Confidant of Alexander 1. “It's not for me to judge them ...

Alexander I became Russian emperor as a result of a palace coup and regicide on March 11, 1801.

In the early years of his reign, he believed that the country needed fundamental reforms and major renovation. To carry out reforms, he created an unspoken committee to discuss projects of change. An unspoken committee put forward the idea of \u200b\u200blimiting the autocracy, but at first it was decided to carry out reforms in the sphere of government. In 1802, the reform of the highest bodies of state power began, ministries were created, and the Committee of Ministers was established. In 1803, a decree was issued on "free plowmen", according to which landowners could release their serfs free with land allotments for ransom. After the appeal of the landowners of the Baltic states, he approved a law on the complete abolition of serfdom in Estonia (1811).

In 1809, the state secretary of the emperor M. Speransky presented the tsar with a draft of a radical reform of public administration - a project for the creation of a constitutional monarchy in Russia. Faced with active resistance from the nobles, Alexander I abandoned the project.

In 1816-1822. in Russia arisen secret societies of the nobility - the Union of Salvation. Welfare Union Southern Society, Northern Society - with the aim of introducing a republican constitution or a constitutional monarchy in Russia. Towards the end of his reign, Alexander I, feeling pressure from the nobles and fearing popular uprisings, abandoned all liberal ideas and serious reforms.

In 1812, Russia experienced the invasion of Napoleon's army, the defeat of which ended with the entry of Russian troops into Paris. Radical changes have taken place in Russia's foreign policy. Unlike Paul I, who supported Napoleon, Alexander, on the contrary, opposed France, and resumed trade and political relations with England.

In 1801, Russia and England concluded an anti-French convention "On mutual friendship," and then, in 1804, Russia joined the third anti-French coalition. After the defeat at Austerlitz in 1805, the coalition collapsed. In 1807, the forced peace of Tilsit was signed with Napoleon. Subsequently, Russia and its allies inflicted a decisive defeat on Napoleon's army in the "Battle of the Nations" near Leipzig in 1813.

In 1804-1813. Russia won the war with Iran, seriously expanded and strengthened its southern borders... In 1806-1812. was protracted russian-Turkish war... As a result of the war with Sweden in 1808-1809. Finland, later Poland (1814) was included in Russia.

In 1814, Russia took part in the work of the Vienna Congress to resolve the issues of the post-war structure of Europe and in the creation of the Holy Alliance to ensure peace in Europe, which included Russia and almost all European countries.

THE BEGINNING OF THE RING OF ALEXANDER I

And yet the first years of the reign of Alexander I left the best memories of his contemporaries, “The days of the Alexandrovs were a wonderful beginning” - this is how A.S. Pushkin. A short period of enlightened absolutism has come. " Universities, lyceums and grammar schools were opened. Measures were taken to alleviate the situation of the peasants. Alexander stopped distributing state peasants to the landlords. In 1803, a decree was adopted on “free farmers”. According to the decree, the landowner could free his peasants by allotting them land and receiving a ransom from them. But the landowners were in no hurry to take advantage of this decree. During the reign of Alexander I, only 47 thousand male souls were freed. But the ideas contained in the 1803 decree later formed the basis for the reform of 1861.

In the Secret Committee, a proposal was made to ban the sale of serfs without land. Human trafficking was carried out in Russia in overt, cynical forms. Advertisements for the sale of serfs were printed in newspapers. At the Makaryevskaya fair, they were sold along with other goods, families were separated. Sometimes a Russian peasant, bought at a fair, went to distant eastern countries, where until the end of his days he lived in the position of a foreign slave.

Alexander I wanted to suppress such shameful phenomena, but the proposal to prohibit the sale of peasants without land met with stubborn resistance from the highest dignitaries. They believed that this undermined serfdom. Not showing persistence, the young emperor retreated. It was forbidden only to publish ads for the sale of people.

By the beginning of the 19th century. the administrative system of the state was in a state of obvious collapse. The introduced collegial form of central management clearly did not justify itself. In the collegiums, a circular irresponsibility reigned, covering up bribery and embezzlement. Local authorities, taking advantage of the weakness of the central government, committed lawlessness.

At first, Alexander I hoped to restore order and strengthen the state by introducing a ministerial system of central government based on the principle of one-man management. In 1802, instead of the previous 12 collegia, 8 ministries were created: military, naval, foreign affairs, internal affairs, commerce, finance, public education and justice. This measure strengthened central management. But a decisive victory in the fight against abuse was not achieved. Old vices have settled in the new ministries. Growing up, they rose to the upper levels of state power. Alexander knew the senators who took bribes. The desire to expose them fought in him with fear of diminishing the prestige of the Senate. It became obvious that only rearrangements in the bureaucratic machine could not solve the problem of creating a system of state power that would actively contribute to the development of the country's productive forces, and not devour its resources. A fundamentally new approach to solving the problem was required.

Bokhanov A.N., Gorinov M.M. History of Russia from the beginning of the XVIII to the end of the XIX century, M., 2001

"RUSSIAN POLICY DOES NOT EXIST"

Russian, Russian politics during the reign of Emperor Alexander I, one might say, does not exist. There is a European policy (a hundred years later they would say “pan-European”), there is a policy of the universe - the policy of the Holy Union. And there is the "Russian policy" of foreign cabinets, using Russia and its Tsar for their own selfish ends by the skillful work of confidants who have unlimited influence on the Tsar (such are, for example, Pozzo di Borgo and Micho de Boretour - two amazing adjutant generals who ruled Russian politics , but for their long-term adjutant general who did not learn a single Russian word).

Four phases can be traced here:

The first is the era of predominantly English influence. These are "the days of the Alexandrovs, a wonderful beginning." The young Tsar is not averse to dreaming in the circle of intimate friends about "draft Russian constitutions." England is the ideal and patroness of all liberalism, including Russian. At the head of the British government, Pitt the Younger is the great son of the great father, the mortal enemy of France in general and Bonaparte in particular. They start up the wonderful idea of \u200b\u200bfreeing Europe from the tyranny of Napoleon (England takes over the financial side). The result - a war with France, - the second French war ... English blood, however, is spilled a little, but Russian flows like a river at Austerlitz and Pultusk, Eylau and Friedland.

Friedland is followed by Tilsit, who opens the second era - the era of French influence. The genius of Napoleon makes a deep impression on Alexander ... The Tilsit banquet, the crosses of St. George on the chest of French grenadiers ... The Erfurt rendezvous - the Emperor of the West, the Emperor of the East ... Russia has free hands on the Danube, where it is waging a war with Turkey, Napoleon gets freedom of action in Spain. Russia is recklessly joining the continental system without considering all the consequences of this step.

Napoleon left for Spain. In the meantime, in the brilliant Prussian head of Stein, a plan for the liberation of Germany from the yoke of Napoleon - a plan based on Russian blood ... is closer from Berlin to Petersburg than from Madrid to Petersburg. Prussian influence begins to supplant French. Stein and Pful handled the case skillfully, deftly presenting to the Russian Emperor all the greatness of the feat of "saving the tsars and their peoples." At the same time, their accomplices set Napoleon against Russia, insinuating in every possible way Russia's non-observance of the continental treaty, touching upon Napoleon's sore spot, his hatred of his main enemy, England. Relations between the Erfurt allies finally deteriorated and a trifling pretext (skillfully inflated by the efforts of German well-wishers) was enough to involve Napoleon and Alexander in a brutal three-year war, which bled and ruined their countries - but turned out to be extremely profitable (as the instigators hoped for) for Germany in general and for Prussia in particular.

Using to the end the weaknesses of Alexander I - a passion for posture and mysticism - foreign offices, with subtle flattery, made him believe in his messianism and through their trusted people instilled in him the idea of \u200b\u200ba Sacred Union, which then, in their skilful hands, turned into a Sacred Union of Europe against Russia. The engraving, contemporary to those sad events, depicts "the oath of three monarchs on the tomb of Frederick the Great in eternal friendship." An oath for which four Russian generations paid a terrible price. At the Congress of Vienna, Galicia, which she had recently received, was selected from Russia, and in exchange the Duchy of Warsaw was given, which prudently, to the greater glory of Germanism, introduced a hostile Polish element into Russia. During this fourth period, Russian politics was directed at the behest of Metternich.

WAR OF 1812 AND THE FOREIGN TRAVEL OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY

Out of 650 thousand soldiers " The great armyNapoleon returned to his homeland, according to some sources, 30 thousand, according to others - 40 thousand soldiers. In essence, the Napoleonic army was not expelled, but exterminated in the vast snowy expanses of Russia. December 21 reported to Alexander: "The war is over for the complete destruction of the enemy." On December 25, the Tsar's manifesto was published, timed to coincide with the Nativity of Christ, announcing the end of the war. Russia turned out to be the only country in Europe capable not only of withstanding Napoleonic aggression, but also of inflicting a crushing blow on it. The secret of the victory lay in the fact that it was a national liberation, truly Patriotic war. But this victory went to the people at a high price. Twelve provinces, which became the arena of military operations, were devastated. The ancient Russian cities of Smolensk, Polotsk, Vitebsk and Moscow were burnt and destroyed. Direct military losses amounted to over 300 thousand soldiers and officers. Even greater losses were among the civilian population.

The victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 had a tremendous impact on all aspects of the country's social, political and cultural life, contributed to the growth of national self-awareness, and gave a powerful impetus to the development of advanced social thought in Russia.

But the victorious end of the Patriotic War of 1812 did not yet mean that Russia had succeeded in putting an end to Napoleon's aggressive plans. He himself openly announced the preparation of a new campaign against Russia, feverishly put together a new army for the 1813 campaign.

Alexander I decided to preempt Napoleon and immediately transfer military operations outside the country. In pursuance of his will, Kutuzov wrote in an order for the army of December 21, 1812: “Without stopping among heroic deeds, we now go further. Let's cross the borders and sweat to complete the defeat of the enemy in his own fields. " Both Alexander and Kutuzov rightly counted on help from the peoples conquered by Napoleon, and their calculation was justified.

On January 1, 1813, a hundred thousandth Russian army under the command of Kutuzov crossed the Neman and entered Poland. On February 16, in Kalisz, where the headquarters of Alexander I was located, an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded between Russia and Prussia. Prussia also undertook the obligation to supply the Russian army with food on its territory.

In early March, Russian troops occupied Berlin. By this time, Napoleon had formed an army of 300,000, of which 160,000 soldiers moved against the allied forces. A heavy loss for Russia was the death of Kutuzov on April 16, 1813 in the Silesian city of Bunzlau. Alexander I appointed the commander-in-chief of the Russian army P.Kh. Wittgenstein. His attempts to pursue his own strategy, different from Kutuzov's, led to a number of failures. Napoleon, inflicting defeats on the Russian-Prussian troops at Lutsen and Bautzen in late April - early May, threw them back to the Oder. Alexander I replaced Wittgenstein as commander-in-chief of the allied forces with Barclay de Tolly.

In July - August 1813 England, Sweden and Austria joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The coalition had at its disposal up to half a million soldiers, divided into three armies. The Austrian field marshal Karl Schwarzenberg was appointed commander-in-chief over all armies, and the general leadership of the conduct of hostilities against Napoleon was carried out by the council of three monarchs - Alexander I, Franz I and Friedrich Wilhelm III.

By the beginning of August 1813, Napoleon already had 440 thousand soldiers, and on August 15 he won a victory over the coalition forces near Dresden. Only the victory of the Russian troops three days after the Dresden battle over the corps of Napoleon's general D. Vandam near Kulm prevented the collapse of the coalition.

The decisive battle during the 1813 campaign unfolded near Leipzig on October 4-7. It was a "battle of the peoples". More than half a million people from both sides took part in it. The battle ended in victory for the allied Russian-Prussian-Austrian troops.

After the battle of Leipzig, the Allies slowly advanced towards the French border. In two and a half months, almost the entire territory of the German states was liberated from the French troops, with the exception of some fortresses, in which the French garrisons stubbornly defended themselves until the very end of the war.

On January 1, 1814, the allied forces crossed the Rhine and entered French territory. By this time Denmark had joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The allied forces were continuously replenished with reserves, and by the beginning of 1814 they already numbered up to 900 thousand soldiers. In the two winter months of 1814, Napoleon won 12 battles from them and drew two of them. Oscillation reignited in the coalition camp. The allies offered Napoleon peace on the terms of the return of France to the borders of 1792. Napoleon refused. Alexander I insisted on the continuation of the war, seeking to overthrow Napoleon from the throne. At the same time, Alexander I did not want the restoration of the Bourbons to the French throne: he proposed leaving Napoleon's young son on the throne under the regency of his mother, Marie-Louise. On March 10, Russia, Austria, Prussia and England signed the Chaumont Treaty, according to which they pledged not to enter into separate negotiations with Napoleon for peace or an armistice. The threefold superiority of the Allies in the number of troops by the end of March 1814 led to the victorious end of the campaign. Having won at the beginning of March in the battles of Laon and Arsy sur Aube, the 100,000-strong group of allied forces moved to Paris, defended by a 45,000-strong garrison. On March 19, 1814, Paris capitulated. Napoleon rushed to liberate the capital, but his marshals refused to fight and forced him on March 25 to sign his abdication. Under the peace treaty signed on May 18 (30), 1814 in Paris, France returned to the borders of 1792. Napoleon and his dynasty were deprived of the French throne, on which the Bourbons were restored. Louis XVIII, who returned from Russia, where he was in exile, became the king of France.

FUN AND ENTERTAINMENT OF THE ALEXANDROVSKAYA ERA

The holidays of the dynasty were national days of rest and festivities, and every year the whole of St. Petersburg, seized with festive excitement, waited for July 22. A few days before the celebrations, thousands of people rushed from the city along the Peterhof road: to know in luxurious carriages, nobles, townspeople, commoners - who will have what in what. A magazine from the 1820s tells us:

“Several people are crowded on the droshky and willingly endure shaking and anxiety; there, in a Chukhon wagon, a whole family is placed with large supplies of all kinds of provisions, and they all patiently swallow thick dust ... Moreover, on both sides of the road there are many pedestrians, whose hunting and the strength of their legs overpowers the lightness of their wallet; peddlers of various fruits and berries - and they hurry to Peterhof in the hope of profit and vodka. ... The pier is also a lively picture, here thousands of people are crowded and hurry to get on the ship. "

Petersburgers spent several days in Peterhof - the parks were open for everyone. Tens of thousands of people spent the night right on the streets. The warm, short, light night did not seem tiresome to anyone. Nobles slept in their carriages, burghers and peasants in carts, hundreds of carriages formed real bivouacs. Chewing horses were everywhere, people sleeping in the most picturesque poses. They were peaceful hordes, everything was extremely quiet and decorous, without the usual drunkenness and massacre. After the end of the holiday, the guests also quietly left for Petersburg, life entered its usual rut until next summer ...

In the evening, after dinner and dancing in the Grand Palace, a masquerade began in the Lower Park, where everyone was admitted. By this time, the Peterhof parks were changing: alleys, fountains, cascades, as in the 18th century, were decorated with thousands of lighted bowls and differently colored lamps. Orchestras played everywhere, crowds of guests in masquerade costumes walked along the alleys of the park, making way for cavalcades of well-dressed horsemen and carriages of members of the royal family.

With the ascension of Alexander, St. Petersburg celebrated its first century with particular joy. In May 1803, there were continuous festivities in the capital. On the birthday of the city, spectators saw how a myriad of festively dressed people filled all the alleys of the Summer Garden ... on Tsaritsin's meadow there were booths, swings and other devices for all kinds of folk games. In the evening, the Summer Garden, the main buildings on the embankment, the fortress and the small Dutch house of Peter the Great ... were magnificently illuminated. On the Neva, a flotilla of small ships of the imperial squadron, dismantled with flags, was also brightly lit, and on the deck of one of these ships was visible ... the so-called "Grandfather of the Russian fleet" - the boat from which the Russian fleet began ...

Anisimov E.V. Imperial Russia. SPb., 2008

LEGENDS AND RUMORS ABOUT THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER I

What happened there in the south is shrouded in mystery. It is officially known that Alexander I died on November 19, 1825 in Taganrog. The sovereign's body was hastily embalmed and taken to Petersburg. [...] And since about 1836, already under Nicholas I, rumors have spread throughout the country that a certain wise old man Fyodor Kuzmich Kuzmin lives among the people, a righteous, educated and very, very similar to the late emperor, although at the same time he does not at all pretend to imposture ... He walked for a long time to the holy places of Russia, and then settled in Siberia, where he died in 1864. The fact that the elder was not a commoner was clear to everyone who saw him.

But then a furious and insoluble dispute broke out: who is he? Some say that this is the once brilliant cavalry guard Fyodor Uvarov, who mysteriously disappeared from his estate. Others believe that it was the Emperor Alexander himself. Of course, among the latter there are many madmen and graphomaniacs, but there are also serious people. They pay attention to many strange facts. The cause of death of the 47-year-old emperor, in general, a healthy, mobile person, is not fully understood. There is some strange confusion in the documents about the death of the king, and this led to the suspicion that the papers were drawn up after the fact. When the body was delivered to the capital, when the coffin was opened, everyone was amazed at the cry of the deceased's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, at the sight of Alexander's dark, "like a Moor" face: "This is not my son!" They talked about some mistake during the embalming. Or maybe, as supporters of the Tsar's departure assert, this mistake was not accidental? Just shortly before November 19, in front of the sovereign's eyes, a courier crashed - the carriage was carried by horses. They put him in the coffin, and Alexander himself ...

[…] In recent months, Alexander I has changed a lot. It seemed that he possessed some important thought that made him brooding and decisive at the same time. […] Finally, those close to him recalled how Alexander often spoke of how tired he was and dreamed of leaving the throne. The wife of Nicholas I, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a week before their coronation on August 15, 1826, wrote in her diary:

“Probably, at the sight of the people, I will think about how the late Emperor Alexander, once telling us about his abdication, added:“ How I will rejoice when I see you passing me, and in the crowd I will shout to you “Hurray! "Waving his hat."

Opponents object to this: has it ever been done to give up such power? Yes, and all these conversations of Alexander are just a pose familiar to him, pretentiousness. And in general, why did the king need to go to the people he did not like so much? Weren't there any other ways to live without a throne - remember the Swedish queen Christina, who left the throne and left to enjoy life in Italy. Or you could settle in Crimea and build a palace. Yes, it was possible to go to the monastery, at last. […] Meanwhile, from one shrine to another, pilgrims wandered with staffs and knapsacks across Russia. Alexander saw them many times in his trips around the country. These were not vagabonds, but people filled with faith and love for their neighbors, eternal enchanted wanderers of Russia. Their continuous movement along the endless road, their faith, visible in the eyes and requiring no proof, could prompt a way out for the tired sovereign ...

In a word, there is no clarity in this story. The best connoisseur of the time of Alexander I, the historian N.K. Schilder, the author of a fundamental work about him, a brilliant connoisseur of documents and an honest man, said:

“The whole dispute is only possible because some certainly want Alexander I and Fyodor Kuzmich to be one and the same person, while others absolutely do not want this. Meanwhile, there are no definite data for solving this issue in one direction or another. I can cite as much data in favor of the first opinion as in favor of the second, and no definite conclusion can be drawn. " […]

Alexander I: death in Taganrog

The history of the Romanov dynasty in the 18th century was full of mysteries and abundantly watered with blood, not only of impostors (Pugachev) or people who tried to "revive the past shadows" (Mirovich), but also direct pretenders to the throne (John Antonovich) or reigning monarchs (Peter III and Pavel I). The terrible death of the latter gave rise to one of the most mysterious, as historians believe, figures on the Russian throne - Alexander I. The unfulfilled hopes of the "days of Alexander's great start" turned into his gloomy mysticism, Arakcheev's "snake", military settlements, Pushkin's exile. However, at the same time, the emperor left the denunciations of Sherwood, Witt, Mayboroda, Komarov, Gribovsky and Boshnyak about the future Decembrists without consequences, stubbornly saying: "I cannot judge them," which contained a direct allusion to his participation in the murder of his father ... Until now, conspiracy theorists argue about who rests in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral under the guise of Alexander Pavlovich (there is even a version that the tomb is empty) and who is Elder Fyodor Kuzmich. In December of this year, it will be 190 years since the death of Alexander, in January of this year, 202 years have passed since the day he signed a decree on the beginning of the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. But interest in this historical personality does not get weaker over the years ...

1. "Mr. Alexander"

This is what Empress Catherine the Great called her beloved grandson, who was born on December 12 (23), 1877 in the family of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and grand duchess Maria Feodorovna (Sophia-Dorothea-Augusta-Louise, Princess of Württemberg). This prolific couple had 10 children. Alexander was named after Saint Alexander Nevsky, and his grandmother prepared for him ... the throne of Constantinople!

The future crown bearer slept in a room with open windows to get used to the noise, and daily took a cold bath in a room where the temperature did not exceed 15 ° C, so he never caught a cold and was described by his contemporaries as "Strong, large and cheerful." Catherine already then believed that "Mr. Alexander has only one choice, and it depends on his personal gifts which path he will embark on - holiness or heroism." When Alexander reaches six years of age, the nannies and governess are removed from the empress's grandson, and Adjutant General N.I.Saltykov, Colonel Ch. Masson, Baron K.I.Osten-Saken, Archpriest Andrei Samborsky and Frederic Cesar de Lagarpe are engaged in his upbringing. Ekaterina prepared "Instructions" for her grandson - "Meetings of common places ... in a philosophical spirit in bad Russian." He did everything to please his grandmother: he stood at the clock at her door, played three roles in her comedy "The Deceiver". It is noteworthy that Catherine, who was well versed in people, early guessed in him a dangerous tendency to secrecy and deceit. This is understandable: from an early age he had to maneuver between his father, whom Catherine did not want to admit to power, and the empress herself. He smiles at everyone, is friendly, agrees with everyone, flattering (although in his heart he would probably slap in the face).

On May 10, 1793, at the insistence of Catherine, the betrothal of Alexander and Louise (in Orthodoxy - Elizabeth Alekseevna), Princess of Baden, took place. The wedding was celebrated on September 28 of the same year. The couple immediately had problems with the continuation of the dynasty.

2. "He developed a fondness for the little things ..."

Alexander in every possible way evaded Catherine's attempts to give him the crown, bypassing Paul. He regularly visited his father's residence (Gatchina) and participated, even with pleasure (if this is not a pretense), in his father's military exercises with his amusing army.

There is an assumption that it was Alexander's passion for artillery firing that led to deafness in his left ear, from which he suffered all his life. True, it is not clear: a loud sound should deafen both ears! Most likely, it was about chronic otitis media, which the doctors had no idea about at that time.

"The petty formalities of military service and the habit of attaching excessive importance to them perverted the mind of the Grand Duke Alexander", - wrote a contemporary, - he developed an addiction to little things, from which he could not get rid of, and then "... Maybe it was just a manifestation of German pedantry (very little Russian blood flowed in the emperor)? It is known that his grandfather Peter III, father Paul I, brothers Nicholas I, Mikhail and Constantine were distinguished by a fondness for trifles, a passion for statutes, paragraphs and bureaucratic formalities.

24-year-old captain Alexey Arakcheev became Alexander's confidant. In 1796, Catherine and Vice-Chancellor A. Bezborodko secretly drew up an act according to which Pavel was deprived of the crown in favor of Alexander, but on November 4, Catherine, who was suffering from heart failure, suffered a severe stroke, from which the Empress died two days later ... Bezborodko "passed" the already safe empress, and in his presence Paul burned a single copy of the act.

Pavel changed everything that had happened during his mother's reign: he returned Novikov and Radishchev from exile, showered Tadeusz Kosciuszko with favors and allowed him to leave for America, ordered to remove the coffin with his father's body from the crypt in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and to reburial it in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. During the funeral, Paul forced the killers of Peter III - A. Orlov, Passek and Baryatinsky - to go after his coffin. Peter and Catherine were buried at the same time. How dark sarcasm!

Alexander became the second person in the state, which did not seem to please him at that moment ...

3. "He is flattered by popularity ..."

Paul immediately announced a new act of succession, which established inheritance through the male line by birthright, which undoubtedly strengthened Alexander's position as the Grand Duke-heir. The emperor appointed him chief of the Semyonovsky Life Guards regiment, chief inspector of cavalry, military governor of St. Petersburg, senator and chairman of the military department.

Alexander liked the first reforms of his father, but then the orgy began: the prohibition of round hats, long pantaloons, shoes with bows and boots with cuffs. It is curious what this already happened under Peter the Great: shaving beards, the introduction of German dress, tobacco and assemblies. Officials were obliged to wear only uniforms, strict spiritual and secular censorship was introduced, waltz, the words "citizen", "society" and "club" were prohibited. From nine in the evening a curfew was declared. Pavel, depending on his mood (and it often turned out to be bad), demoted the honored generals, sent the Cossacks to conquer India, or sent the fined regiment on foot to Siberia (near Ryazan there is the village of Polkovo, in which, according to legend, the soldiers of the unfortunate regiment stopped during a long journey) ... Paul's formula is well known (and all Russian rulers thought so): "A nobleman in Russia is only the one with whom I speak and while I am talking to him." The sons, too, were not immune from humiliating ravings and headwashing.

Alexander somehow inadvertently wrote that "Unlimited power ... does everything topsy-turvy".At this point, talking about his future reign, he spoke about a constitution and representative government, which really meant limiting absolutism.

The reign of Paul was approaching a tragic end, but Alexander and his wife were caught in tragedy even earlier: on July 27, 1800, their one-year-old daughter Maria died. Eight years later, the second daughter, Elizabeth, will also die. The health of the grand ducal couple was monitored by the son of the doctor of medicine of the chief physician of the First St. Petersburg Land Hospital Yakov Yakovlevich Griva (1703-1763), Dr. Ivan Yakovlevich Griv (1745-?), Appointed by the physician-in-chief in 1802, and the doctor of medicine Christopher-Kazimir Yakovlevich Lerhe ( ? -1825), who studied in Berlin, Strasbourg and Göttingen, in 1797 was enrolled in the staff of the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich. Although the future emperor and his wife have not yet had health problems - at least not visible ...

4. "You must renounce ..."

Most historians are convinced that it was not concern for the mythical welfare of the state that motivated Plato and Nikolai Zubov, Pyotr Alexandrovich Talyzin, Fedor Petrovich Uvarov, Alexander Vasilyevich Argamakov, Vasily Mikhailovich Yashvil, Alexander Ivanovich Talyzin, Leonty Leontyevich and their head Benigsen Palen, when they came to kill Paul I ... They all wanted to either return what they had lost, or acquire more (ranks, money, serfs, etc.). Alexander Pavlovich wanted one thing - power. The battalion of his Semenovsky regiment was on guard at the Mikhailovsky Castle when Nikolai Aleksandrovich Zubov hit Pavel in the temple with a golden snuffbox, and Captain Skaryatin strangled the anointed of God with a scarf of Argamakov (according to another version, the scarf of Pavel himself) ... At first, however, the conspirators proposed to the emperor to abdicate in favor of Alexander. And here, probably, lay the beginning of the drama that took place with Alexander for a quarter of a century: he did not want bloodshed, but others carried out what he secretly hoped for ... "Innocent criminal", "parricide with clean hands" - that's who he is now.

Alexander began his reign with lies: "Father died of apoplectic stroke." Before the burial of Paul, doctors for a long time masked the traces of this "stroke" on the temple and a terrible strangulation groove on the neck ... Talleyrand, learning about this, sarcastically wrote: " It's time for the Russians to invent some other disease to explain the death of their emperors. " (Peter III died from the same "blow") ...

The first years of Alexander's reign (until 1810) are sometimes called hopes, although in fact this time turned out to be only occasionally hesitations. Alexander the First begins the eternal choice between "Wolf, goat and cabbage." Contemporaries call the ideas of the young emperor "Vague".He knocks "At all doors at once, not really knowing what to do", - notes another contemporary of Alexander. Strictly speaking, it was about three problems: the elimination of serfdom for 10.5 million peasants, the introduction of a representative form of government and a constitution, and judicial reform. All this turned out to be unfulfilled ... It seems that the emperor was more interested in the affair with Maria Naryshkina (Chetvertinskaya), the fruit of which was the daughter Sophia Naryshkina, who died at the age of 20 from tuberculosis. In 1803, Alexander again called for the service of Alexei Andreevich Arakcheev.

5. "Discontent with the emperor is growing every day ..."

Starting from Peter I, all members of the Romanov dynasty showed interest in military affairs. Alexander I was no exception. He believed that his military knowledge was enough to fight the true military genius of that time - Napoleon Bonaparte. The result was the shamefully lost battle of Austerlitz, then there was a defeat at Friedland. He had no military leaders equal to Suvorov, and he did not like Kutuzov. Moreover, on January 13, 1808, AA Arakcheev, "devotee without flattery", became the Minister of War. At the same time, Russia invades Finland during the short Russian-Swedish war. In between, there was the Peace of Tilsit with Napoleon, for which the emperor is blamed on the basis of patriotic considerations. Some historians liken the Peace of Tilsit to the Non-Aggression Pact concluded between Germany and the USSR. Then they did not understand how orthodox tsar could find a common language with the "Basurman" Napoleon.

The strength of opposition sentiments was such that in 1807 the emperor established the Committee of General Security, reports of which went directly to his table (like the current Security Council). The emperor wanted to be loved by his people, but he was not understood, hated, despised. He changes his inner circle: Nikolai Rumyantsev takes the place of Andrei Budberg, Chartoryisky, Novosiltsev and Kochubei ("young friends") retire and leave Russia. Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky is invited to the Ministry of Internal Affairs - a highly educated, flexible, intelligent person, a true luminary of the national bureaucracy. But five years later, he was sent into exile on a completely idiotic charge of espionage. Russia, meanwhile (Poland came under the rule of Napoleon) had a long border with a formidable enemy (later, in 1939, the situation was repeated).

Speransky proposed to Alexander a draft of broad political, economic and financial reforms that were supposed to rally society around the emperor. So, it was supposed to establish the State Council, the State Duma, the Senate to make the highest judicial body. A special commission was to develop a code of laws based on the Napoleon code. Speransky proposed to divide Russia into provinces, districts and volosts, each of which should be headed by its own council, composed of owners of real estate (property qualification). It was they who were supposed to elect representatives to the State Duma. At the initiative of Speransky, Alexander issued a decree on court ranks, which should not have given the right to a position and rank, and on examinations for civilian ranks starting from the 7th grade (the exam was serious, it is unlikely that every official would have passed it today).

It was only natural that the Conservatives raised a storm that frightened the emperor. He was only able to organize the Council of State. It is no coincidence that M.M.Speransky said about Alexander: “Everything he does, he does half. He is too weak to rule and too strong to be governed. " In one of the intercepted letters, Speransky inadvertently called Alexander a "white calf", hinting at the white-pink color of his face. That was enough - after a simple intrigue on March 17, 1812 M. M. Speransky was exiled to Nizhny Novgorod.

6. "Politics dictate actions that the heart rejects ..."

These words fully reflect Alexander's credo. He finds himself a new adviser - Baron Heinrich von Stein, a former minister of Prussia.

The emperor felt that the history of Russia is a direct consequence of her geographic location, and already in 1810 he realized that war with Napoleon was inevitable. The British boycott has left the frail Russian economy based on the export of natural resources at a complete dead end. After Tilsit, Arakcheev, by order of the tsar, reorganized and rearmed the army: food warehouses were built, the production of cloth, cannons and rifles increased (locks, however, were secretly bought in England). Army corps from Moldova, Finland and Siberia are being pulled up to the western border, additional regiments are being formed in Moscow. Alexander concludes allied treaties with Austria, Sweden and Prussia. MI Kutuzov concludes a peace treaty with Turkey (Russia lost Moldavia and Wallachia, but retained Bessarabia). On June 8, 1812, a peace treaty was concluded with England. However, in his heart, Alexander was ready to retreat right up to the Bering Strait. The main military authority of the emperor at this time was the Prussian general Full (who believed in the invariability of the laws of war since the time of Julius Caesar and Frederick the Great).

Everything top management The Russian army was made up of foreigners, the soldiers were Russians, and Napoleon's generals were French, and the soldiers were mostly foreigners. Kutuzov, who was already 67 years old, was reluctantly appointed commander-in-chief by the tsar. The rest is well known: battle of Borodino, capture of Moscow, preparation of St. Petersburg for evacuation, fire in Moscow (out of 9158 houses survived 2626), formation new army (Kutuzov has 80 thousand infantry, 35 thousand cavalry, 600 thousand militias and 216 cannons). Then there was a hasty retreat of the French, the flight of Napoleon, Chichagov's delay and the crossing of the Berezina. On the way of both armies from Moscow, then 430,000 corpses will be counted ... Later, Alexander will say: "... this unfortunate campaign cost me ten years of my life ...".

It is noteworthy that after the "hundred days" of Napoleon, Alexander suddenly fell into mysticism. He met the famous mystic Jung-Stilling and the "prophetess" Baroness Julia de Krudener. Under their influence, the tsar began to find consolation in the zealous performance of church rituals and religious exaltation. Kruedener instilled in Alexander that he was a “white angel” who was destined to defeat the “black angel” (Napoleon) and carry out European politics in the spirit of the principles of early Christianity. It is strange that the emperor just around her, and not around the Orthodox hierarchs, feels that he is partaking of heavenly grace and imbued with the spirit of Christ! It was then that he first said that he would someday become a hermit.

Only after the triumphal march of the Russian army through Paris, Alexander removes Krudener, but the thoughts sown by her remained - the emperor begins to prepare a project for the "Sacred Union" of Russia, Austria and Prussia, which was as mystical as it was utopian (the emperors united: Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic!).

7. "... I find satisfaction in complete solitude"

It is noteworthy that as time passed, Alexander less and less often recalled the war with Napoleon. He founded the Bible Society, which united the heads of all Christian denominations that existed in Russia. In an amazing way, he combined Orthodox dogmas, the postulates of Masons and occult ideas. Sects began to multiply in the country, and Selivanov (the head of the eunuchs sect) became very revered. Alexander stops persecuting Old Believers, Molokans and Dukhobors. Astral theology is in use in society. In St. Petersburg, a sect of "revolving" appeared, into which the future Minister of Public Education A. Golitsyn, then the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, also entered.

But the person closest to the emperor - A. A. Arakcheev - was far from any mysticism. He begins to strengthen discipline and order. The idea of \u200b\u200bmilitary settlements is born. Interesting that "God-fearing hermit" Alexander states: "There will be military settlements, even if the road from St. Petersburg to Chuguev had to be covered with corpses ..."

After the suppression of the rebellion in Chuguev, the tsar, instead of the death penalty, "mercifully" ordered to drive 275 convicts through the formation of a thousand people 12 times (160 people died during the punishment or immediately after it), 26 women were punished with rods. In 1820, the Tsar's favorite regiment, the Semenovsky, rebelled. Again the mines and gauntlets.

Pushkin was expelled, spiritual and secular censorship was unusually toughened, schools began to dictate: "Two triangles are equal to the third with God's help."Russians are prohibited from studying abroad, teaching of natural law and political science is prohibited on Russian territory.

The people closest to the emperor at this time were Metropolitan Seraphim and Archimandrite Photius. On August 1, 1822, the tsar prohibits all secret societies, and answers numerous denunciations about them: "It's not for me to judge them" ...

8. "... art and knowledge in medical science"

Alexander Pavlovich, despite endless travels (he visited up to 20 cities a year, traveled almost to the Urals, only came to Ryazan twice), was an unusually healthy person, although the epidemic situation was then critical (cholera, dysentery, "camp" fever, under which then hid typhoid-paratyphoid diseases, easily spreading among the military). The king even flaunted it. So, on January 6, 1807, he received the Epiphany parade in 16-degree frost in one uniform, and in the cold winter of 1812 he rode from Petersburg to Vilno (Vilnius) in an open sleigh!

Personally, he rarely needed medical attention, but the emperor, of course, had physicians. I will name only some of the most famous.

David Davidovich Garder (1769-1833) - surgeon, ophthalmologist, doctor of medicine, physician of Alexander I, actual state councilor. In 1803 he received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Dorpat. From 1817 he lived in St. Petersburg. He was an honorary member of the Medical Council, a member of the committee of the St. Petersburg Eye Hospital and an honorary member of the Medical and Surgical Academy.

Fyodor (Friedrich-August-Wilhelm) Fyodorovich Geyrot (1776-1828) - therapist, professor, life-doctor, academician of the Moscow Art Academy. Received a medical degree and a doctorate in medicine and surgery in Germany. In 1801 he came to Russia, after passing the exam at the Medical College, he was enrolled in the Army Army Hospital. Since 1810, Corresponding Member of the Moscow Art Academy. In 1811 he was appointed chief doctor of the St. Petersburg Military Land Hospital. In 1812-1814. in charge of military hospitals in Vitebsk and Vilno. In 1817-1828. Professor and Head of the Department of Therapeutic Clinic of the Moscow Art Academy. Since 1820 - Vice-Director of the Medical Department, since 1825 - Life-Medic, since 1827 - Academician of the Moscow Art Academy. In 1823-1828. chief Editor "Military Medical Journal".

Karl Christianovich Daler (1768-1838) - doctor of medicine, medical life (1816), actual state councilor (1824). Member of the Patriotic War of 1812, Chief Physician of the Guards Corps.

Osip Kirillovich Kamenetsky (1754-1823) - Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Surgery at the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy, the first Russian medical doctor (1816). In 1798 he was appointed inspector of the St. Petersburg Physicist Office, since 1799 - a member of the Medical College. In 1814, without an examination, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In September 1816, he was the first Russian doctor to receive the title of Life Physician.

Alexander Alexandrovich Crichton (Creighton)(1763-1856) - Doctor of Medicine, Honorary Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, General Staff Doctor (1809), Actual State Councilor. Studied at the University of Edinburgh School of Medicine. Performed in Stuttgart, Halle, Vienna, Paris. He received his M.D. from the University of Leiden. In 1804 he came to Russia. Granted to the life-doctors. In 1819 he returned to England.

Peter Ivanovich von Lindstrom (1767-1841) - doctor of medicine, physician, privy councilor. Life-doctor of the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. Freemason, lodge "Peter to Truth" (until 1818-1819).

Christian Ivanovich von Loder (1753-1832) - therapist, anatomist, doctor of medicine and surgery, professor, life-doctor. In 1777 he received his doctorate in medicine and surgery and the title of ordinary professor at the University of Jena, where he organized a maternity hospital and a museum of natural history and built a new anatomical theater. In 1803-1806. - tenured professor at the University of Halle. In 1809 he came to Russia, in 1810 he was appointed physician-in-chief of Emperor Alexander I. In 1812 he was the main organizer of military hospitals for 6,000 officers and 31,000 lower ranks. In 1813-1818, he was the director of a hospital in Moscow, built a new anatomical theater in the city, where he read lectures for free until 1831, when he retired due to illness. In 1828, he organized the first artificial mineral water plant in Moscow. The catch phrase "chase a bummer" is associated with physical exercises, which he made patients do to lose weight (literally - "chase a loder").

Osip Osipovich (Josef) Reman (1776-1831) - Doctor of Medicine at the University of Vienna, medical doctor (1813). He graduated from the medical faculty of the University of Vienna in 1802. He came to Russia in 1805 and received the right to practice medicine. In 1821 - General Staff Doctor.

Ivan Ivanovich Rozberg (1734-?) - Doctor of Medicine, gof-medic in 1783-1788, gof-surgeon since 1796, life surgeon since 1802

Felix Osipovich Rusconi (1769 or 1770-1819) - Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (1814), Life Surgeon, State Councilor. He served in the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment (1800). In 1802 he was promoted to the head physician. In 1805 he was awarded a diamond ring "for excellent diligence" shown during the 1805 campaign. In 1807 he was appointed regimental head physician in the Izmailovsky Life Guards regiment. In 1810 he was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Moscow Art Academy. In 1812-1816. served as director of the medical department of the Ministry of War. In 1814, the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy was recognized as a doctor of medicine and surgery. His widow "treated with a conspiracy" Nicholas I.

Ivan Fedorovich (Johann Georg) Ruhl (1768-1848) - Doctor of Medicine and Surgery, physician. He studied at a hospital school, in 1787 he entered the St. Petersburg Obukhov hospital as an intern. In 1788 he joined the navy as a doctor. Participated in battles near Gotland, Helsingfors, Fr. Berngolm. In 1790 he was appointed head physician of the St. Petersburg General Land Hospital. In 1792 he was recognized as a doctor of medicine and transferred to the service in the Moscow General Hospital. In 1794 he was a physician of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. In 1798 he was appointed junior gof surgeon, since 1802 - gof surgeon. Participated in the 1805 campaign. "In the battle at the Lambach monastery, he saved 163 wounded and sick people, and at the Melk monastery, in view of the enemy, - 300 wounded, with great danger for himself, barely having time to escape himself."

Dmitry Klementievich Tarasov (1792-1866) - Doctor of Medicine, Honorary Life Surgeon, Privy Councilor (1866), Civil General Staff Doctor. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Moscow Art Academy with a gold medal in 1818 and was appointed a battalion doctor of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. He was a personal physician under Emperor Alexander I, was present at his death in Taganrog (1825). The title of Honorary Life Surgeon was granted to him only in 1829. From 1820 to 1826, he served as manager of the office of the chief military medical inspector of the Russian army, Ya. V. Willie. In 1827 - General Staff Physician for Civil Affairs. In 1839 the Moscow Art Academy was recognized as a doctor of medicine. Since 1836 - Director of the Military Medical Department of the War Ministry. He took part in organizing the fight against the cholera epidemic in 1831. He initiated the establishment of the Military Medical Scientific Committee (1831).

But the main among Alexander's life-doctors for many years, of course, was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh (1790), Doctor of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen (1794), Doctor of Medicine and Surgery of Russia (1800), Life-Surgeon since 1799. ., chief military medical inspector of the Russian army (1806), president of the St. Petersburg Moscow Art Academy (1808-1838) Jacob (James) Vasilievich Willie... For his time, he was a skilled surgeon: he removed the bullet from the body of the lumbar vertebra to A.V.Suvorov's adjutant, opened the pharyngeal abscess to Count A.P. Kutaisov, operated on the Marquis of Londonderry and Marshal Wandom in the battle at Kulm, at Leipzig - Field Marshal Radetzky, near Ghanaau - Field Marshal Wrede, near Dresden - General Moreau, near Borodino tried to save the general from the infantry of PA Bagration, treated MI Kutuzov in a foreign campaign. Willie was a real privy councilor, manager of the court medical unit, chairman of the Military Medical Scientific Committee. Wrote "Field Pharmacopoeia", a number of works on the prevention of infectious diseases (already at that time recommended "caustic (chlorine) lime" for disinfection). He described in detail the symptoms of the plague and how to deal with cholera epidemics, wrote a paper about "intermittent fevers and laxative fevers" (it was primarily about malaria), which was relevant during the Caucasian War and the endless wars with Turkey. He was proficient in the operative techniques of hulling the shoulder and ligation of the radial artery. His main scientific work is "A Brief Instruction on the Most Important Surgical Operations" (1806). Surgical tactics in the treatment of gunshot wounds, proposed by Willie, turned out to be quite effective and in the pre-antiseptic period retained its importance for a long time. For his time, he knew the anatomy well and confidently recommended the ligation of large arteries, relying on the collateral network, which confused the then famous surgeons (I. Dieffenbach, for example). Willie described 33 operations and various surgical kits, and he ordered the publication of the Military Medical Journal. Alexander proudly recommended J. Willie to the European monarchs as an attending physician. But the paradox was that he could not help his emperor.

Undoubtedly, in the last years of his life, Alexander was depressed. It seems that the struggle with the "black angel" weakened him physically and spiritually, and the role of the "new Napoleon" was beyond his own strength. Acting as the organizer of the destinies of the peoples of Europe (it was not for nothing that A. Pushkin called him “a nomadic despot”!), In Russia he was unable to fulfill any of the tasks that he set himself in his youth (introduction of a representative form of government, constitution, elimination of serfdom, judicial reform etc). The economy was in terrible decline, the inflation rate was devastating (the nominal value of the ruble was 25 kopecks in silver), there was an astronomical budget deficit.

Alexander suffered two grievous personal losses: on January 9, 1819, at the 31st year of his life, his sister Ekaterina Pavlovna died, and on June 23, 1824, his 16-year-old daughter Sophia, in whom he doted. Since about 1819, his emotional drama began to manifest itself quite clearly. He read the Bible constantly, morning and evening praying earnestly on his knees. Life-doctor DK Tarasov wrote about calluses on the emperor's legs. In 1819, Alexander told Nikolai Pavlovich and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna that he would like to abdicate the throne (in Russian history, this was an unprecedented case, except for Vasily Shuisky and Anna Leopoldovna, but they acted under external influence). In 1823, he drew up a special manifesto, in which he spoke of leaving the throne in favor of Nicholas. The desire for solitude, prayers, "malicious mysticism" and illness (after all) became his constant companions.

During the exercises on September 19, 1823, a restive horse of the adjutant hit the emperor on the left leg, which resulted in hematoma and inflammation, the doctors were even afraid of "Antonov's fire". Then Alexander developed erysipelas of the right leg, which in the pre-antibiotic era was already dangerous in itself. True, there is evidence (which changes little in essence) that the erysipelas nevertheless arose at the site of the injury. The king scrambled out, but not quite: erysipelas often leads to venous insufficiency, and this is a possible cause of thromboembolism.

9. "I served 25 years, and a soldier is retired during this period ..."

At the beginning of 1825, doctors stated that Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna had "consumption" and recommended (it is not clear why) a stay in Taganrog (where there are strong winds and "rotten" winter!). On September 1, 1825, after praying at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Alexander, accompanied by a retinue of 20 people, physicians J. V. Willie, D. K. Tarasov and K. Stofregen, left for Taganrog, where he arrived on September 13. Elizaveta Alekseevna arrived there ten days later.

On October 20, the emperor set off on a trip to the Crimea, but on the way he felt bad. On the way back, he witnessed the death of the courier Maskov from a traumatic brain injury, after which his condition worsened. Weakness and nausea appeared. On November 4, already in Mariupol, the fever intensified to chills. J. Willie, an expert on fevers, considered the emperor's illness a "gastrointestinal laxative" or "Crimean" fever (not in the modern sense of the Crimean viral hemorrhagic fever!). On November 10, getting out of bed, Alexander lost consciousness (decubital collapse?), But, having come to his senses, he categorically refused to take the medication. Maybe he was afraid of poisoning? But he refused both the laxative and the bloodletting! The fever gave way to stupor, the next three days did not bring relief, and on November 15, the archpriest of the local cathedral church, Father Alexei Fedotov, confessed and gave the Emperor the Holy Communion. DK Tarasov applies 35 leeches to the emperor on the mastoid processes and makes a cold lotion on his head. Fever, which comes on again, weakens for a short time, but then returns. In the evening of November 18, DK Tarasov ascertained the signs of an apoplectic stroke, and on November 19 at about 11 am Alexander dies.

Willie and Tarasov refused to conduct an autopsy, and K. Stofregen, the county medical doctors I. Dobbert and K. Reingold, and four paramedics took over. Based on the results of the autopsy (and the protocol was published many times), it is difficult to say for sure what caused the death of the emperor. It is assumed that there is a hemorrhagic stroke, typhoid fever (but no one talks about a roseolous rash, which could not be overlooked), malaria, thromboembolism against the background of deep vein thrombosis of the leg, etc. Assumptions about biliary colic, complicated by brain damage, are absolutely fantastic. But the fact remains: Alexander Pavlovich died after a 20-day febrile illness, at the end of which cerebral phenomena appeared (coma, respiratory failure, etc.). The official conclusion does not clarify: "Emperor Alexander I on November 19, 1825 at 10 hours 47 minutes in the morning in the city of Taganrog died of fever with brain inflammation."

The death of the not yet old emperor in a small remote town, far from the capitals, gave rise to the legend that he simply left the world, unable to bear his sinfulness, became a hermit, and many years later, under the name of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich, appeared in Siberia. Fyodor became famous for his holiness, he was revered as an Orthodox elder, an ascetic who spent time in fasting and prayer. He died in 1864, leaving behind an encrypted inscription and a key to the cipher, which no one could guess. Some members of the royal family visited his grave (allegedly in 1891 Nicholas II visited there). There is another assumption: Alexander began to build the Cathedral of Christ the Savior not in memory of those killed in the war of 1812, but trying to atone for his sin of parricide. A modern historian writes: “Whoever was the one who called himself Theodor Kuzmich, he wassuigeneris (kind of) AlexanderI... He carried the cross of the Russian Tsar, paid his bills, atoned for his sin. Spiritual sin, not political. The political sins of the Russian tsar had to atone for Russia as a whole ... " (A. Arkhangelsky, 2001).

In general, everything is clear. Another thing is not clear: why in our country the deaths of rulers are immediately overgrown with some kind of detective stories? Why can't they, like all people, just get sick and just die? Maybe because we have five emperors really died a violent death? And maybe V.O. Klyuchevsky was right when he said that a significant part of our history is a memorial service, and the other is a criminal case? In any case, the history of Alexander I definitely began as a criminal case, and ended with a funeral service, which was served in all churches ...

Nikolay Larinsky, 2002-2015

Stofregen (Stofregen) Konrad Konradovich (1767-1841) - doctor of medicine, physician, privy councilor (1826). He studied medicine at the University of Göttingen, where in 1788 he received his doctorate in medicine. Participated in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau (1807) and "For the art in the use of the sick and wounded" received the rank of collegiate counselor. Divisional Doctor of the Corps of Engineers. In 1808 he was appointed a physician-in-chief and was granted a state councilor. Since 1811 he was an honorary member of the Medical Council of the Ministry of the Interior. From 1817 - a full state councilor, from 1826 - a privy councilor. Physician in charge of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna. He was present at the death of Alexander I and described in detail his medical history. After the death of Elizaveta Alekseevna, he left his job at the imperial court. In 1827 was "Dismissed indefinitely on vacation in Revel", since 1833 "Dismissed from service altogether with the production of pensions from the State Treasury at four thousand rubles a year".

The coachman Ilya Ivanovich Baikov was hired in the court stable of Emperor Alexander I in 1801, and almost immediately he became one of the most influential people in St. Petersburg. Even the generals knew: if you want to hand over the petition personally to the emperor, go to Baikov.

Without parting for a day

The history of friendship between the nobleman Dmitry Alexandrovich Lukin and his serf Ilya Ivanovich Baikov inspired Valentin Pikul to create the historical miniature “Two from the same village”. Its heroes - the owner and the coachman - together cope with the robbers and together celebrate family celebrations, surprising the guests with remarkable strength.

Lukin gave his friend the freedom to work much more significant - on December 1, 1801, Baikov was hired as a coachman in the court stable of Alexander I. did not take.

During this time, together with the emperor, he traveled half of Russia and Finland, visited Warsaw, Vienna and many other European capitals. And such devotion was rewarded: in 1808 the coachman received land for building a house, but not just somewhere, but on the Fontanka, between Anichkov and Chernyshev bridges, five years later - a construction loan of 20 thousand rubles, which did not even have to be returned ... But, surprisingly, this is not envy - just an even greater honor.

"Ask Ilya Baykov"

The elite of both capitals knew about the emperor's favor to the coachman Baikov. And, of course, I tried to use it. There was no surer way to convey an idea or a request to Alexander I personally than to convey it to Ilya Baykov. According to Valentin Pikul, the sovereign even once said to the coachman: "I have a committee for accepting petitions, so you started your own committee at home." Therefore, even the generals were considered persons less influential than this life coachman, and tried to win his favor and condescended to friendly embraces.

Alexander Mikhailovich Turgenev mentioned in the "Notes" that he personally saw Adjutant General Fyodor Petrovich Uvarov, who climbed on the goats of the imperial carriage to hug the coachman Ilya Baykov.

Among the many petitioners were those who aroused the sincere sympathy of the life coachman. Thanks to the memoirs of Nikolai Ivanovich Lorer, a story has been preserved about how Baykov rescued General Loshakov from the casemates, who, after the battle, voluntarily left for his beautiful wife, for which he was convicted and exiled. Of course, his wife was not accepted in the world, and all her petitions remained unanswered. It was then that they advised her to ask Ilya Baykov: "He is a kind person and will pity you."

The life coachman ordered the general to wait for the emperor's carriage on Admiralty Boulevard and dress up more brightly so that she could be distinguished in the crowd. Barely noticing Loshakova, Ilya Ivanovich deftly ruled the horse so that it stepped over the line and stopped. At the same moment, the woman was at the feet of Alexander I and dared to voice a request for clemency from her husband. She received forgiveness, and the emperor only threatened the coachman: "Ilya, is this your thing?"

To the guardhouse!

But no matter how many such coincidences happened, Alexander Pavlovich was still supportive of his permanent coachman. And Baikov got to the guardhouse in 1822 not at all because of another annoying supplicant. He managed to anger the emperor with just one word - "I know."

This case is described in the "Notes of the Decembrist" Lorer. Ilya Baikov himself told him that the emperor never gave addresses, but only nodded in the direction he should turn, so the coachman constantly glanced at the owner. And one day, seeing another nod, Baykov blurted out: "I know, your Majesty," to which he immediately received an angry answer: "The coachman should not know anything except horses!" And upon arrival at the Winter Palace, he was immediately arrested.

Academy of Sciences and emperor's overcoat

The closeness to Alexander I almost served as a reason to make the coachman an honorary member of the Academy of Arts. Allegedly, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Count Viktor Pavlovich Kochubei, who had no special merits in art, but was close to the emperor, was proposed as a candidate for this place. In response to this, it was proposed to put the life coachman Baykov in the same post: "He is not only the closest, but also sits in front of the sovereign."

It is still unknown whether this is a reliable fact or a historical anecdote, but after the alleged events, Vice-President of the Academy of Arts Alexander Fedorovich Labzin was exiled to the Simbirsk province.

Another story tells about how popular the personal imperial coachman was in St. Petersburg. Allegedly, one day Alexander I got caught in the rain and went to the Winter Palace with the first cabman he came across. Naturally, the emperor did not take money with him, and the coachman did not recognize him and considered him an officer from the palace guard.

Therefore, the sovereign had to leave his overcoat as a pledge and give an order to the footman to bring the fare to the porch - a ruble in silver. The money was considerable, but the greatcoat was much more expensive, so the cabman insisted that he would return it only to the owner personally. Then Ilya Baykov had to pay - only after that the cabman realized who he was actually giving a lift, because not everyone knew the emperor by sight, but his life coachman was almost every citizen of St. Petersburg.

"I drove the sovereign alive and now I will not leave his body"

Without leaving the emperor for a day, Baikov was with him on his last trip to Taganrog. And since the emperor died far from the world, there were rumors that in fact he was being held captive, and the funeral was fake. In her letters, the wife of the English envoy, Lady Disborough, noted: “They say that nothing soothed the people with regard to the real death of the emperor, as the fact that Baikov personally drove the hearse.

When the people saw Ilya, they knew that he would not allow himself to be deceived and that no one would be able to convince him to carry anything else except the body of the deceased master. " At the same time, the diplomat and senator Alexander Yakovlevich Bulgakov, who met the motorcade, recalled that the beloved coachman of the emperor did not look the same as before - “he turned gray, grew old”. He said: “Yes, there is something. What is my life now? " And burst into bitter tears.

After the death of the emperor, Ilya Baikov could no longer be so influential, so Prince Yusupov decided to put the coachman in his place right at the funeral, saying that it was indecent for him to wear a beard while driving the ceremonial funeral carriage. But the favorite of Alexander I had nothing to fear, and he replied: “So tell me to shave my beard now. I drove the sovereign alive and now I will not leave his body. "

“Here is the Tail Patron,
Here is a servile soul
Destroyer of enlightenment,
Patron of Bantysh!
Push, for God's sake,
At him from all sides!
Should I try from behind?
He's the weakest there. "

So Alexander Pushkin ridiculed in his epigram one of the most famous court bachelors during the reign of Alexander I - Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn. The attitude towards this statesman in society was ambiguous. Some contemporaries noted his sharp mind, others reproached him for being carried away by mystical religious movements, and still others hinted at ambiguous connections with men.

“Brought up at the court and only for the court”, as Count Fyodor Tolstoy wrote about him, Golitsyn enjoyed the patronage of the emperor for many years and was considered his main confidant.

On the anniversary of the death of the Minister of Public Education, the site recalls what contribution to history he left behind.

"Cheerful and spicy" boy

In Moscow, on December 19, 1773, a son, Alexander, was born into the family of the captain of the guard, Prince Nikolai Golitsyn. But the father was not able to hold the baby in his arms: he died a few days after the birth of the heir. Widowed early, Alexandra Khitrovo remarried, linking her life with a retired major. She treated her first child quite coldly, not surrounding him with care and motherly love. However, the boy aroused the sympathy of Marya Savvishna Perekusikhina, a close friend of Empress Catherine II. The lady of the court began to take care of the "jolly and sharp little" child, which played a key role in his fate. At the age of 10, under her patronage, he was enrolled in the Corps of Pages, which was considered the most prestigious educational institution of the Russian Empire.

Alexander Golitsyn. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The agile boy often took part in the games of the great dukes Alexander and Constantine, the grandchildren of the empress. Friendship with one of them lasted a lifetime and did not stop even when Golitsyn was expelled from St. Petersburg by order of Paul I, and his namesake ascended the throne as the new emperor.

After Paul's assassination on the night of March 12, 1801, his son Alexander ascended the throne. While in power, he did not forget his childhood friend, soon appointing him chief prosecutor of the I and later of the III departments of the Senate.

Golitsyn's career was rapidly going uphill. At the age of 29, he rose to the post of Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod. And at 43 he became Minister of Public Education.

"Baby" in the work of faith "

Contemporaries recalled that over the years in Golitsyn, who was reputed to be a pleasant companion, a serious change had taken place. He was carried away by religious movements, believed in miracles and "chased the prophets."

Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, in one of his memoirs, described this period of his life as follows:

“This“ baby ”in the matter of faith was constantly fooled by various bigots and fanatics; he sought "the outpouring of the Holy Spirit" and revelations, eternally chased after prophets and prophetesses, after signs and wonders: either "he listened to the prophetic word" at the Tatarinova's whip, then he thirsted for the laying on of the hand of the new Chrysostom Photius, then he healed the possessed, then he was rewarded in mystical ecstasy to experience the likeness of the suffering of the Savior from the needles of the thorn leaf. "

Alexander Golitsyn also captivated the Emperor Alexander I by reading the pages of the Apocalypse. According to historians, Golitsyn was greatly influenced by Rodion Koshelev, who served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Minister in Denmark under Paul I. The three of them often prayed and discussed religious issues. In 1813, Koshelev and Golitsyn even created the Bible Society, the purpose of which was to distribute and translate the Bible on the territory of the Russian Empire.

Passion for religion came to Alexander during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

There are memories of how the house church of Alexander Nikolaevich looked like, where the emperor sometimes prayed with the prince.

At the foot of a huge wooden cross was placed a semblance of a coffin covered with a shroud. On it lay various types of crosses that were presented to him at different times.

“In front of the grave, instead of a chandelier, an image of a human heart is made of crimson glass, and in this heart an unquenchable fire is glowing,” recalled people close to him.

Churchmen conspiracy

The emperor's enthusiasm for exotic trends in Christianity alarmed the representatives of the Orthodox Church, who managed to enlist the support of another influential nobleman - Alexei Arakcheev.

In Koshelev, they saw a "court caress", and in Golitsyn - a person who completely fell under his influence.

"This nobleman is a cunning, wasteland, a hypocrite, a courtier caress, having taken over the minister of spiritual affairs and public education Prince Golitsyn, more than anyone else in his time did harm and evil to the Orthodox Church and the spiritual estate," wrote his contemporary archimandrite about Rodion Alexandrovich Photius.

Alexei Arakcheev, Metropolitan Seraphim and Archimandrite Photius took part in the intrigue against the court lovers of mysticism. They tried in every possible way to weaken the influence on the emperor, convincing him that Golitsyn's administration had a detrimental effect on the church and state affairs.

The story was resolved in May 1824, when Alexander Nikolayevich resigned, retaining only the title of supreme commander over the postal department.

A year later, the emperor was no more. At the age of 47, Alexander I died in Taganrog from a fever.

House of Prince Golitsyn on Fontanka, 20. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / A.Savin

During the last years of his life, Golitsyn complained of deterioration of his eyesight. After leaving Petersburg, he went to his estate Gaspra in the Crimea, where he died on December 4, 1844.

The upbringing and views of young Alexander I and young Paul were in many ways similar. Like his father, Alexander was brought up in the spirit of the ideas of the Enlightenment about a "true", "legal" monarchy. His mentor since 1783 was the Swiss F.-C. de Laharpe, professional lawyer, follower of the encyclopedists. For Alexander, Laharpe was not just a teacher, but also a moral authority. Documents show that Alexander's views in his youth were quite radical: he sympathized French revolution and the republican form of government, condemned the hereditary monarchy, serfdom, favoritism and bribery that flourished at the St. Petersburg court. There is reason to believe that court life with its intrigues, the entire backstage side of "big politics", which Alexander could closely observe during the life of Catherine, aroused in him indignation, a feeling of disgust for politics as such, a desire not to take part in it. He also treated the rumors about Catherine's plan to transfer the throne to him bypassing Paul.

Thus, unlike Paul I, Alexander, ascending the Russian throne, was apparently not particularly power-hungry and had not yet had time to abandon the ideals of youth (he was 23 at that time). Through the prism of these ideals he looked at his father's actions, completely not sympathizing with either his goals or methods. Alexander dreamed of first carrying out a revolution that “would be produced by legitimate authority,” and then retirement.

Back in the mid-90s, a small circle of like-minded people formed around Alexander. They were, firstly, V.P. Kochubei - the nephew of Catherine's chancellor, gr. Bezborodko, secondly, Prince. Adam A. Chartoryski - a wealthy Polish nobleman in the Russian service, then A.S. Stroganov - the son of one of the most noble and wealthy people of that time and, finally, Nikolai N. Novosiltsev - Stroganov's cousin. In this circle of "young friends" the vices of Pavlov's reign were discussed and plans for the future were made.

However, it should be noted that life experience Alexander and the members of his circle were very different. Thus, Stroganov and Kochubei witnessed the events in revolutionary France. The first was there at the very beginning of the revolution with his tutor Gilbert Romm, attended meetings of the National Assembly, became a Jacobin and was forcibly returned home in 1790. The second came to France in 1791-1792. after several years of living abroad and in particular in England, where he studied the English state system. Upon his return to Russia, Kochubey was appointed ambassador to Constantinople, where he spent another five years. For educational purposes, Prince Adam Czartoryski also visited England, who also had experience of a completely different kind: he fought against Russia during the second partition of Poland. The oldest member of this circle was N.N. Novosiltsev - by the time of Alexander's accession in 1801 he was already 40 years old. As for Alexander, his life experience was limited only by his knowledge of the Petersburg court and a negative perception of the reign of first grandmother, and then father. In conversations with members of the circle, Alexander admired revolutionary France and expressed a naive belief in the possibility of creating a "true monarchy" through transformations from above. The "young friends" were more skeptical and realistic, but did not disappoint the Grand Duke, hoping to derive certain benefits from their position.

Historians have argued a lot about how much Alexander was initiated into the plans of the conspirators against Paul 1 and, therefore, how much he was guilty of his death. The surviving circumstantial evidence indicates that Alexander most likely hoped that Paul could be persuaded to abdicate in his favor, and thus the coup would be legal and bloodless. The accomplished murder of Paul put the young emperor in a completely different situation. With his sensitivity, romantic belief in justice and legality, he could not help but perceive what had happened as a tragedy that darkened the very beginning of his reign. At the same time, if Alexander had obtained power by legal means, his hands would have been sufficiently untied. Now he was dependent on those who had won the throne for him by crime and who constantly put pressure on him, reminding him of the possibility of a new coup. In addition, behind the back of the conspirators stood a party of old Catherine's nobles ("Catherine's old men," as they were called) - an influential, numerous, with strong family ties. The main thing for these people was to preserve the old order. It is no coincidence that in Alexander's manifesto on his accession to the throne, he promised "to rule by God, the people entrusted to us according to the law and according to the heart, in the Bose of the late august grandmother of our Empress Empress Catherine the Great."

Early reign activities

Indeed, the first decrees of the emperor confirmed this promise. Already on March 13-15, 1801, orders were issued to issue decrees on resignation to all those dismissed from military and civil service without trial, members of the Smolensk circle were amnestied, to whom the ranks and nobility were returned; On March 15, an amnesty was announced for political prisoners and fugitives who had taken refuge abroad; the ban on the import of various industrial goods was lifted; March 31 - The ban on the activities of private printing houses and the import of books from abroad was lifted. Finally, on April 2, the emperor announced 5 manifestos in the Senate, which restored in full the effect of the Charters of Grant to the nobility and cities. At the same time, it was announced that the Secret Expedition of the Senate was liquidated and that the investigation of political cases was transferred to institutions in charge of criminal proceedings. One of the manifestos on April 2 was addressed to the peasants; it promised not to increase taxes and allowed the export of agricultural products abroad.

It would seem that the "old people" should be satisfied, but the real meaning of the manifestos turned out to be wider than a simple restoration of Catherine's order. For example, the removal of political affairs from the direct jurisdiction of the sovereign was perceived in principle as a limitation of his power. This revealed the second (no less significant than the first) goal of the conspirators: to create a state system that would legally restrict the rights of any despot-sovereign in favor of the top of the aristocracy. The control over the activities of the monarch, the creation of a mechanism that protects against despotic tendencies, fully corresponded to the convictions of Alexander, and therefore on April 5, 1801, a decree appeared on the creation of an Indispensable Council - a legislative body under the Tsar (in 1810 it was replaced by the State Council).

There was nothing fundamentally new in the very fact of creating such a Council: the urgent need for such a body was felt by all rulers after Peter I. However, the legal status and rights were not usually enshrined in laws, otherwise the matter was with the Indispensable Council. Although supreme power the country continued to remain completely in the hands of the sovereign and he retained the right to issue laws without the consent of the Council, the members of the Council were able to monitor the activities of the monarch and submit submissions, that is, in fact, to protest those actions or decrees of the emperor with which they were not agree. The real role of the Council in governing the country should have been determined depending on how the relationship between the members of the Council and the monarch would develop in practice.

However, in addition to relationships, the sovereign's attitude towards the Council was also important - how seriously he took it and how much he was going to reckon with it. Alexander was going to fulfill his obligations exactly, and, as shown further development events, it was his mistake. As for the relationship with the Council, they, in turn, depended on the composition of this authority.

Initially, the Council consisted of 12 people, mainly leaders of the most important government agencies... In addition to them, the Council included the emperor's confidants and the main participants in the conspiracy against Paul. Basically, all of these were representatives of the highest aristocracy and bureaucracy - those on whom Alexander 1 depended to the greatest extent. However, such a composition of the Council gave hope to get rid of this addiction, because Catherine's nobles were there next to Pavlov's, and they could not but compete among themselves for influence on the emperor. Quite quickly, the sovereign learned to use this situation to his advantage.

With such a balance of forces, the young emperor could hope to find among the members of the Council and supporters of broader reforms, but he was going to develop a plan for these reforms with his “young friends”. Alexander saw the main goal of the changes in the creation of a constitution guaranteeing his citizens the rights of a citizen, similar to those formulated in the famous French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. He, however, agreed with the opinion that initially the management system should be reformed in this way in order to guarantee property rights.

Meanwhile, without waiting for the reform plan to be drawn up, in May 1801 Alexander submitted to the Indispensable Council a draft decree banning the sale of serfs without land. According to the emperor, this decree was to be the first step towards the elimination of serfdom. Behind it, the following was planned - permission to purchase inhabited land to non-nobles on the condition that the peasants living on these lands would become free. When, as a result, a certain number of free peasants would appear, it was planned to extend a similar procedure for selling land to the nobles. Thus, Alexander's plan was similar to the plan that existed at one time with Catherine, about which he most likely did not know. At the same time, the emperor was quite careful and did not disclose all the details even to the people closest to him, but already at the first stage he had to face the fierce resistance of the serf-owners.

Without rejecting in principle the proposal of the emperor, the members of the Council, however, quite firmly made it clear to him that the adoption of such a decree could cause both ferment among the peasantry and serious discontent of the nobles. The Council believed that the introduction of such a measure should be included in the system of laws on the rights of owners of estates that should be developed.

In other words, it was proposed to postpone the adoption of the decree for an indefinite period. It is significant that Alexander's “young friends” - Stroganov and Kochubey - agreed with this opinion of the Council. However, the king did not give up and personally appeared at a meeting of the Council to defend his project. A discussion took place in which the emperor was supported by only one of the members of the Council. Alexander, hoping for the enlightenment of the nobility, apparently did not expect such a reaction and was forced to retreat. The only result of this attempt to restrict serfdom was the ban on publishing advertisements for the sale of serfs in newspapers, which soon the landowners learned to easily bypass.

The most important consequence of Alexander's failure in trying to solve the peasant question was the final transfer of the preparation of reforms to the circle of "young friends", and he agreed with their opinion that the work should be carried out in secret. So the Secret Committee was created, which included Stroganov, Kochubei, Czartorysky, Novosiltsev, and later the old “Catherine's grandee” Count A.V. Vorontsov.

Already at the first meeting of the Secret Committee, a certain discrepancy in ideas about his tasks between the emperor and his friends became clear, who believed that it was necessary to start first of all with studying the state of the state, then carry out the reform of the administration, and only then proceed to creating a constitution. Alexander, agreeing in principle with this plan, wished to deal with the third stage as soon as possible. As for the official Indispensable Council, the real result of the first months of its work was the project “All-Merciful Letter, To the Russian people complained ", which was supposed to be promulgated on the day of the coronation on September 15, 1801. The certificate was supposed to reaffirm all the privileges indicated in the Charters of 1785, as well as the rights and guarantees of private property, personal security, freedom of speech, press common to all residents of the country and conscience. A special article of the charter guaranteed the inviolability of these rights. Simultaneously with this document, new project on the peasant question. Its author was the last favorite of Catherine and one of the leaders of the 1801 coup. P.A.Zubov. According to his project, again (as under Paul 1), the sale of peasants without land was prohibited and a procedure was established according to which the state was obliged to redeem the peasants from the landlords if necessary, and also stipulated the conditions under which the peasants could redeem themselves.

The third project prepared for the coronation was the Senate reorganization project. The document took a long time to prepare, so there were several versions of it. The essence of all of them, however, boiled down to the fact that the Senate was to become an organ of the supreme leadership of the country, combining executive, judicial, control and legislative functions.

In fact, all three acts prepared for the coronation in aggregate represented a single program for transforming Russia into a "true monarchy" that Alexander I dreamed of, but their discussion showed that the tsar had practically no like-minded people. In addition, the discussion of projects was hampered by the constant rivalry of the court groups. Thus, members of the Secret Committee resolutely rejected Zubov's project on the peasant question as too radical and untimely. The project to reorganize the Senate caused a storm among the tsar's entourage. The "young friends" of the emperor, united with Laharpe, who had arrived in Russia, proved to Alexander the impossibility and harmfulness of any limitation of autocracy.

Thus, the people from the tsar's inner circle, those on whom he pinned his hopes, turned out to be greater monarchists than he himself. As a result, the only document published on the day of the coronation was a manifesto, the entire content of which boiled down to the abolition of recruitment for the current year and the payment of 25 kopecks of a poll tax.

Why did it happen that the reformer tsar actually found himself alone, that is, in a situation where no serious reforms were already possible? The first reason is the same as several decades earlier, when Catherine II carried out her reform plan: the nobility - the main support and guarantor of the stability of the throne, and, consequently, of the political regime in general - did not want to give up even a fraction of their privileges, which they were ready to defend. go till the end. When, after the Pugachev uprising, the nobility rallied around the imperial throne and Catherine realized that she could not be afraid of a coup, she managed to carry out a number of transformations, as decisive as possible without fear of disrupting political stability. At the beginning of the XIX century. in the peasant movement there was a certain decline, which strengthened the position of Alexander's opponents and gave them the opportunity to frighten the young tsar with major upheavals. The second most important reason was associated with the disappointment of a significant part of educated people not only in Russia, but throughout Europe in the effectiveness of the Enlightenment. The bloody horrors of the French Revolution became a kind of sobering cold shower for many. There was a fear that any changes, reforms, and especially those leading to a weakening of the tsarist power, might ultimately turn into a revolution.

There is one more question that must be asked: why did Alexander I not dare to publish on the day of his coronation at least one of the three prepared documents - the one about which, as it seems, there was no particular controversy - the Diploma to the Russian people? Probably, the emperor was aware that the Charter, not being supported by other legislative acts, would remain a simple declaration. That is why she did not raise any objections. Either publish all three documents together, or publish nothing. Alexander chose the second path, and this, of course, was his defeat. However, the undoubted positive result of the first months of the reign was the political experience acquired by the young emperor. He resigned himself to the need to reign, but he did not abandon plans for reforms.

On his return from Moscow from the coronation celebrations at the meetings of the Secret Committee, the tsar again returned to the peasant question, insisting on the issuance of a decree prohibiting the sale of peasants without land. The king decided to reveal the second point of the plan - to allow the sale of populated lands to non-nobles. Again, these proposals provoked strong objections from the "young friends". In words, they fully agreed with the condemnation of the practice of selling peasants without land, but they still frightened the tsar with a noble revolt. This was a strong argument that could not fail to work. As a result, this round of Alexander's reformatory attempts ended with a minimal result: December 12, 1801. a decree appeared on the right of non-nobles to buy land without peasants. Thus, the nobility's monopoly on land ownership was broken, but so insensitive that an explosion of discontent could not be feared.

The next steps of Alexander I were associated with the reorganization of state administration and corresponded to the practice of previous reigns that had developed in this area. In September 1802, a series of decrees created a system of eight ministries: Military, Naval, Foreign, Internal Affairs, Commerce, Finance, Public Education and Justice, as well as the State Treasury as a ministry. The ministers and chief executives, with the rights of ministers, formed a Committee of Ministers, in which each of them was obliged to submit for discussion their all-important reports to the emperor. Initially, the status of the Committee of Ministers was uncertain, and only in 1812 a corresponding document appeared.

Simultaneously with the creation of ministries, the Senate reform was carried out. By the decree on the rights of the Senate, it was defined as the "supreme seat of the empire", whose power was limited only by the power of the emperor. Ministers had to submit annual reports to the Senate, which he could appeal to the sovereign. It was this point, greeted with enthusiasm by the elite of the aristocracy, after a few months became the cause of the conflict between the tsar and the Senate, when an attempt was made to protest the report of the Minister of War, already approved by the emperor, and it was about establishing the terms of compulsory service of nobles who had not served the officer rank. The Senate saw this as a violation of noble privileges. As a result of the conflict, a decree of March 21, 1803 followed, forbidding the Senate to make representations on newly issued laws. Thus, the Senate was effectively relegated to its former position. In 1805 it was transformed, this time into a purely judicial institution with some administrative functions. The main governing body was, in fact, the Committee of Ministers.

The incident with the Senate largely predetermined the further development of events and the plans of the emperor. By transforming the Senate into a representative body with broad rights, Alexander did what he refused a year earlier. Now he became convinced that the exclusively noble representation without legal guarantees to other estates becomes for him only an obstacle, to achieve anything can only be achieved by concentrating all power in his hands. In fact, Alexander followed the path to which from the very beginning he was pushed by his “young friends” and the old mentor Laharpe. Apparently, by this time the emperor himself felt a taste of power, he was tired of the constant teachings and notations, the incessant disputes of his entourage, behind which the struggle for power and influence was easily guessed. So, in 1803, in a dispute with G.R. Derzhavin, who was at that time the Prosecutor General of the Senate, Alexander uttered significant words that could hardly have been heard from him before: "You always want to teach me, I am an autocratic sovereign and so want."

The beginning of 1803 was also marked by some shifts in the solution of the peasant question. This time the initiative came from the camp of the noble aristocracy from Count Rumyantsev, who wished to let his peasants free and asked to establish a legal order for this. The Count's address was used as a pretext for the publication of the Decree on Free Plowmen on February 20, 1803.

The decree on free farmers had an important ideological significance: for the first time it affirmed the possibility of freeing the peasants with land for ransom. This provision later formed the basis for the reform of 1861. Apparently, Alexander pinned great hopes on the decree: annually, statements on the number peasants transferred to this category. The practical application of the decree was to show how, in reality, the nobility was ready to part with their privileges. The results were discouraging: according to the latest data, during the entire period of the decree, 111,829 male souls were freed, that is, approximately 2% of all serfs.

A year later, the government took another step: on February 20, 1804, the "Regulations on the Livonian Peasants" appeared. The situation with the peasant question in the Baltics was somewhat different than in Russia, since the sale of peasants without land was prohibited there. The new regulation consolidated the status of "courtyards" as lifelong and hereditary tenants of land and gave them the right to buy out their land. According to the provision, the “courtyards” were exempted from conscription, and corporal punishment could only be subjected to a court sentence. The size of their duties and payments was clearly defined. Soon, the main provisions of the new law were extended to Estonia. Thus, a layer of prosperous peasantry was created in the Baltic countryside.

In October 1804, another innovation was introduced here by decree: merchants who had reached the rank of 8th grade were allowed to buy populated land and own them on the basis of an agreement with the peasants. In other words, peasants bought in this way ceased to be serfs and became free. It was, as it were, a truncated version of the original program for the elimination of serfdom. However, such half measures could not achieve the ultimate goal. Speaking about the attempts to solve the peasant problem in the first years of the reign of Alexander I, it should be mentioned that at this time the practice of granting state peasants to landowners ceased. True, about 350,000 state peasants were transferred to temporary lease.

Along with attempts to solve the most important issues of life in Russia, the government of Alexander I carried out major reforms in the field of public education. On January 24, 1803, Alexander approved a new regulation on the structure of educational institutions. The territory of Russia was divided into six educational districts, in which four categories of educational institutions were created: parish, district, provincial schools, as well as gymnasiums and universities. It was assumed that all of these educational establishments will enjoy uniform curriculaand the university in each educational district is the highest level of education. If before that in Russia there was only one university - Moscow, then in 1802 the University of Dorpat was restored, and in 1803 a university was opened in Vilna. In 1804 Kharkov and Kazan universities were founded. At the same time, the Pedagogical Institute was opened in St. Petersburg, then renamed into the Main pedagogical institute, and since 1819 transformed into a university. In addition, privileged educational institutions were opened: in 1805 - the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl, and in 1811 - the famous Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Specialized higher educational institutions were also created - the Moscow Commercial School (1804), the Institute of Railways (1810). Thus, under Alexander I, the work begun by Catherine II to create a system of public education was continued and corrected. As before, however, education remained inaccessible to a significant part of the population, primarily the peasants.

The first stage of the reforms of Alexander I ended in 1803, when it became clear that it was necessary to look for new ways and forms of their implementation. The emperor also needed new people, not so closely associated with the top of the aristocracy and completely devoted only to him personally. The choice of the tsar settled on A.A. Arakcheev, the son of a poor and ignorant landowner, in the past a favorite of Paul I. Gradually, the role of Arakcheev became more and more significant, he turned into a confidant of the emperor, and in 1807 an imperial decree followed, according to which the orders announced by Arakcheev were equated to imperial decrees ... But if the main direction of Arakchiev's activity was military-police, then a different person was needed to develop plans for new reforms. It was M.M. Speransky.

The activities of M.M. Speransky

The son of a rural priest, Speransky, not only, like Arakcheev, did not belong to the aristocracy, but was not even a nobleman. He was born in 1771 in the village of Cherkutino, Vladimir province, studied first at Vladimir, then at Suzdal, and finally at the St. Petersburg seminary. Upon graduation, he was left there as a teacher and only in 1797 began his career as a titular adviser in the office of the Prosecutor General of the Senate, Prince A.B. Kurakin. This career was in the full sense of the word impetuous: after four and a half years, Speransky had the rank of a real state councilor, equal to the rank of general in the army and entitled to hereditary nobility.

In the first years of the reign of Alexander I, Speransky still remained in the shadows, although he was already preparing some documents and projects for members of the Secret Committee, in particular on the ministerial reform. After the implementation of the reform, he was transferred to the service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1803. on behalf of the emperor, Speransky drew up a "Note on the Structure of Judicial and Government Institutions in Russia", in which he proved himself to be a supporter of a constitutional monarchy created by gradual reform of society on the basis of a carefully developed plan. However, the note had no practical significance. Only in 1807. after unsuccessful wars with France and the signing of the Tilsit Peace Treaty, in the midst of an internal political crisis, Alexander again turned to reform plans.

But why did the emperor choose Arakcheev and Speransky, and what were they for him? First of all, by obedient executors of the will of the monarch, who wished to turn two not noble, but personally devoted people to him into omnipotent ministers, with whose help he hoped to carry out his plans. Both of them were, in essence, zealous and diligent officials, not dependent, by virtue of their origin, from one or another group of high-ranking aristocracy. Arakcheev was supposed to protect the throne from the noble conspiracy, Speransky - to develop and implement a plan of reforms based on the ideas and principles suggested by the emperor.

Speransky did not immediately receive a new role. At first, the emperor entrusted him with some ^ private affairs. " Already in 1807 Speransky was invited several times to dinner at the court, in the fall of this year he accompanied Alexander to Vitebsk for a military review, and a year later - to Erfurt, to a meeting with Napoleon. This was already a sign of high confidence.

The reform plan drawn up in 1809 by Speransky in the form of an extensive document entitled "Introduction to the Code of State Laws" was, as it were, a statement of the thoughts, ideas and intentions of the sovereign himself. Speransky insisted on the identity of the historical destinies of Russia and Europe, the processes that took place in them. The first attempts to change the political system occurred during the accession to the throne of Anna Ioannovna and during the reign of Catherine II, when she convened the Legislative Commission. Now is the time for major changes. This is evidenced by the state of society in which respect for ranks and titles has disappeared, and the authority of the authorities has been undermined. It is necessary to achieve a genuine separation of powers by creating independent legislative, judicial and executive powers. Legislative power is exercised through a system of elected bodies - dumas, from the volost to State Duma, without whose consent the autocrat should not have the right to issue laws, except in cases where it comes to saving the fatherland. The State Duma exercises control over the executive branch - the government, whose ministers are responsible to it for their actions. The absence of such responsibility is the main drawback of the ministerial reform of 1802. The emperor retains the right to dissolve the Duma and call new elections. The members of the provincial dumas elect the highest judicial body of the country - the Senate. Pinnacle state system is the Council of State. The members of the Council of State are appointed by the Sovereign, who himself presides over it. The Council includes ministers and other senior officials... If a disagreement arises in the Council of State, the king, by his choice, affirms the opinion of the majority or minority. Not a single law could come into effect without discussion in the State Duma and the State Council.

Speransky did not avoid the problem civil rights... He believed that they should be endowed with the entire population of the country, including the serfs. Among such rights, he attributed the impossibility of punishing someone without a court decision. Political rights, that is, the right to participate in elections, was supposed to be given to the citizens of Russia who own land and capital, including state peasants. The right to be elected to representative bodies was limited by property qualifications. It is already clear from this that Speransky's project did not imply the abolition of serfdom. Speransky believed that it was impossible to abolish serfdom with a one-time legislative act, but conditions should be created under which it would be profitable for the landowners to let the peasants free.

Speransky's proposals also contained a plan for the phased implementation of reforms. The first step was to establish at the beginning of 1810 the State Council, which was to be entrusted with the discussion of the previously drawn up "Civil Code", that is, laws on the fundamental rights of the estates, as well as the financial system of the state. After discussing the Civil Code, the Council would begin to study laws on the executive and the judiciary. All these documents in aggregate were supposed to draw up the "State Code" by May 1810, that is, the constitution itself, after which it would be possible to proceed with the elections of deputies.

The implementation of Speransky's plan was to turn Russia into a constitutional monarchy, where the sovereign's power would be limited by a bicameral legislature of the parliamentary type. Some historians even believe it is possible to talk about the transition to a bourgeois monarchy, however, since the project retained the estate organization of society and even more serfdom, this is not true.

The implementation of Speransky's plan began in 1809. In April and October, decrees appeared, according to which, firstly, the practice of equating court ranks with civil ranks, which allowed dignitaries to switch from court service to senior positions in the state apparatus, and secondly, a mandatory educational qualification for civil servants was introduced. This was to streamline the activities of the state apparatus, make it more professional

In accordance with the plans already in the first months of 1810, a discussion of the problem of regulating public finances took place. Speransky drew up the "Plan of the Finances", which formed the basis of the Tsar's manifesto on February 2. The main purpose of the document was to eliminate the budget deficit, stop issuing depreciated banknotes and increase taxes, including on noble estates. These measures yielded results, and the next year the budget deficit decreased, and state revenues increased.

At the same time, during 1810, the State Council discussed the draft "Code of Civil Laws" prepared by Speransky and even approved the first two parts of it. However, the implementation of the following standards of reform was delayed. Only in the summer of 1810, the transformation of the ministries began, which was completed by June 1811: the Ministry of Commerce was liquidated, the Ministries of Police and Railways, the State Audit Office (as a ministry), and a number of new Main Directorates were created.

At the beginning of 1811 Speransky presented a new project for the reorganization of the Senate. The essence of this project was significantly different from what was originally planned. This time Speransky proposed to divide the Senate into two - government and judicial, that is, to divide its administrative and judicial functions. It was assumed that the members of the Judicial Senate were to be partly appointed by the sovereign, and partly elected from the nobility. But this very moderate project was rejected by the majority of the members of the Council State, and although the king approved it anyway, it was never implemented. As for the creation of the State Duma, it seems that about it in 1810 - 1811. and there was no question. Thus, almost from the very beginning of the reforms, a deviation from their original plan was revealed, and it is no coincidence that in February 1811 Speransky turned to Alexander with a request to resign.

The results of domestic policy 1801 - 1811

What are the reasons for the new failure of the reforms? Why was the supreme power unable to carry out radical reforms that were clearly overdue and the need for which was quite obvious to the most far-sighted politicians?

The reasons are essentially the same as in the previous stage. The very rise of Speransky, his transformation - an upstart, "priest" - into the first minister aroused envy and anger in court circles. In 1809, after the decrees regulating the state service, hatred of Speransky increased even more and, by his own admission, he became the object of ridicule, caricatures and malicious attacks: after all, the decrees prepared by him infringed on the order that had long been established and very convenient for the nobility and bureaucracy. When the Council of State was created, general discontent reached its climax.

The nobility was afraid of any changes, rightly suspecting that ultimately these changes could lead to the elimination of serfdom. Even the gradual nature of the reforms and the fact that in fact they did not encroach on the main privilege of the nobility, and in general their details were kept secret, did not save the situation. The result was general discontent; in other words, as in 1801-1803, Alexander I faced the danger of a noble revolt. The matter was complicated by foreign policy circumstances - the war with Napoleon was approaching. Perhaps the desperate resistance of the top of the nobility, intrigues and denunciations of Speransky (he was accused of Freemasonry, of revolutionary convictions, of being a French spy, they reported all careless statements about the sovereign) would ultimately have no effect on the emperor if in the spring of 1811 the camp of opponents of the reforms had not suddenly received ideological and theoretical reinforcement from an entirely unexpected side. In March of this year, in the salon of her sister, who lived in Tver, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, and with her active support, the remarkable Russian historian N.M. Karamzin handed over to the emperor a "Note on Ancient and New Russia" - a kind of manifesto of opponents of change, a generalized expression of the views of the conservative trend in Russian social thought.

According to Karamzin, autocracy is the only form of political structure possible for Russia. When asked if it was possible, at least in some way, to limit autocracy in Russia without weakening the saving tsarist power, he answered in the negative. Any changes, "any news in the state order is evil, to which one must resort only when necessary." However, Karamzin admitted, “so much new has been done that the old would have seemed to us dangerous news: we have already grown out of the habit of it, and for the glory of the sovereign it is harmful to solemnly admit the ten-year delusions produced by the pride of his very shallow advisors ... most suitable for the present. " The author saw salvation in the traditions and customs of Russia and its people, who do not need to follow an example from Western Europe and, above all, France. One of these traditional features of Russia is serfdom, which arose as a consequence of "natural law". Karamzin asked: “And will the farmers be happy, freed from the power of the master, but sacrificed to their own vices, tax farmers and shameless judges? There is no doubt that the peasants of a reasonable landowner, who is content with a moderate quitrent or tithe of arable land for tax, are happier than the state ones, having in him a vigilant guardian and supporter. "

There was nothing fundamentally new in Karamzin's "Note": many of his arguments and principles were known in the previous century. Apparently, the sovereign also heard them many times. However, this time these views were concentrated in one document written by a man not close to the court, not invested with a power that he would be afraid to lose. For Alexander, this became a sign that the rejection of his policies swept wide layers of society and Karamzin's voice was the voice of public opinion.

The denouement came in March 1812, when Alexander announced to Speransky the termination of his official duties, and he was exiled to Nizhny Novgorod, and then to Perm (he was returned from exile only at the end of Alexander's reign). Apparently, by this time the pressure on the emperor had increased, and the denunciations he received against Speransky acquired such a harakter that it was simply impossible to continue to ignore them. Alexander was forced to appoint an official investigation into the activities of his closest associate, and, probably, he would have done so if he had believed the slander a little. At the same time, Speransky's self-confidence, his careless statements, which immediately became known to the emperor, his desire to independently resolve all issues, pushing the sovereign into the background - all this overflowed the cup of patience and served as the reason for Speransky's resignation and exile.

Thus ended another stage of the reign of Alexander I, and with it one of the most significant attempts in Russian history to implement a radical state reform... A few months after these events, the Patriotic War with Napoleon began, followed by the foreign campaigns of the Russian army. Several years passed before the problems of domestic politics again attracted the attention of the emperor.

wiki.304.ru / History of Russia. Dmitry Alkhazashvili.