through Gibraltar, in June 1770 dealt a crushing blow to the Turkish fleet in Chesma Bay. Understanding the complexity of the whole situation, the Turkish sultan asked Catherine for peace. Not immediately the Empress accepted the reconciliation with the Sultan. European powers that did not want to strengthen Russia and weaken Turkey, interfered in the development of relations between Russia and Turkey. Austria, England and France supported Turkey. In July 1774, after the defeat of the Turks by Suvorov at Kozludz, in Kucuk Kainarji was signed a peace treaty between Russia and Turkey. It ceded to Russia a large territory from the Bug River and the fortress Kinburn at the mouth of the Dnieper to the Azov, with part of the Kuban and Azov lands. Russia received the fortress of Kerch and Yenikale, which controlled the access to the Black Sea from the Sea of Azov. The Crimean Khanate was declared formally free from Turkey. Thus, there was the beginning of the annexation of the Crimea to Russia.

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of this treaty. Russian merchant ships received the right to sail through the straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles on an equal footing with the English and French. Turkey was obliged to pay to Russia a contribution of 4.5 million rubles.

The second foreign policy problem for Catherine II was Poland. Unified Polish-Lithuanian state had long been experiencing an internal crisis. Unlike most European states, Poland was unable to create a single centralized state. There were acute internal contradictions in the country - from class to religious contradictions. Poland was a multinational country, and its population practiced different religions. The rights and interests of non-Polish ethnic groups and non-Catholics were constantly infringed upon.

At the heart of the tensions between Russia and Poland were territorial and national-religious contradictions. Russia could not forgive Poland for taking advantage of the disintegration of Kievan Rus' and the Tatar-Mongol invasion and alienating considerable territories from it. In XVIII century the sharpest contradictions remained because of Belorussia and Right-bank Ukraine. After the death of the Polish king Augustus III in 1763, there was a power struggle between the magnate clans in Poland. Catherine II took an active part in this struggle and succeeded in making Stanislaw Poniatowski the king of Poland. But suddenly the new king began a struggle for the creation of a centralized Polish state, which was by no means part of the plans of Catherine II. Russian interference in the internal affairs of Poland was carried out under the pretext of protecting the interests of its Orthodox population (Ukrainians and Belarusians).

In her self-interest in Poland Catherine was not alone. Prussian King Frederick II had offered to divide Poland back in 1769. Catherine agreed to a threefold partition of Poland. In July 1772 there were concluded two treaties - one between Russia and Prussia, the other - between Russia and Austria. As a result of the division of Poland Russia received the whole economically important area adjacent to the Western Dvina, and a part of the Upper Dnieper - Polotsk, Vitebsk, Mstislav, part of Minsk province, as well as a part of the Polish Livonia. Thus, Russia received back that part of the ancient Russian lands, which in the XIV century were seized from Russia by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Thus, on the one hand, the reunification of the Belarusian and Russian peoples was laid down, but, on the other hand, the intervention of the European states in the internal affairs of Poland marked the beginning of the liquidation of Polish independence and statehood.

In the mid 70s of the 18th century the priorities of Russian foreign policy remained the same. At the same time Russia renounced its alliance with Prussia, and Austria became its main ally. The main task of Catherine II was the final solution to the Black Sea problem. Russia was not satisfied with what it had received from Turkey as a result of the first Russian-Turkish war, especially since the Turks constantly prevented the free passage of Russian vessels in the Black Sea. In 1779 Turkey confirmed Crimea's independence, but never gave up hope for a new war with Russia, so the main efforts of Russian diplomacy in the 80s of the 18th century were aimed at a final resolution of the Black Sea problem. Catherine II did not hide her intentions to annex the Crimea to Russia. A negative role in relations between Russia and Turkey was played by European countries, which did not want Russia to become stronger. Britain and Prussia were interested in a new Russian-Turkish war. The immediate cause of the war was the conflicts over the Danubian principalities - Moldavia and Wallachia, as well as the problem of the Russian protectorate over Georgia. Under the Treaty of Kucuk Kainarji of 1774, Russia received a number of privileges in the Danubian principalities, including the right to protect the interests of Christians in Moldavia and Wallachia. Turkey constantly challenged these rights, and in 1785 - 1786 deposed the sovereigns of Wallachia and Moldavia. When they found refuge in Russia, Turkey demanded their extradition. This was a direct challenge to Petersburg.

An even greater challenge to Russia was made when in July 1783 Eastern Georgia and Russia signed the "Treaty of St. George" on placing Georgia under Russian guardianship, and Russia assumed the right to defend Georgia. Turkey did not recognize that treaty. On August 21, 1787 the Turkish navy attacked Russian patrol ships near Kinburn on the western outskirts of the Crimean coast. It served as a signal to the outbreak of war. Russian, under the command of Suvorov repulsed all the attacks of the Turks, thereby foiling the attempt to seize the Crimea and Sevastopol - the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Thus ended the first campaign of the Russian-Turkish War of 1787 - 1791. The position of Russia was complicated by the hostile actions of England, Prussia and Holland, which encouraged Sweden to go to war with Russia. On July 1, 1788 the Swedish king Gustav III demanded the return of the part of Finland to Catherine II, the de facto liquidation of the Russian Baltic fleet, as well as the conclusion of peace with Turkey with Swedish mediation. The war with Russia was unsuccessful for Sweden, and on August 14, 1790 both countries signed a peace treaty, by which Sweden gave up all territorial claims.

Now Russia's position had strengthened markedly, and from 1788 the hostilities were conducted mainly in the area of the Turkish fortress of Ochakov on the Black Sea. On December 6, 1788 it was taken. During the military campaign of 1788 the Russian troops inflicted a number of defeats to the Turks. In 1789 the Russian army under the command of Alexander Suvorov carried out a brilliant military operation near the river Rymnik. In 1790, the Russian fleet under Admiral F. F. Ushakov won a number of brilliant victories at sea. A significant event in the campaign of 1790 was the capture of the most powerful Turkish fortress on the Danube - Ishmael by A.V. Suvorov. A series of military victories of Russia forced Turkey to ask for peace. December 29, 1791 in Iasi was signed a peace treaty between Russia and Turkey, under which Turkey confirmed the conditions of Kucuk Kainarji, recognized the annexation of Crimea and Ochakov to Russia and agreed to move the Russian-Turkish border from the Bug to the Dniester. Russia returned to Turkey Bessarabia, Moldavia and Wallachia.

Both Russian and European politicians agreed that Russia played one of the leading roles in the European politics in XVIII century. Frederick II of Prussia wrote of her "awesome power" which would make Europe tremble in half a century.

One of the criteria of a ruler's performance is the condition of the state he ruled. Catherine II left the state in a much better condition than she received it. The population increased from 19 to 36 million people, both through natural increase and the incorporation of new territories. The amount of state revenues more than quadrupled. The number of factories and manufactories rose from 500 to 2,000. A banking system was established, and the number of proprietors increased. Both landlords and peasants were attracted to entrepreneurial activity.

However, Russia was not very close to the European type of development. The split in society between the Europeanized nobility and the bulk of the people was still preserved and continued to deepen. Such prominent attributes of traditional society as an autocratic form of government and the rule of serfdom remained intact, making it difficult for Russia to enter the European civilized circle.

Russian foreign policy in the first half of the 19th century.

Social and political thought in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.

Domestic policy of Alexander I and Nikolai I.

Social and economic development of the country.

Theme V:  RUSSIA in the first half of the XIX century.

Test Questions:

1. What is understood by modernization of the country?

a) the process of transition from an agrarian to an industrial society, qualitative transformations in all aspects of society;

b) changing society according to the requirements of our time;

c) changing the political system;

d) changes in the economic system.

2. What caused Peter's reforms?

a) The tsar's personal ambitions;

b) the desire to imitate the West;

c) the legacy of his father Alexei Mikhailovich;

d) economic, political and cultural backwardness of Russia.

3. What is the essence of absolute monarchy?

a) strengthening the role of the Boyar Duma and the Assembly of the Land;

b) transfer of legislative power to the Senate;

c) the monarch's unlimited power;

d) strengthening the role of the Collegiums.

4. Why do historians call Catherine II the successor to Peter I?

a) she was German and wanted the good of Russia;

b) read the works of Peter I and applied them in practice;

c) continued Peter the Great's course of transforming Russia into a European state;

d) she supported the nobility and created favorable conditions for domestic and foreign trade.

5. What new features emerged in the Russian economy in the second half of the 18th century?

a) Strengthening of subsistence economy;

b) growth of intensive factors in the economy;

c) intensive development of agriculture;

d) growth of commodity economy and commodity-money relations.

According to the historical-materialistic concept the first half of the 19th century was a preparatory stage for the change of socio-economic formations in Russia (transition from feudalism to capitalism in the middle of the 19th century), therefore the main emphasis of historians was placed on revealing the elements of socio-economic and political crises in the Russian society during this period.

Proponents of the liberal direction of world-historical theory consider the first half of the 19th century as a period of gradual spread of liberalism. The time of Alexander I is regarded as an epoch of gradual maturation of the liberal consciousness of the upper classes, although the effectiveness of the implementation of such ideas on the state scale is evaluated very low. The reign of Nicholas I, despite the obvious manifestation of conservative tendencies: changes in censorship, restrictions on freedom of expression, eventually became a necessary precondition for the liberal reforms of Alexander II. Historians note the uneven and contradictory development of liberalism in Russian society in the first half of the 19th century.

Based on the modernization concept, in the first half of the 19th century Russia, despite its progressive development, experienced a growing lag from the leading European powers and needed to abandon the basic institutions of traditional society, to transition to an industrial stage of development. Russia's defeat in the Crimean War prompted the government to intensify its modernization policy, which found expression in a set of reforms of the 1860s - 1870s.

From the point of view of local-historical (civilizational) approach in this period occurred the origin of ideas about the special, non-western way of development of Russia, which was most vividly expressed in Slavophilism.

Russia in the beginning of the 19th century was the greatest empire in the world, the territory of which occupied a large part of Eastern Europe, Northern Eurasia, Alaska and Transcaucasia. The country's population in 1801 was increased and by 1851 through natural increase and annexation of territories - 69 million people.

Agriculture remained the main branch of Russia's economy (peasants accounted for over 90% of the population). The technical level of the agrarian sector was rather low, and the increase in production was mainly due to the expansion of areas under crops both in the center and on the outskirts. Yields remained low. The use of new agricultural techniques and freelance labor was a rare exception to the rule, because the landlords lacked the necessary capital and labor force for the day, as well as the reluctance of the majority of landlords to introduce any innovations. To increase incomes, landlords in the Black Earth regions increased the tribute, while in non-Black Earth regions they rented out unused land. The market received on average more than 20% of the annual harvest of bread (grain).

Along with the production of grain crops (up to 95% of the crops), the production of industrial crops (flax, hemp), was gradually increasing in industrial provinces. Potatoes were increasingly widespread crops.

Russian agriculture in the second quarter of the 19th century experienced a crisis of the barch system. Possibilities of spreading the tribute form of serfdom were limited due to the predominantly agrarian nature of the Russian economy, especially in the agricultural regions of the country. Therefore, during the first half of the XIX century the percentage of serf peasants was constantly growing and reached 71% by the mid 50's (compared with 56% in the late 18th century). Increased exploitation of the peasants could no longer provide the necessary increase in food production for sale. The landed estates were declining more and more: in 1833 there were 4.5 million souls, and in 1859 - over 7 million souls.

The dominant estate in Russia - the nobility represented 0.5% of the country's total population. About 100,000 landlord families owned serfs, and about 70% of them were small estates, which owned up to 21 souls of men.

To preserve the large landed estates, the law of 1845 established majorettes - reserved estates of the nobility which could not be divided or sold. Landlords were granted favorable government loans. By 1856 their total debt to the treasury amounted to 427 million rubles. More than half of the serfs were mortgaged. Despite the measures taken, during 1833 - 1850, out of 127,000 noble families, 24,000 were ruined.

In addition to the nobility, the privileged estates also included the clergy and merchants. Gradual growth of the merchant class occurred mainly due to the redeemed at will peasant industrialists and serfs / trading peasants. Over 1830 - 1858 the guild merchants increased by 133%.

The most numerous remained the subsistence rural population of Russia. Russia's peasant population was divided into three groups: landed, state, and appanage peasants.

Of every 10 peasants, 6 were under landlords and were in serfdom. The greatest number of serfs lived in the central provinces, and the least of them was in Siberia. Landowner’s peasants were divided into the sharecroppers (in the Black Earth, Middle and Lower Volga provinces they amounted to 70-75% of the peasants) and the tribute peasants (the greatest number in the Central industrial provinces - up to 70%, the least in Lithuania, Belorussia and Ukraine - 1-7%). Barchina worked from three to five days a week, the amount of the tribute was constantly growing. By the end of the reign of Nicholas I there were over 20 million peasants. Because of the growth of the lord's plots, the peasants' allotments were reduced, and the peasants were transferred into peasant households. By 1851 the number of serfs amounted to more than 1 million people.

State peasants (more than one third of the peasant population of the empire - 7.8 million men's souls) belonged to the Treasury and were officially considered free villagers. The state provided them with allotments and levied tribute and taxes. Most of them lived in the central and northern provinces of Russia, in left-bank Ukraine, in the Volga region, and in the Urals.

An intermediate position between the state and the landowners was occupied by the appanage peasants, who were owned by the imperial family.

There were property inequalities in the Russian village, which led to the social stratification of the peasantry: the emergence of the rich upper class and the group of the poorest peasants. This process was most intense among the state and tithe peasants, especially in the central industrial provinces. Often rich serfs, without having legal rights, through front men invested money in trade, industry, bought land. At the same time, the number, for example, of the patrimonial peasants of the Counts Vorontsovs, who could not pay the tribute, in some villages reached 38%.

A distinctive feature of Russian industry in the early 19th century was the predominance of cottage industries, which intensively developed in the central non-black-earth provinces of Russia. Gradually developed also large-scale industry - more and more widespread were manufactures. In 1799 there were 2,094 industrial enterprises (not including mines), in 1825 - 5,261. - By 1854 their number increased to 9,994.

In general, industry in the first quarter of the XIX century. developed under the strong influence of serfdom: it was held by the work of serfs and focused mainly on the use of military orders of the government, rather than on market production. As a result, the Russian metallurgical industry began to stagnate. If in 1800 the Ural plants were melting 10.3 million poods (Pood = 16.38kg) of iron and was ahead of England in this indicator (8 million poods), then in 1825 10 million poods were melted in Russia, 37 million - in England.

The greatest successes in the beginning of the century were made by the Russian cotton industry, which used freelance labor (up to 95% of employees by 1825) and worked for the mass domestic market. In the second half of the 1830s an industrial revolution began at the Russian paper-spinning enterprises. The transition to machine production in 30 - 50-ies was experienced by cloth, writing paper industry, sugar making. Along with increased imports of machinery in the first half of the century, machine-building factories were founded in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, in the Baltics. In 1851 the country had 19 machine-building enterprises. At the same time, the government did not encourage the development of large factory production, fearing the concentration of "unreliable" workers.

There was a gradual shift in the social structure of enterprises: the number of hired workers, whose productivity was 2-4 times higher than that of serfs, increased. This was the reason for a marked decline of patrimonial and peasant manufactures based on serf labor. However, the main mass of freed workers were also serfs, released by the landlords for the duty. At any time the landlord could call them back or increase the amount of the tribute, which increased the cost of labor. In 1840 the government finally relaxed the right of succession, and then allowed the owners to dismiss workers and even close businesses.

Between 1835 and 1845 the first laws governing the relationship between entrepreneurs and workers appeared. The right of landlords to recall their serfs from their enterprises was restricted. By 1860 the number of serfdom workers decreased by 20 thousand and amounted to only 12 thousand people.

Growth of production and increased specialization of regions stimulated the development of trade. The first quarter of the 19th century was marked with success in the development of the internal market where bread, livestock products, handicrafts and textile industry products were the main goods. In the early 1830's there were 1,705 trade fairs, the largest of which turned into commodity exchanges. Trade turnover was growing. In 1852 at the largest. Nizhny Novgorod Fair, there were sold goods on 57.6 million rubles.

In foreign trade of Russia 80-90% of Russian export consisted of raw materials and agricultural products: bread, flax, hemp, bacon, lumber, leather. Among imported goods dominated fabrics, paper, spices, sugar, luxury goods, tools. Finished goods accounted for 70% of imports. Export of metals stopped in the middle of the century. A significant place in Russian imports in the 40-50s began to take cars (wagons?) imported from England, France and Belgium.

An obstacle to the development of the economy of the country was the poorly developed system of communications. Given the poor condition of unpaved roads and the lack of railway lines, transport in Russia remained waterborne and animal-drawn vehicles. Navigable rivers and canals played the main role. Russia used the Black Sea and Baltic ports to access foreign markets. In the second quarter of the 19th century transport lagged behind the needs of industry and trade. In 1842 it was decided to build a network of railroads. By 1856 the total length of railroads was only 980 versts.

Development of commodity relations, which was taking place in Russia under the conditions of serfdom, influenced the social structure of society. A specific type of Russian entrepreneur, closely related to the patriarchal serf system, was being formed. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, neither commercial nor industrial entrepreneurship could yet play an independent historical role and act as an influential economic force. All levers of economic management remained with the state.

(1801-1825) Alexander I ascended the throne after Emperor Paul I was assassinated

The 19th century in Russian history began with a new and last palace coup. Endowed with an outstanding mind and refined manners, Alexander was distinguished by his virtuoso ability to win over people of different views and beliefs. Historians saw in him "a strange mixture of philosophical winds of the 18th century with the principles of natural autocracy", liberalism and despotism.

Alexander reckoned with the "spirit of the time", with the influence of the French Revolution on the minds. Without changing the basic direction of the policy of Catherine II and Paul I to strengthen absolutism, he sought to find ways to resolve the pressing political problems, which corresponded to the spirit of the time. At the beginning of his reign Alexander I declared that his policy would not be based on the personal will of the monarch, but on the strict observance of the law. He brought close to him the friends of his youth - P. A. Stroganov, N. N. Novosiltsev, V. P. Kochubey, A. A. Chartorysky, who in the summer of 1801 formed the so-called Regal Committee, where they discussed with the emperor the most important issues of public life, advocated the future abolition of serfdom and the transformation of Russia into a constitutional monarchy.

The liberal reform program conceived in the early years of Alexander I's reign could not be fully implemented, and these reforms, especially in the social sphere, were inconsistent and contradictory in nature. The 1803 Decree on the Free Farmers provided for the emancipation of serfs with land for ransom, in whole villages or in separate families, by their mutual agreement with the landlord. However, until the end of the reign of Alexander I, only 0.5 percent of the entire serf population of the country was released under the decree.

A number of measures were taken to curb the arbitrariness of the landlords. The decrees of 1808 - 1809 prohibited to sell the peasants at the fairs, to publish ads in newspapers on the sale of serfs, canceled the right of landlords to exile serfs to Siberia at their whim.

A concession to new economic processes was the publication in 1801 of the decree on the purchase of land by non-noblemen - merchants, burghers, state peasants. Landed gentry and appanage peasants received such a right in 1848. Thereby the monopoly of the gentry on land property was broken, though insignificantly. Practice showed that prior to the abolition of serfdom the nobles had sold less than 3% of their land to other estates.

In 1803 was issued a new regulation on the organization of educational institutions. The education system was based on the principles of non-estate educational institutions, free education at its lowest levels, continuity of educational programs. All educational institutions were divided into 4 levels: one-class parochial colleges, district colleges with a three-class education, gymnasiums and universities.

In 1802-1811 the ministerial reform was carried out. The Manifesto of September 8, 1802 established eight ministries: the Navy, finance, commerce, public education, internal affairs, justice and foreign affairs. Collegia were replaced by a new form of executive power, where each department was headed by a minister responsible only to the emperor. The establishment of the ministries marked a further bureaucratization of administration and improvement of the central machinery.

In 1807 M. M. Speransky (1772 - 1839) began his political activity. Born in a family of a poor country priest, Speransky, thanks to his intelligence, encyclopedic knowledge, energy and extraordinary capacity for work, quickly made a brilliant career. In 1808 Alexander instructed Speransky to develop a plan of state transformation of Russia. In 1809. M. M. Speransky wrote "Introduction to the Statute of state laws", which contained an extensive program of serious reforms. In M.M. Speransky thought their timely implementation would save the country from revolutionary upheavals, which Europe had gone through. The political reforms he had conceived were based on the principle of separation of powers inherent in the rule of law state, which supposed a separation of the legislative, executive and judicial functions and creation of the appropriate structures. M. M. Speransky's plan provided for the establishment of a representative body with legislative functions - the State Duma. It was conceived as an institution limiting the power of the monarch. At the local level, provincial, district and volost Dumas were created. Voting rights were granted to the nobility and the "middle class" (merchants, state peasants). The executive power was concentrated in the ministries, and the highest judicial instance was the Senate. The system of legislative, executive and judicial instances, designed by M. M. Speransky, was crowned by the State Council, which was to play the role of a link between the tsar and all the state structures. The members of the Council were appointed by the emperor. M. M. Speransky's plan did not provide for the abolition of serfdom. However, he was in favor of limiting the landlord's power over the peasants. The latter received certain civil rights. In particular, no one could be punished without trial.

M.M. Speransky's transformative projects were the object of fierce struggle at the top. The conservative part of the nobility and bureaucracy opposed his reform intentions, seeing in them the undermining of the centuries-old foundations of the empire. A corresponding point of view was expressed by N.M. Karamzin in "Notes on ancient and new Russia" (1811), which was addressed to Alexander I. Viewing autocracy as a necessary condition for the well-being of the country, N.M. Karamzin categorically condemned any attempts to restrict the supreme power. In the end M. M. Speransky failed to realize his plans as a whole. Alexander I, remembering the fate of his father, could not ignore the strong disapproval of his adviser's reform undertakings by the bulk of the nobility and the higher bureaucracy. True, in 1810 the State Council was formed as a legislative body under the emperor. The hatred of the conservative circles towards M.M. Speransky was so strong that Alexander I had to sacrifice his associate. In March 1812. M. M. Speransky was removed from public service. Attempts to implement a broad program of liberal reforms failed.

The Patriotic War of 1812 (Napoleonic) and the war for the liberation of Europe that followed gave rise to a patriotic upsurge in Russian society and the army. Staying abroad gave Russian officers the opportunity to get acquainted with the ideological currents, social relations and political institutions of European countries. In Europe there were two types of organizations - anti-Napoleonic and political conspiratorial organizations, which prepared coups for the purpose of introducing liberal constitutions (Italian "Carbonari"). Western ideas were reflected in the activities of the Decembrists.

It is not by chance that in 1815-1825 the conservative and protective trends in the internal policy of the autocracy strengthened. A strict police regime was established in Russia, associated with the name of A. A. Arakcheyev, who played a major role in the management of the state. Alexander I, however, did not immediately abandon the liberal undertakings characteristic of the first half of his reign. In November 1815 the emperor approved a constitution for the part of Poland (Kingdom of Poland) annexed to Russia in accordance with the decisions of the Congress of Vienna. The Kingdom of Poland was granted broad autonomy. The power of the Russian monarch in Poland was limited to a local representative body with legislative functions - Sejm. Alexander I regarded granting the constitution to the Kingdom of Poland as the first step towards introducing a representative form of government in the Russian Empire.

By commission of Alexander I, N.N. Novosiltsev began to work on a draft constitution for Russia. The document prepared by him (The State Charter of the Russian Empire) introduced a federal principle of the state structure; the legislative power was divided between the emperor and a bicameral parliament - Sejm, consisting, as in Poland, of the Senate and the Ambassador's chamber; the Charter granted the Russian Empire citizens freedom of speech, religion, press, guaranteed personal inviolability. There was no mention of serfdom in this document.

In 1818 - 1819 Alexander I made attempts to solve the problem of serfdom in Russia. The tsar ordered to prepare relevant drafts. A. A. Arakcheyev developed a plan of gradual abolition of serfdom by buying out the landowners with their allotments from the treasury. For this purpose it was planned to allocate annually 5 million rubles or issue special treasury notes, which yielded interest. A.A. Arakcheyev's suggestions were approved by the emperor. Nevertheless, the plans of political reform and the abolition of serfdom remained unrealized. In 1816-1819 only the Baltic peasants were granted personal freedom.

By 1821-1822 the supporters of change were a tiny minority within the ruling circles. The tsar himself, becoming convinced of the impossibility of carrying out any serious reforms in such conditions, was more and more evolving to the right in his views. From 1822 to 1823, the internal policy of the autocracy was characterized by a transition to outright reaction. Military settlements were the most visible embodiment of the police regime established in the country. By the end of the reign of Alexander I about 375 thousand state peasants were transferred to the position of military settlers, which amounted to about one third of the Russian army. The creation of military settlements allowed to reduce the cost of maintaining the army. Peasants who were transferred to the category of military settlements combined agricultural work with the military occupation. Their whole life was subject to a rigid barracks routine and was strictly regulated.

The onset of reaction manifested itself in the government's educational policy. In 1817 The Ministry of National Education was transformed into the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and National Education. It was in charge of church affairs and public education. The influence of religion on the cultural life of the country increased. Censorship was considerably tightened, and even reviews of the performance of the actors of the imperial theaters were not allowed in the press, because the actors were on public service and their criticism could be regarded as criticism of the government. Various circles of religious and mystical nature were active. In November 1825 Alexander I died in Taganrog. (There is a legend that in fact Alexander I went to the Siberian hermitage under the name of Feodor Kuzmich, but there is no reliable evidence of this).

Socio-political thought in Russia

The inconsistency of the authorities in conducting domestic policy, along with obvious depressive phenomena in all spheres of the country's life, was one of the first signs of the growing general crisis in Russia in the early 19th century.

The Decembrists' movement was an attempt to find a way out of the impasse for Russia. The Patriotic War of 1812 revealed Russia's previously hidden potential, which was clearly incompatible with the country's socio-economic and political system. Seeking to prevent the country from sliding toward an alleged disaster, the Decembrists proposed a number of quite substantial changes in the country's sociopolitical system: abolishing serfdom, abolishing autocracy (but not necessarily monarchy), introducing a constitution, etc.

In 1816 the officers' society "Union of Salvation" (faithful and true sons of the Fatherland) was formed. The organization included Alexander Muravyov, Nikita Muravyov, Matvei and Sergei Muravyov-Apostols, Sergei Trubetskoy, Ivan Yakushkin, and others. Soon the Union of Salvation dissolved because of disagreements over the goals and methods of work, and a new organization, the Union of Welfare, was established on its basis in 1818. Its goal was proclaimed to "disseminate among compatriots the true rules of morality and enlightenment, so as to assist the government in raising Russia to the level of greatness and prosperity, to which it was destined by its Creator". The Union consisted of about 200 members, it functioned almost legally, but after the performances in the Semenovsky regiment it was banned (1821).

In 1821 - 1822 there were created two secret societies having revolutionary character - Northern and Southern. Common features of the Decembrists' views were ideas about people's sovereignty, personal liberation, and civil liberties.

N.M. Muravyev's "Constitution" (Northern Society) suggested establishing a "moderate" monarchy limited by law after the revolt. The peasants were to be liberated with a minimum allotment (two tithes per yard), the rights of the subjects were to be guaranteed by the state, and a bicameral parliament - People's Veche was to be created. The country was built according to the federal principle.

P.I. Pestel's "Russian Truth" (Southern Society) stipulated that during a military coup the autocracy should be destroyed, the republican system should be established, the legislative power should be transferred to a unicameral parliament (National Council), the executive power - to the State Duma: serfdom should be eliminated; land should be divided into two parts: public and private, public land should be freely granted to peasants, landed estates should be partially confiscated.

According to P.I. Pestel's project, the state should be authoritarian and rigidly centralized; being an organizer, it becomes an independent value in the future social structure. N.M. Muravyev, on the other hand, saw the main task of the state in providing the individual with civil rights.

Assessing the measure of the feasibility of the Decembrists' plans, historian N. Y. Eidelman considered Pestel "more leftist and abstract", and N. M. Muravyev "more moderate, but more practical". I. Pantin and E. Plimak, on the contrary, saw in Pestel's views more political pragmatism and knowledge of Russian reality than in those of N. M. Muravyov, for Pestel took better account of the traditional values rooted in the popular environment: tsarist illusions, equalitarian community traditions, one-man rule and great-power.

On the eve of the Decembrists' uprising, they elected Prince S. P. Trubetskoy as their leader and adopted the "Manifesto to the Russian People" proclaiming liquidation of the existing administration, abolition of serfdom, democratic changes: freedom of speech, religion, equality of all estates before the law, reduction of soldiers' service terms. The Decembrists, like the government reformers, viewed Russia as a European power and opposed the despotic form of government, serf slavery, and advocated civil liberties. They adopted the tactics of a military coup, but sought to reduce violence to a minimum and regarded it as a forced measure resulting from the tardiness of the government in carrying out reforms.

1825 On December 14, was scheduled the oath to Nicholas I and the coronation of the new Emperor

On this date the Decembrists timed their speech. However, the "dictator" of revolutionary forces S. P. Trubetskoy did not appear in Senate Square. The events in Senate Square ended with the shooting of the military units loyal to the opposition. The Decembrists were investigated which resulted in 120 persons put on trial, 36 were at first sentenced to death, but by the order of Nikolai I only 5 members of the Society were executed: P. I. Pestel. K. F. Ryleev, P. G. Kakhovsky, S. I. Muravyev-Apostol, M. P. Bestuzhev-Riumin.

Social base of the Decembrist movement was extremely narrow. This circumstance led to the fact that after their defeat there were almost no politically active forces in society capable of continuing pressure on the government "from below" for carrying out anti-crisis policy.

The defeat of the Decembrists' uprising resulted in the ousting of a whole generation of the best, most educated people from social and political life. The time was lost, and the pace of the state's evolution toward constitutional-legal development slowed considerably. However, the Decembrists' current had a great influence on the development of liberalism and revolutionary social and political thought.

One of the founders of the conservative trend in Russia was the famous historian N.M. Karamzin. In 1811 he prepared for Emperor Alexander I "Notes about ancient and new Russia", which is considered one of the corner stones of the doctrine of the tsarist autocracy. The key notions of this document are "autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Fatherland", which later received its development in the theory of "official nationality" by S. S. Uvarov.

As an advocate of preserving and strengthening the autocracy, Nicholas I believed that this was the only possible form of power for Russia, without which it would perish. This direction of domestic policy became especially clear after the revolution in France in 1830. The leading slogan from that time was the protection of the original Russian system, based on the famous formula of the then Minister of Education S. S. Uvarov "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality" (the theory of "official nationality"). The essence of his concept was that Russia was a special state and a special nationality, it differed from Europe in features of national life and state structure. It was dominated by the true order of things, which met the requirements of religion and political wisdom. It was argued that the social order of Russia, the synodality best suited the interests and character of the Russian people.

During the reign of Nicholas I the state not only failed to consider public opinion in the development of its policies, but struggled with its very existence.

Thus, the Nicholas era meant that the state refused to take public opinion into account in the formulation of its policies; moreover, during this period there was a persistent struggle with its very existence. The consequences were public apathy, a consciousness of complete powerlessness, but at the same time a deepening internal dissatisfaction with the existing regime and a search for those social and philosophical ideas that could help explain, and perhaps change, the situation in the country.

The first liberal movements appeared in Russia in the early 1840s. Journalistic disputes between Westerners and Slavophiles began after the publication in 1836, in the journal "Telescope," of the first philosophical letter of P.Y. Chaadayev. In it, the thinker tried to analyze the historical path passed by Russia and look into its future. According to Chaadayev, Orthodoxy, adopted by Russia, was an unfortunate choice. It isolated Russia from Western Europe. Spiritual isolation left an imprint on the social and political life of the country and on the character of the Russian people.

Intellectual integration has bypassed Russia as well as the latest economic and sociopolitical processes. Around the problems raised in the work of P.Y.Chaadayev, discussions of Westerners and Slavophiles unfolded. Both currents did not consider the situation in Russia hopeless and insisted on two measures: abolishing serfdom and changing the form of government. However, they proposed different methods for solving these problems. The Westerners led by T.N. Granovsky, K.D. Kavelin, B.N. Chicherin defended the European version of Russia's development, i.e. its transformation into a bourgeois republic or constitutional monarchy. The Slavophiles, led by A.S. Khomyakov, the Kireev brothers, and the Aksakovs, advocated a return to the traditional Russian state orders, changed by Peter I. In their opinion, these orders could well lead Russia out of the crisis. The Slavophiles considered the peasant community (peasant peace), with its common ownership and use of land, an elected and accountable to the "world" elder, with the custom to resolve the major issues of life of the village at the gathering of all its members as the main system of national life.

Nicholas I's government was particularly biased towards the Slavophiles, leaving the Westerners somewhat in the shade. Apparently, the Westerners were less dangerous to the government than the Slavophiles, who threatened to disrupt the harmony and logic of Uvarov's formula ("Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality").

In the 1830s and 1840s, a more radical social movement emerged in Russia. The circle of A.I. Herzen appeared in Moscow, which, discussing the political and social problems of Russian society, set the goal of abolishing serfdom and autocracy in the country. In the early 1850s, A. I. Herzen put forward the theory of communal socialism, which is often called the theory of "Russian" socialism. He pointed to the peasant community as the cell of "socialism" that had withstood centuries of state and landlord oppression. The joint ownership and use of land, the certainty of each peasant in the right to a communal allotment of land, seemed to him a sufficient guarantee against the emergence of the proletariat in Russia, and hence, capitalism. In other words, he suggested that the country "jump" straight from the feudal to the socialist system.

In the early 1850s, the Russian radical camp was just beginning to form and was far from unified. There were three types of figures in it. One (A.I. Gertsen, N.P. Ogarev) recognized the revolution only as the last argument of the oppressed. The second (N.G. Chernyshevsky and N.A. Serno-Solovievich) believed in revolution as the only method of social reorganization, but believed that certain socio-economic and political prerequisites must mature for it to take place. Others (P.G. Zaichnevsky, N.A. Ishutin, S.G. Nechaev) were ready to carry out a coup simply because of its intrinsic value, for the sake of the propaganda charge contained in the revolutionary actions.

The domestic policy of Alexander I was closely related to the foreign policy. Foreign policy pursued two objectives: 1) solving the eastern question, primarily relating to Turkey; 2) curbing the aggressive intentions of Napoleon.

Russia managed to annex eastern Georgia, Bessarabia, Azerbaijan, the Duchy of Warsaw. The question of the division of the Turkish possessions, claimed by England, France and Austria, remained difficult. After successful battles with Turkey and Persia, Russia signed in May 1812 the Peace of Bucharest. Bucharest peace.

The most difficult in the beginning of the 19th century were relations between Russia and France. The war was accelerated by Russian-French contradictions in political issues. The most acute of them were the claims to European hegemony on both sides.

By 1812. Napoleon had managed to defeat the next, 5th anti-French coalition and was at the zenith of power and glory. The only barriers to his grip on Europe were England and Russia.

Tsarist Russia did not strive for world, but for European hegemony and made many efforts to achieve it in the coalition wars of 1799 - 1807. Having lost those wars and having signed the humiliating Peace of Tilsit with Napoleon (1807), the tsarist never gave up the idea of revenge. Russia's participation in the continental blockade of England under the said treaty had a disastrous effect on the Russian economy. The volume of Russian foreign trade between 1808 and 1812 decreased by 43%. Alexander I increasingly heeded the protests of the nobility and merchants against the blockade and increasingly allowed them to violate it.

Before attacking Russia, Napoleon sought to isolate it politically and to gain as many allies as possible. In this situation, Russian diplomacy performed brilliantly, managing to establish relations with two of its five presumed adversaries: Sweden and Turkey, just before Napoleon's invasion.

Nevertheless, the blow that Russia received in the summer of 1812 was of a terrible force, unprecedented in its history up to that time. Napoleon had prepared for the invasion of Russia a gigantic army of nearly 650,000 men. Of these 448,000 had crossed the Russian border in the early days of the war, while others arrived in the summer and fall as reinforcements.

The war of 1812 was a direct aggression on the part of Napoleon. In this war he set out to crush the Russian armed forces on Russian soil, to "punish" thus the tsarist regime for not complying with the continental blockade and to force him to a second Tilsit. The beliefs of some historians that Napoleon sought to "capture" and "enslave" Russia, to turn its people "into his slaves," are unfounded.

Napoleon's strategic plan at the beginning of the war was to defeat the Russian armies separately already in the border battles. He did not want to go deeper into the vast expanses of Russia. However, the war took a protracted nature, and this is what Napoleon feared most of all. His communications dragged on, losses associated with fighting, desertion, disease and looting increased, and his convoys fell behind. With each new crossing, the lack of food and forage was becoming more and more acute.

In Smolensk, Napoleon pondered for several days whether to go forward or to halt, and even tried to engage in negotiations with Alexander I for peace. Alexander did not answer anything. Stung by the tsar's silence, Napoleon ordered his march from Smolensk to Moscow in pursuit of the Russian armies.

Meanwhile, literally day by day patriotic enthusiasm was growing throughout Russia. The peasant masses rose to the defense of the Fatherland unselfishly, driven not by class but by national interests.

On August 8, M. I. Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army. He rode to the army with the determination to give Napoleon a general battle for Moscow. Assuming the position at Borodino, 110 kilometers in front of Moscow, Kutuzov defined his task as follows: to save Moscow.

The Battle of Borodino on August 26, 1812 - is the only example in the history of warfare of a general battle, the outcome of which both sides immediately declared and still celebrate as their victory, and with good reason. The course of the battle was in favor of Napoleon, who created a numerical superiority at all points of attack. By the end of the battle Napoleon occupied all Russian positions from Borodino on the right to the village of Utitsa on the left, including the Kurgan Heights stronghold in the center. Since the Russian army abandoned Moscow after the battle, Napoleon considered the Battle of Borodino won tactically and strategically. The ratio of losses also spoke in his favor: the French had lost 28,000 men; the Russians had lost 45,600 men.

However, to defeat the Russian army, to turn it into flight, Napoleon, with all his hopes and plans, was not able. True, Kutuzov had not solved his main task - to save Moscow: after the Battle of Borodino he was forced to sacrifice it. But he did it not by the will of Napoleon, but for his own reasons, given the objective circumstances; not because he was defeated and demoralized, but because he stood firm and believed in a victorious outcome of the war for Russia without the risk of a new battle for Moscow. Therefore - tactically and strategically, morally and even politically (considering the subsequent course of the war) - Borodino was a victory for the Russians.

On September 2, Russian troops left Moscow, while the French occupied it, and on the same day the great Moscow fire began. M. I. Kutuzov and F. V. Rostopchin ordered to burn numerous warehouses and stores and remove "all the fire extinguishing ammunition" from the city, which already doomed the mostly wooden Moscow to an unquenchable fire. But, in addition, Moscow was also burned by the inhabitants themselves on the principle "don't get the villain!" The Moscow fire changed everything at once, putting Napoleon from a winning position to a losing one. The French found themselves on the ashes.

While Napoleon was in Moscow waiting for the consent of Alexander I for the peace, M. I. Kutuzov had time to prepare for a counteroffensive. Leaving Moscow, for four days field marshal showed the French the appearance of retreat along the Ryazan road, and on the fifth day secretly turned to the Kaluga road and on September 21 made a camp near the village of Tarutino, 80 km south-west of Moscow. The famous Tarutino march-maneuver significantly affected the course of the war in 1812, marking the beginning of a turning point. On the one hand, M.I. Kutuzov recovered from the enemy Kaluga, where food supplies were concentrated, Tula with its arms factory, Bryansk with the foundry and fertile southern provinces. On the other hand, it threatened to flank Napoleon's main communications Moscow - Smolensk. Taruta camp became the base of preparation of the Russian counter-offensive. Within two weeks Kutuzov gathered here against 116 thousand soldiers of Napoleon more than twice as many Russian regular troops, Cossacks and the national militia - 240 thousand men.

Meanwhile, guerrilla warfare, disastrous for the French, began around Moscow. Although the Tsar Manifesto of July 6 ordered to call up the national militia only in 16 provinces (not yet declared war, but already close to the theater of war), the people took up arms literally everywhere, even to Siberia. The total number of the militia exceeded 400 thousand people.

On October 7, Napoleon left Moscow, a retreat of the "Grand Army" began. He was marching towards Kaluga - with the intention to move towards Smolensk, not along the old Mozhaisk road, devastated to the ground, but along the new Kaluga road. Kutuzov blocked his way near Maloyaroslavets. Here, on October 12, a fierce battle broke out. The city changed hands 8 times and finally remained with the French, but M.I. Kutuzov, retreating 2.5 km to the south, took a new position, still blocking the Kaluga road. Napoleon faced a choice: whether to attack Kutuzov to break through to Kaluga, or to retreat to Smolensk along the ruined road through Mozhaisk? After calculating the forces and weighing the odds, Napoleon chose retreat.

Thus, for the first time in his life, Napoleon himself refused a general battle, voluntarily turned his back on the enemy, and moved from the position of the pursuer to the position of the persecuted.

When Napoleon came to the Berezina River on November 12, he had only 30 - 40 thousand combat-ready men and 35 - 40 thousand unarmed and sick. During the fight to cross the river the French lost more men than during the Battle of Borodino (20 - 25 thousand soldiers and about the same number of others).

The main sources of Russia's military force was not in borrowing from outside, but in itself. First, it was a national army, more homogeneous and united than the mixed mercenary army of Napoleon, and secondly, it was distinguished by higher morale: the Russian soldiers on their native soil were encouraged by patriotic spirit. The course of the Patriotic War of 1812 demonstrated the high professionalism of the Russian commanders M.B. Barclay de Tolly, P.I. Bagration, M.I. Kutuzov, and others.

Victory over Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812, along with a successful campaign in the anti-French coalition of 1813 - 1814, not only changed the balance of power on the continent in favor of Russia and raised its international prestige. It was also of great importance for the development of the internal situation in Russia. The victory strengthened the position of the autocratic power in the country, allowing it to become more independent from social pressure from below, which significantly weakened the reformist fervor of the state power.

Russia took part in hostilities in European countries in 1813 - 1814. The results of Europe's liberation from Napoleon were summed up at the Congress of Vienna (1814 - 1815). The "Holy Alliance" created at the Congress united the efforts of monarchs in the fight against revolutionary movements.

(1825 – 1855) Nicholas I, came in after his brother's death

Assessed the uprising of December 14, 1825 as a result of too liberal a policy of Alexander I. Therefore, seeking to prevent new uprisings, he considered the main task of the government to prevent the spread of liberalism in Russia. The Emperor came to two important conclusions: 1) The reforms, including the peasant reforms, are an overdue necessity for the power itself, and not just a concession to the opposition movement. Hence, the gradual preparation of a peasant reform without public participation, in a bureaucratic way; 2) the nobility has ceased to be a reliable support of power, because it has largely gone into opposition, and another support is needed. Hence the rapid growth of the central bureaucracy. If in 1796 there were 15-16 thousand officials in Russia, in 1847 - already 61,5 thousand, and in 1857 - 86 thousand. Under Nikolai I "the building of the Russian bureaucracy was completed" (V.O. Kluchevsky). According to S. V. Mironenko, the general trend of restructuring of public administration under Nicholas I was militarization of the state apparatus. Ordinary civil administration was gradually transformed into military one. By the end of his reign, military governors were at the head of 41 provinces of the 53 existing ones.

Refusal to make any changes led to rapid ossification of the political system of government, which in the face of increasing complexity of state tasks reduced the efficiency of the state apparatus. They tried to compensate for the decreased efficiency of the state machinery by the expansion of the bureaucracy, but in fact it only increased disorder, confusion, and red tape. Increased centralization led to the same result, in particular, the transfer of a large part of the government functions to His Majesty's own Chancellery. Five branches of the Imperial Chancery were created: the first, which carried out the Emperor's personal instructions; the second, which was intended to regulate the legislation; the third, which monitored the political sentiments of society; the fourth, educational and charitable; and the fifth, which dealt with state property and the state peasants. The existence of two offices with similar functions complicated the work of the already sluggish system of government bodies.

The main task of all measures to strengthen the state apparatus was the desire to prevent the spread of liberal ideas in the country. The main barrier in their way was to be the police apparatus. In order to enable it to carry out this mission, a series of measures were taken to reorganize the system. All cases involving political offenses were assigned to the Third Department of the Imperial Chancellery, established in 1826. This institution, together with the corps of gendarmes, placed the public life in the country under strict control.

A typical example was the case of the Petrashevites. The Butashevich-Petrashevsky circle was a small group of liberal-minded intellectuals who met to discuss social problems that bothered them. The cruelty of their punishment (death penalty, which was replaced at the last minute by hard labor) was obviously not commensurate with the seriousness of what they had committed.

Another measure of the struggle against liberalism was the tightening of censorship. Journals of a liberal trend were closed (Moskovsky Telegraph, Telescope), writers and essayists, who dared to express in print views that did not coincide with the official, were subjected to reprisals (exile of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the arrest of I. S. Turgenev). The government considered the universities, with their independence from the authorities and self-governance, one of the greatest hotbeds of "kratomola. The state's natural policy toward them was to completely eliminate their autonomy. The departments of philosophy and history were closed, and admission to the universities was restricted.

Nevertheless, the government tried to carry out the necessary changes in the life of the country, first of all, to find a way to resolve the peasant question. In 1830-40s, nine secret committees were established to work out projects for abolition of serfdom. Some of their proposals were even implemented. For example, the sale of peasants without land was prohibited, and landlords lost the right to give their serfs to mining works.

The most notable was the reform of the state peasants, conducted under the leadership of P.D. Kiselev. According to the plan, it was to streamline the management of state peasants, for which in 1837 was established a special Ministry of State Property with provincial and district offices in the field, while allowing for some peasant self-government. State villages were managed on the basis of peasant self-government (the population of these villages amounted to more than 40% of all peasants in Russia). The allotments of state peasants were significantly increased.

With regard to serfs it did not go beyond a slight limitation of the landlords' arbitrary rule (it was prohibited to sell peasants without land and with the "fragmentation of families", limited the right of landlords to exile peasants to Siberia). The 1842 Law "On Obligated Peasants" gave landlords the right to free peasants from serfdom by giving them a land allotment. However, landlords did not want to free their serfs. Only about 25 thousand peasants were released.

In fact, the reforms were reduced only to the transfer of peasants from one official in the hands of another, which often did not improve, but rather complicated the situation of the peasant population. The peasant question as a whole had never been resolved and continued to be a major factor of social instability in the country. The preservation of serfdom had an extremely painful effect on Russia's economic development. First of all, it was expressed in the slowdown of economic growth, which was far below the potential capabilities of the Russian economy.

Financial policy during the reign of Nicholas I was dictated exclusively by the interests of the state budget. During the period from 1825 to 1854 state expenditures rose from 115 to 313 million rubles per year, and revenues from 110 to 260 million rubles. During this time the number of the army and navy increased by almost 40%, and annual expenditures for their maintenance increased by 70%. Covering the permanent budget deficit was the main concern of the government.

From 1823 to 1844 the post of Minister of Finance of Russia was held by E. F. Kankrin. He inherited from his predecessors an extremely distressed monetary system with low and constantly fluctuating rate of paper money, assignations. In 1839 - 1843, Ye. E. F. Kankrin carried out a financial reform, devalued the banknotes, setting that 350 rubles in banknotes equaled 100 rubles in silver, and then issued new paper money - "banknotes", the value of which was provided by a fund of exchange he had collected. The result of the reform was a temporary strengthening of Russia's finances.

The crisis situation, quite obvious for the Russian public since the Decembrists, was not duly appraised by the authorities until the mid-1850s. Only the military setbacks in the Crimean War (1853-1856) forced the government to undertake the necessary reforms.

Under Nicholas I the main directions of foreign policy remained, as in the previous period, European and Eastern. In Europe, the main task of the Russian Empire was to counteract the revolutionary movement. Revolt in Paris in 1830 and abdication of Charles X from the throne intensified the efforts of Russian diplomacy. Nicholas I was actively preparing a joint intervention of European monarchies against France, but Austria and Prussia did not support the idea. In August 1830 in connection with the revolution in Belgium, Nicholas I again spoke about the intervention of European states, but, meeting the opposition of England, was forced to recognize the independence of Belgium.

In November 1830 an uprising broke out in Poland. The tsar's governor in Poland, Grand Duke Constantine fled. The Provisional Government of Poland declared independence from Russia, demanded the return of the territories of Lithuania, Belorussia and Right-Bank Ukraine, the restoration of Poland "from sea to sea". The revolt was suppressed, the Polish Constitution of 1815 was abolished, and the Polish Sejm was dissolved.

A new revolutionary upsurge in Europe began in 1848 - 1849. Revolutions engulfed almost all European countries, including the Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. At the beginning of 1849 revolution broke out in Hungary, which was a part of Austrian Empire. To suppress the revolution in the spring of 1848 the Russian troops were introduced into Moldavia, and in summer - into Wallachia. In May 1849 the 150-thousand Russian army under the command of Field-Marshal I.F.Paskevich was introduced into Galicia and Hungary, and together with the Austrian army suppressed the Hungarian revolution. Liberals in Europe and in Russia sharply condemned the policy of Nicholas I. K. Marx called Russia a "European gendarme”.

Another direction of Russian policy was the so-called Eastern policy. Once-powerful Ottoman Empire (Turkey) was in a period of decline, the national liberation movement against the Ottoman yoke was gaining strength, the leading European powers joined the fight for the "Turkish Succession". Russia sought to strengthen its position in the Balkans, supported the Orthodox population of the peninsula in its struggle for independence. The revolt in Greece against the Turkish yoke in 1821 became the immediate cause of aggravation of the Eastern Question. Russia sympathized with the Greeks' struggle, but believed that to support the uprising would be contrary to the principles of the Holy Alliance, and therefore it was necessary to resolve issues through negotiations. On March 23rd 1826 in St. Petersburg a protocol was signed under which Russia and England undertook to mediate in negotiations between the Sultan and the Greeks. The sultan was demanded to grant Greece autonomy. When this demand was rejected, Russia, England and France concluded an agreement for the collective defense of Greece and sent their squadrons to its shores. On October 8, 1827 the Turkish fleet was completely defeated in the Bay of Navariya (south of Greece).

In 1826 - 1828 years was the Russian-Persian War. Under the Turkmanchai peace treaty Russia annexed Eastern Armenia (Erivan and Nakhichevan Khanates) and strengthened its position in the Caucasus.

Turkmanchay peace untied Russia's hands before a new military conflict with the Ottoman Empire (1828 - 1829). The cause of the war was a series of hostile acts by the Turks: delaying of Russian merchant ships, seizure of goods, etc. Although England and France declared their neutrality, they actually supported the Ottoman Empire, and Austria concentrated its troops on the border with Russia. At the cost of considerable losses the Russian army managed to occupy Moldavia and Wallachia, cross the Danube and take the fortress of Varna. In 1829 the Russian army crossed the Balkans, Adrianople was taken, and the troops came close to Constantinople. On September 2, 1829 the Adrianople Peace Treaty was signed. Russia received the right of passage of ships through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Greece's right to autonomy was recognized. In 1830. Greece became an independent state, the Danubian principalities and Serbia were granted autonomy.

Russian diplomacy was even more successful as a result of the 1833 Treaty of Unker-Iskales, under which Russia received the right of exclusive passage of military vessels through the straits. However, the Western countries, greatly concerned about Russia's growing influence, succeeded in obtaining the London Conventions of 1840 and 1841 on the neutrality of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles and the establishment of pan-European control over the straits.

The incorporation of the Transcaucasus into Russia also raised the question of the Northern Caucasus. In response to the Russian offensive in Chechnya and Dagestan the Highlanders movement for independence has unfolded. It took the form of a religious movement of Murids (seekers of truth). Murids urged the highlanders to wage a holy struggle against "infidels". In 1834, the movement led by Imam Shamil, who gathered under his banner up to 60,000 soldiers. England and Turkey supplied the highlanders with arms and ammunition. After a long and bloody war, under the pressure of Russian troops in 1859, Shamil was forced to surrender, although the war lasted until 1864.

Relations with the Ottoman Empire remained difficult, which led to a new armed conflict, called the Crimean War (1853 - 1856). Russia, England, France, Austria-Hungary fought for influence in the Balkans and control of the Mediterranean straits (Bosphorus and Dardanelles). According to the agreements in force at the time, the Russian navy could not pass through the straits. In the event of war, Turkey was able to pass to the Black Sea fleet of its allies. The situation worsened in the early 50s in connection with the dispute between Orthodox and Catholic clergy about the "holy places of Palestine. Palestine was then part of the Ottoman Empire. It was about the right to own the keys to the Temple of Bethlehem and a number of other holy sites in Jerusalem and its environs.

Under pressure from French President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the sultan decided the issue in favor of Catholics, which caused discontent in St. Petersburg. Nicholas I demanded that the sultan recognize him as the patron saint of all Orthodox Christians living in Turkey. In support of this, the Russian troops were introduced into Moldavia and Wallachia. In response, the British and French squadrons entered the Sea of Marmara, and the Turkish sultan declared war on Russia.

In the first period of the war (the Russian-Turkish campaign on the Danube Front and in the Caucasus in October 1853 - April 1854) Russia, despite the large numerical advantage of Turkish forces, managed to achieve significant success. On November 18, 1853, eight Russian squadron ships under the command of the talented Russian naval commander P.S. Nakhimov (1802 - 1855) achieved a brilliant victory over the Turkish fleet in Sinop Bay, destroying 15 of the 16 enemy ships. On November 19, the detachment of General V. O. Bebutov under Bashkadiklyar (near Kars) repulsed the Turkish troops trying to launch an attack on Armenia. On the Danube theater of military action Russian troops entered Bulgaria and in March 1854 besieged the fortress of Silistria.

To save Turkey from imminent defeat, in January 1854 the Anglo-French squadron entered the Black Sea. In response, the Russian government recalled its ambassadors from Paris and London. In March 1854 the Russian troops crossed the Danube. The ultimatum of England and France for the abandonment of Moldavia and Wallachia was rejected. Queen Victoria declared war on Russia, later followed by Louis Bonaparte, who had by then proclaimed himself emperor Napoleon III.

The allies failed to create a pan-European coalition against Russia. Austria, formally remaining neutral, concentrated its army on the border of the Danubian principalities. Russian troops were forced to withdraw first across the Danube, and then across the Prut.

In the second period of the Crimean War (April 1854 - February 1856) Russia was opposed by the powerful Anglo-French-Turkish coalition (in January 1855 the Sardinian kingdom joined it). In spring and summer of 1854 the Allied fleet undertook a series of demonstrative attacks on the Baltic, the Black and White Seas, on the Far East, attacking Russian fortresses. Having been rebuffed, in autumn the Allies concentrated their efforts on the capture of the Crimea. Mistakes of the Russian command allowed the Allies to land the 62 thousandth landing near Evpatoria and launch an attack on Sevastopol, 35 thousandth Russian Crimean army under the command of Admiral and Adjutant General, the naval minister, Alexander S. Menshikov, who had neither the ability of naval commander nor the talent of a commander, tried to stop the enemy on the river Alma. In the battle of September 8, it was defeated and retreated towards Sevastopol, and then, leaving the fortress in the care of its garrison and sailors, retreated to Bakhchisaray. In October 1854, Menshikov lost two more battles (at Balaklava and Inkerman Heights) and did not take any decisive action until his retirement in February 1855.

The heroic defense of Sevastopol began on September 13, 1854, and lasted 11 months. 35 thousand defenders of the fortress, mostly sailors, took out over 70 thousand soldiers and officers of the Allies. Not daring to storm the city, the enemies subjected it to five massive multi-day bombing raids. The people of Sevastopol had suffered enormous losses. Kornilov, V. A. Nakhimov, P. S. Istomin, who led the defense, were killed. The new Commander in Chief of the Crimean Army M.D. Gorchakov in August 1855 tried to break the siege of the fortress, attacking Allied positions on the Black River, but failed. On August 27, 1855, French troops managed to seize the southern part of Sevastopol, after which it became impossible to defend the Russian positions. The remnants of the garrison left the fortress.

The summer campaign of 1854 on the Caucasus Front was quite successful for the Russian army: in several battles it stopped the advance of the Turkish army and repulsed an attack of highlanders of Imam Shamil in Kakheti. In the fall of 1855, they repulsed a new offensive of the Turkish army and captured the mighty fortress of Kare. The forces of both sides were exhausted. On March 18, 1856 in Paris, Great Britain, France and Russia signed a peace treaty. Using skillfully contradictions between England and France, the head of the Russian delegation, count A. F. Orlov, had achieved significant changes in the contract in favor of Russia. All the conquered territories were to be exchanged (Russia returned Kars, and got back Sevastopol and other Russian cities); the Black Sea was declared neutral. Russia lost the right to have a navy and coastal arsenals on the Black Sea; she lost the mouth of the Danube and southern Bessarabia, its protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia, as well as the right to protect the interests of the Orthodox population of Turkey. Thus, Russia lost its position in the Middle East and the Balkans.

The war exposed the economic backwardness of Russia in comparison with the European states, which had already completed their industrial revolutions. The Russian sailing fleet was unable to withstand the steam fleet of England and France neither technically nor quantitatively. 96% of the Russian infantry were armed with obsolete smooth-bore flintlock rifles, while 50% of the allied soldiers had rifled long-range rifles. Because of the lack of railroads and highways, troop supplies and ammunition arrived extremely slowly. Low-powered Russian industry could not cope with military orders. Nor was the higher Russian military command at its best.

Russia's defeat undermined its prestige in the international arena and was one of the main reasons for social, economic and political reforms in the second half of the 19th century.

Test questions:

1. What did M.M. Speransky propose in his draft of reforms?

a) Introduce the system of constitutional monarchy, give peasants the right to acquire movable and immovable property;

b) to preserve autocracy with minor political concessions to the aristocracy, to give the peasants the right to leave the landlords;

c) to introduce the system of a constitutional republic, to free the peasants without land;

d) introduce universal suffrage, create a bicameral parliament.

2. What political changes were made in Russia during the reign of Alexander I?

a) Adoption of Russia's first constitution;

b) the State Duma was established as the main legislative body made up of deputies of all estates;

c) the State Council was created and the ministries were reorganized;

d) the system of separation of powers into independent executive, legislative and judicial branches was established.

3. How did P.D. Kiselev's administrative reforms (1837 - 1841) change the position of state peasants?

a) They became legally free farmers;

b) they fell under the power of landlords;

c) They were treated as monastic peasants;

d) they passed into the category of serfs.

4. Which enterprises in Russia in the first half of the 19th century gave the greatest amount of production in value terms?

a) State-owned enterprises;

b) Landlords' patrimonial manufactures;

c) petty industry and peasant handicrafts;

d) large plants and factories.

5. Identify the main directions of Nicholas I's domestic policy.

a) progressive liberal reforms concerning the rights of estates, including the peasantry; democratization of the socio-political, economic and cultural life of society;

b) cautious reforms of supreme and local government, which were in fact concessions to the "zeitgeist";

c) strengthening the police-bureaucratic apparatus, creating a system of comprehensive state control over the socio-political, economic, and cultural life of the country;

d) abolition of serfdom, bourgeois reforms of courts, education, and local self-government.

See Part Six for:

The course and peculiarities of Russian modernization

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