Time of Emperor Alexander I (1801–1825) Accession to the Throne At the time of Paul's death, his two eldest sons, Alexander and Konstantin, were under house arrest in the Mikhailovsky Castle and were waiting for a thunderstorm from their father, not knowing why. Alexander knew about the movement against his father, but he

• Assassination of Paul I
• Promises of reform
• Peace with Napoleon
• Speransky
• Patriotic War
• mystic emperor
• Holy Union
• Arakcheevshchina
• The era of Pushkin
• Birth of opposition
• Fedor Kuzmich

1. Assassination of Paul I and accession to the throne

In a nutshell: The elite hated Emperor Paul I, and his son Alexander became a natural center of attraction for the conspirators. Alexander allowed himself to be convinced that his father would be deposed peacefully; without interfering with the conspiracy, he actually sanctioned the coup, which ended in regicide. Upon accession to the throne, Alexander promised that under him everything would be like under his grandmother, Catherine II.

Alexander was born in 1777, he was the eldest son of Pavel and from childhood he was preparing to rule Russia. He was taken away from his father early, all education was completely conducted by his grandmother - Catherine II. Relations between Catherine and Paul were tense, and this created a specific expectation that the empress would want to transfer the throne to her grandson, bypassing her son - there were rumors about the existence of such a will. However, modern historians, who have dealt with this issue a lot and specifically, are inclined to believe that such a will never existed.

State Museum-Reserve "Pavlovsk"

When Paul finally became emperor, a conflict quickly emerged between him and the noble elite. This led to the fact that Alexander began to be perceived as a natural center of opposition. Paul was not a tyrant at all: he was a very quick-tempered man, but quick-tempered and not holding evil. In fits of rage, he could insult people, humiliate them, make wild decisions, but at the same time he was not cruel and bloodthirsty. This is a very bad combination for a ruler: he was not feared enough, but because of his rudeness and absolute unpredictability, he was hated. There was a general dislike for Paul's policies as well. Among his decisions were many unpopular ones: there was a recall of the famous campaign in Persia; there were sharp fluctuations between anti-Napoleonic and pro-Napoleonic policies; there was a constant struggle with noble privileges.

But a palace coup, of which there were many in the 18th century, was impossible until the conspirators secured the consent of the heir to the throne. Alexander at least did not interfere with the conspiracy. He considered himself a more suitable monarch than his father, and on the other hand, he was afraid to take on the sin of parricide. He really wanted to believe that it would be possible to force Paul to abdicate and avoid bloodshed, and Alexander let the conspirators convince him of this. His grandmother killed her own husband and did not feel the slightest concern about this, but it was harder for him: he was brought up differently.

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Upon learning that Paul did not abdicate at all, but was killed, Alexander fainted. Under the walls of the palace, according to rumors, soldiers gathered and said that the nobles had killed both the emperor and the heir. The moment was absolutely critical: the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna walked along the corridors of the palace and spoke in German: "I want to reign." In the end, Alexander went out onto the balcony and said: “Batiushka died of an apoplexy. With me, everything will be like with my grandmother, ”he left the balcony and fainted again.

Giving consent to the conspiracy, Alexander believed that capital reforms were needed for Russia. His accession was met with universal rejoicing - and Alexander, feeling this, immediately began to act. All those exiled by Paul were amnestied; the Secret Chancellery was disbanded; collegiums that had existed since the time of Peter the Great were replaced by ministries, following the French model. Alexander appointed the old nobles of Catherine's time to the posts of ministers, and made his young confidants, with whom he was going to reform the country, as their deputies.

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2. Promises of reform

In a nutshell: In theory, Alexander was for the abolition of serfdom, the restriction of autocracy, and even the transformation of Russia into a republic. However, all reforms were constantly postponed until later, and fundamental changes never came to fruition.

Calling the beginning of Alexander's reign liberal is not worth it: the word "liberal" is used in hundreds of different meanings and is a little meaningless.

Nevertheless, the emperor did hatch plans for monumental reforms. The fact is that Alexander, like all Russian monarchs, with the exception of Paul, was an unconditional and firm opponent of serfdom. The creation of state institutions that could limit the power of the emperor was also actively discussed. But Alexander immediately fell into the standard trap of any Russian monarch-reformer - on the one hand, you need to limit your own power, but if you limit it, then how to carry out reforms?

Musee historique de Lausanne

Alexander's tutor was the Swiss thinker Frederic Cesar Laharpe, who was a republican by conviction. Having already become emperor, Alexander constantly said that his ideal was the Swiss republic, that he wanted to make Russia a republic, and then go with his wife somewhere on the Rhine and live out his days there. At the same time, Alexander never forgot that he was the ruler, and when he could not agree with his inner circle, he said: “I am an autocratic monarch, I want it that way!” This was one of his many internal contradictions.

In the reign of Alexander there were two reformist waves: the first was associated with the establishment of the Unspoken Committee and the State Council (the period from accession to the throne until 1805-1806), the second - with the activities of Speransky after the Peace of Tilsit in 1807. The task of the first stage was the creation of stable institutions of state power, forms of estate representation, as well as "indispensable laws", that is, the restriction of arbitrariness: the monarch must be under the rule of law, even if he created it himself.

At the same time, the reforms were always postponed for later: this was the Alexander's political style. The transformations were supposed to be grandiose - but someday later, not now. A case in point is the Decree on Free Plowmen, a temporary measure by which Alexander planned to accustom public opinion to the fact that serfdom would eventually be abolished. The decree allowed the landowners to release the peasants into the wild, concluding contracts with them and giving them a piece of land. Before the abolition of serfdom, a little more than one percent of the peasant population of Russia took advantage of the Decree on free cultivators. At the same time, the decree remained the only real step towards solving the peasant question, taken on the territory of the Great Russian part of the empire, until 1861.

Another example is the creation of ministries. It was assumed that the minister should countersign the imperial decree: any decree other than the imperial decree must also have the signature of the minister. At the same time, it is natural that the formation of the cabinet of ministers was completely the prerogative of the emperor, he could replace anyone who did not want to countersign this or that decree. But at the same time, it was still a limitation for making spontaneous, arbitrary decisions, characteristic of the reign of his father.

Of course, the political climate has changed, but serious institutional changes take time. The problem with Alexander's political style was that he created a huge inertia of uncontrollable expectations and constantly postponed real steps to implement them. People have been waiting for something all the time, and expectations naturally tend to lead to disappointment.

3. Relations with Napoleon

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In a nutshell: In the early years of his reign, Alexander fought with Napoleon; the first mass propaganda campaign in the history of Russia was carried out: Napoleon was declared an aggressor and the Antichrist. The conservatives rejoiced: during the war, Alexander had no time for “liberal” sentiments. The conclusion of the Peace of Tilsit by Alexander and Napoleon in 1807 came as a shock to both the elite and the people: the official position of the country changed to a pro-French one.

In 1804, Russia concludes an alliance with Austria and joins the third anti-Napoleonic coalition, which also includes England and Sweden. The campaign ends with a monstrous defeat at Austerlitz in 1805. Under the conditions of war and military defeat, it is very difficult to carry out any reforms - and the first wave of Alexander's reformist activities comes to an end. In 1806, a new war begins (this time Russia is in alliance with England, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden), Napoleon again celebrates victory and concludes a peace treaty with Alexander that is beneficial for himself. Russia suddenly changes its anti-French policy to a sharply pro-French one.

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The peace of Tilsit meant a respite for both Russia and France. Napoleon understood that Russia is a huge country, which is difficult to beat. He considered England to be his main adversary, and after the defeat in the Battle of Trafalgar Trafalgar battle- Naval battle between the English and Franco-Spanish naval forces. It happened on October 21, 1805 at Cape Trafalgar on the Atlantic coast of Spain near the city of Cadiz. During the battle, France and Spain lost 22 ships, while England lost none. he could not count on a military invasion of the island and his main weapon was the economic blockade of England, the so-called continental blockade. As a result of the peace, Russia officially pledged to join it - however, subsequently it systematically violated this obligation. In exchange, Napoleon actually gave Finland to Alexander: he guaranteed his neutrality in the war with Sweden. It is interesting that the accession of Finland is the first conquest campaign in the history of Russia that was not approved by public opinion. Perhaps because everyone understood that this was by agreement with Napoleon, there was a feeling that we had taken something from someone else.

Peace with Napoleon was a shock not only for the elite, but for the whole country. The fact is that the active anti-Napoleonic campaign of 1806 is the first example of national political mobilization in the history of Russia. Then a militia was created, the peasants were told in the royal manifestos that Napoleon was the Antichrist, and a year later it turns out that this Antichrist is our friend and ally, with whom the emperor embraces on a raft in the middle of the Neman River.

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Lotman often quoted an anecdote: two peasants are talking to each other, and one says: what about our Orthodox father, the Tsar, hugging the Antichrist? And the second says: uh, you didn’t understand anything! He made peace with him on the river. So he, he says, first christened him, and then he made peace.

The national mobilization of 1806 is a very important story for understanding the era. The fact is that the ideology of a single nation, a national organism, is of German origin. In Germany, the idea was considered liberal and was directed against all the then monarchies (twenty-one) and for the unity of the German people. Moreover, the idea of ​​a single people assumed the destruction of class barriers, or at least their mitigation: we are all one, so we should all have the same rights. In Russia, everything was the other way around: we are one people, so the peasants should have a father landowner, and the landowners - a father tsar.

In 1806, the conservatives became very animated, they felt that for the first time under Alexander they were in favor: finally, dubious liberals, people who compare themselves with the Jacobins, are being removed from business. Suddenly, in 1807, together with the Treaty of Tilsit, a complete change in policy took place: the conservatives were again pushed somewhere, and Speransky appeared in their place. Moreover, it is obvious that Alexander had no illusions about peace with Napoleon, and that is why he invited Speransky: he needed a person who would quickly and effectively prepare the country for a new big war.

But formally Russia supported France. Therefore, a very powerful opposition has formed inside the country. The conservatives gathered at Derzhavin's house in 1811, six months before the war; Admiral Shishkov delivered a speech about love for the Fatherland, while the guests actively criticized peace with France. This was the first case of an open unofficial ideological campaign. As soon as Alexander realized that the war would happen very soon, he first of all dismissed Speransky and appointed Shishkov in his place. It was a strong ideological gesture addressed to public opinion.

After the Peace of Tilsit, Napoleon continued to expand his empire. In 1809, he finally defeated Austria and began to prepare for a decisive war with England, but before that he was going to force Russia to comply with the Tilsit agreements. Napoleon did not intend to conquer Russia: he believed that he would quickly defeat the Russian army and Alexander would be forced to sign another peace treaty with him. It was a monstrous strategic miscalculation.

State Hermitage

In Russia, the minister of war was Barclay de Tolly, who was instructed to develop a plan of action for the Russian army in the event of a war with Napoleon. And Barclay, being a very educated man, developed a campaign plan based on the wars of the Scythians against the Persians. The strategy required the presence of two armies: simultaneously retreating and luring the enemy deep into the country, using scorched earth tactics. Back in 1807, Barclay met the famous historian of antiquity Niebuhr and began to consult with him about the Scythians, not knowing that Niebuhr was a Bonapartist. He was an intelligent man, guessed why Barclay was asking him, and told General Dumas, the writer's father, about this, so that the French general staff would take into account the thoughts of the Russian general staff. But this story was ignored.

4. Speransky: exaltation and disgrace

State Hermitage

In a nutshell: Mikhail Speransky was the number two person in the country and a person of Napoleonic scope: he had a plan to transform all aspects of the life of the state. But he made many enemies for himself, and Alexander had to turn in his assistant in order to strengthen his own reputation before the war of 1812.

Mikhail Speransky was a priest, the son of a village priest, he studied at the provincial theological seminary, then at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Capable seminarians were a personnel reserve for the bureaucracy: the nobles wanted to go only to the military or diplomatic service, and not to the civil one. As a result, attention was paid to Speransky: he becomes the secretary of Prince Kurakin, then begins to serve in the office of Prince Kochubey, a member of the Unspoken Committee, and very quickly becomes his confidant; finally, it is recommended to Alexander. After the Peace of Tilsit, Alexander quickly makes him Secretary of State, in fact, the closest assistant, the number two person in the state. Alexander, like any autocrat, needed someone to blame for all unpopular decisions, in particular raising taxes in order to stabilize the financial system.

Speransky was the only one who had a systematic plan for unified transformations in Russia. It is not clear whether this plan was feasible, it is important that one person could cover the policy of the country as a whole - foreign, domestic, financial, administrative, class. He had a project for the phased abolition of serfdom, a phased transition to a constitutional monarchy through the creation of the State Council, first as an advisory body, then as a body limiting autocracy. Speransky considered it necessary to create a single set of laws: this would protect the country from administrative arbitrariness. In personal conversations with Speransky, Alexander supported this project. The Council of State was created, but never received much power. Krylov's fable "The Quartet" was written for the convocation of the State Council, and its meaning is completely clear: decisions should be made by one person - the sovereign himself.

Speransky had gigantic plans to educate the cadre elite. He blocked automatic promotion in the rankings and introduced an eighth-grade promotion test (a relatively high rank), which was supposed to weed out the uneducated layer from higher positions. Elite educational systems were created, including the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. He was a man of fantastic ambition, Napoleonic scope, a personality of flesh and blood of the early Romantic period. He believed that he himself could pull out an entire country and completely transform and change it.

There was a narrow layer of people who endlessly trusted Speransky (recall Prince Andrei's initial love for him from War and Peace). But the broad elite, of course, terribly hated him. Speransky was considered the Antichrist, a thief, they said that he was in cahoots with Napoleon and wanted to get the Polish crown. There was no sin that would not be hanged on him; the asceticism of Speransky's life was well known, but they talked about his millions. He accumulated hatred on himself: the emperor's sister Ekaterina Pavlovna secretly gave Karamzin a draft of Speransky to read, and he wrote a furious rebuke - "A Note on Ancient and New Russia." Joseph de Maistre Joseph de Maistre(1753-1821) - Catholic philosopher, writer, politician and diplomat, founder of political conservatism. bombarded Alexander with letters against Speransky. His resignation in March 1812 became practically a national holiday, like the murder of Paul 12 years earlier.

In fact, Alexander had to hand over Speransky. He fired him without explanation, saying only: "For a reason known to you." Speransky's verbose letters to Alexander have been published, in which he tries to understand what is the reason for the disgrace of the sovereign, and at the same time justify himself. Speransky went into exile - first to Nizhny, then to Perm. There were many legends about Alexander's last conversation with Speransky. Allegedly, the emperor told him that he must remove Speransky, because otherwise they would not give him money: what this could mean under the conditions of an absolute monarchy is difficult to understand. They said that, having announced Speransky's resignation, Alexander hugged him and cried: he was generally easy to cry. Later, he told one that Speransky was taken away from him and he had to make a sacrifice. Others - that he exposed treason and even intended to shoot the traitor. He explained to the third that he did not believe the denunciations and, if he had not been forced by the lack of time before the war, he would have spent a year studying the accusations in detail.

Most likely, Alexander did not suspect Speransky of betrayal, otherwise he would hardly have returned him to public service and made him governor of Penza and governor of Siberia. Speransky's resignation was a political gesture, a demonstrative sacrifice to public opinion, and he greatly strengthened Alexander's popularity before the war.

5. Patriotic war, foreign campaign and partisan myth

Panorama Museum "Battle of Borodino"

In a nutshell: The "people's" war of 1812 is a myth: in fact, luring the enemy deep into the country was part of Barclay's original plan, implemented by Kutuzov, and the partisans were led by officers. Because of the propaganda of the war as "patriotic", the phenomenal achievement of the Russian army - the campaign to Paris - was forgotten.

In June 1812, France attacked Russia, and by September, Napoleon had occupied Moscow. At the same time, this period of hostilities was not a time of defeat, as were, for example, the first months after Hitler's invasion. Barclay's "Scythian" plan was to drag the enemy into the country and deprive him of normal supplies. It was an extremely carefully thought out and carried out military operation by the Russian General Staff to break the most powerful army in the world.

At the same time, of course, there was a massive expectation of a decisive battle: “We retreated silently for a long time, / It was annoying, we were waiting for the battle ...” There was a huge psychological pressure on Barclay: according to the majority, he had to give a pitched battle. Finally, Barclay could not stand it and began to prepare for battle. At that moment, Alexander, unable to withstand the same public pressure, removed Barclay and appointed Kutuzov in his place. Arriving at the army, Kutuzov immediately continued to retreat further.

State Hermitage

Kutuzov was in a simpler position than Barclay. He, as a new commander, had a credit of trust, as well as a Russian surname, which at that moment was important. The new commander-in-chief managed to win a few more weeks and several hundred kilometers. There is a lot of debate whether Kutuzov was such a great commander as national mythology describes him? Perhaps the main merit lies with Barclay, who developed the right plan? It is difficult to answer, but in any case, Kutuzov managed to brilliantly implement the military plan.

Tver Regional Library. A. M. Gorky

Already after the end of the war, historiography began to massively develop the myth of the people's, guerrilla war. Although the partisan movement was never spontaneous, volunteer detachments in the rear were led by officers of the army in the field. As Dominic Lieven showed in his recent book Russia Against Napoleon, thanks to the same historiographic legend, the most incredible achievement of the Russian army, the march to Paris, was completely erased from the national memory. This did not become part of the myth of the war, which we still call the "War of the Twelfth Year", although the war was 1812-1814. The European campaign did not make it possible to win back the idea of ​​the “club of the people's war”: what kind of people, if all this is happening in Germany and France?

6. Mystic Emperor

State Hermitage

In a nutshell: Alexander was no stranger to the mysticism fashionable at that time. The emperor convinced himself that his father was killed because Providence wanted it. In the victory over Napoleon, he saw a divine sign that he did everything right in life. Reforms Alexander did not bring to the end, too, for mystical reasons: he was waiting for instructions from above.

The emperor's mystical hobbies began very early. Alexander has been a profound mystic since at least his accession to the throne, and possibly even earlier. This determined not only the personal life of the king, his circle of contacts and interests, but also state policy. Perhaps the murder of his father also played a role, which Alexander at least did not interfere with. It was very difficult for a nervous and conscientious man like the emperor to live with such a burden. He needed to find an excuse for his act, but how? The answer is simple: so ordered Providence. Perhaps this is where mysticism comes from.

Alexander saw some higher meaning in every incident. Here is an episode that the emperor repeatedly retold to his associates. At a church service in 1812, at the most difficult historical moment, the Bible fell out of his hands - he opened it at the 90th psalm A thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you: you will only look with your eyes and see the retribution of the wicked. For you said, "The Lord is my hope"; You have chosen the Most High as your refuge; evil will not happen to you, and the plague will not come near your dwelling; for he will command his angels about you to guard you in all your ways: they will lift you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone; you step on an asp and a basilisk; you will trample on the lion and the dragon (Ps. 9:7-13).
and saw that he was ideally suited to the current situation. It was then that Alexander realized that Russia would win the war.

According to the mystical teaching of that time, in order to read and understand such signs, a person must work on himself. As moral purification proceeds, communion with ever higher wisdom takes place, and at the highest level of this esoteric wisdom, faith passes into evidence. That is, you no longer need to believe, because the divine truth is open to direct contemplation.

Alexander was not the first mystic in Russia: in the 18th century there was a strong mystical movement in Russia. Some Moscow Freemasons entered the circle of the world esoteric elite. The first Russian book that had a worldwide resonance, apparently, was "Some Features about the Inner Church" by Ivan Lopukhin, one of the main Russian mystics. The treatise was originally published in French, and only then was published in Russian. Speransky, Alexander's closest associate, actively corresponded with Lopukhin, sharing the emperor's hobbies and collecting a mystical library for him. The emperor himself often met and corresponded with many of the greatest mystics of his era, both Russian and Western European.

Of course, these views could not but affect politics. Hence, Alexander’s unwillingness to complete many reforms and projects grows: someday the Lord will reveal the truth to me, then he will overshadow me with his sign, and I will carry out all the reforms, but for now it’s better to wait and wait for the right moment.

Alexander was looking for secret signs all his life, and, of course, after the victory over Napoleon, he was finally convinced that he was doing everything right: there were terrible trials, defeats, but he believed, waited, and now the Lord was with him, suggested the right decisions, indicated that he is the chosen one who will restore peace and order in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. The Holy Union and all further politics were part of this idea of ​​the coming mystical transformation of the whole world.

7. Sacred Union and Destiny of Alexander

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In a nutshell: After the victory over Napoleon, Alexander believed that his life's destiny was realized in the Holy Alliance: by entering into an alliance with Catholic Austria and Protestant Prussia, Orthodox Russia, as it were, created a united Christian Europe. The task of the union was to maintain peace and prevent the overthrow of the legitimate government.

The war is won, the Russian army is in Paris, Napoleon is in exile - in Vienna the victors decide the fate of Europe. Alexander finds his destiny in uniting Europe after defeating Napoleon. Thus the Holy Union is born. Three European emperors are at the head - the Orthodox Russian Tsar (Alexander I), the Austrian Catholic Emperor (Franz II) and the Prussian Protestant King (Friedrich Wilhelm III). For Alexander, this is a mystical analogue of the biblical story about the worship of kings.

Alexander believed that he was creating a single European union of peoples, this was his purpose, and it was precisely for this that there was a gigantic war; for this he had to send his own father to the next world; for this were all the failed reforms of the first half of his reign, because his historical role is the role of a man who will create a united Christian Europe. Even if not through formal unification into one confession - this is completely unimportant; as Ivan Lopukhin wrote, the Church exists within a person. And within all Christians it is one. What church you go to - Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox - it doesn't matter. The formal task of the union is to maintain peace in Europe, guided by the idea of ​​divine origin and the unconditional legitimacy of the existing government.

Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien

When the Austrian Foreign Minister Metternich saw Alexander's draft of an alliance treaty, he was horrified. Metternich was completely alien to all this mystical mentality and carefully edited the document in order to cross out completely odious things, but then he nevertheless advised the Austrian emperor to sign it, because the alliance with Alexander was too important for Austria. The emperor signed - however, under the strictest promise of Alexander not to publish the treaty. Perhaps he was afraid that all of Europe would think that the monarchs had gone crazy. Alexander made a corresponding promise - and a few months later he published the document.

At first, the Holy Alliance did a lot of work. One of the most striking examples is the Greek uprising of 1821. Many were sure that Russia would help the Orthodox brothers in their struggle against the Turks. The Russian army was stationed in Odessa, the expeditionary corps - in other places in the south: they were waiting for a signal to set off to liberate fellow Greeks. The whole history of both Russia and the world could have gone differently, but Alexander, relying on the principles of the Holy Alliance, refused to conflict with the legitimate Turkish authorities, and the dream of a liberated Greece was sacrificed to the ideology of the Holy Alliance. About the Greek uprising, Alexander said that this was the instigation of the "synagogues of Satan" hiding in Paris. They allegedly planned to induce Russia to break the rules of the Holy Alliance, the main business of his life, and throw up such temptations to make the Russian emperor go out of his way.

Until 1848, the Holy Alliance remained a real political mechanism. First of all, he was useful to Austria: he helped the state, torn apart by ethnic and religious contradictions, to hold out for more than 30 years.

8. Arakcheev and Arakcheevshchina

State Hermitage

In a nutshell: The reign of Alexander is wrong to describe the opposition "good Speransky - bad Arakcheev." The two main assistants of the emperor respected each other, and at the same time pulled all the hatred from him onto themselves. In addition, Arakcheev is only an effective executor, but by no means the initiator of the creation of military settlements: this was Alexander's idea.

Arakcheev was from a poor noble family, from childhood he dreamed of artillery service. Artillery officers were the military elite - in order to get into the appropriate school, one had to have strong patronage. The Arakcheev family could not afford the education of their son, they needed him not only to be accepted into the corps, but also to be enrolled there on the state budget. And one can imagine what willpower a teenager must have had if he persuaded his father to go with him to Petersburg. The two of them stood at the door of the office of the director of the Artillery Corps, Pyotr Melissino, and did not leave: they did not eat, did not drink, got wet in the rain, and at every exit Melissino fell at his feet. And in the end the director broke down.

Without connections and money, Arakcheev became a very large artillery general. He did not have outstanding military qualities, apparently, he was a coward, but he became a brilliant organizer and engineer. By the war of 1812, Russian artillery outnumbered the French. And after the war, Alexander, seeing such a self-made person in his environment, began to trust him very much; perhaps he thought he had found a second Speransky. In addition, the incredible success of Arakcheev was due to the fact that Alexander's entourage, who knew about the regicide, avoided talking with the emperor about his father, and Arakcheev, who was very close to Paul, kept his portrait, constantly began communication with Alexander with a toast "For health late emperor! - and this style of communication gave the emperor the opportunity to believe that a person close to Paul was unaware of his terrible crime.

Alexander had an idea how to maintain a combat-ready army in the conditions of the Russian economy. The permanent recruit army was a heavy burden on the budget: it was impossible either to partially demobilize it or to properly maintain it. And the emperor decided to create military units that, during periods of peace, would be engaged in combat training part of the time, and agriculture part of the time. Thus, people would not be torn off the ground and at the same time the army would feed itself. This idea was also connected with Alexander's mystical moods: military settlements are extremely reminiscent of the utopias of Masonic towns.

Arakcheev, who headed the Imperial Chancellery, was categorically against it - now we know this. But he was a servant of the sovereign and took up this idea with his usual business acumen and efficiency. He was a cruel, domineering, strong and absolutely ruthless man, and with an iron hand he carried out an assignment in which he himself did not believe. And the result exceeded all expectations: the military settlements justified themselves economically, and military training in them did not stop.

From the book "Historical description of clothing and weapons of the Russian troops." SPb., 1857

The military settlements were abandoned only after the death of Alexander due to the resistance of both officers and peasants, who perceived it as slavery. It's one thing to be shaved into a soldier: recruiting is terrible, but at least you're a soldier. And here you live at home with your wife, but at the same time you walk in formation, wear a uniform, your children wear a uniform. For the Russian peasants, this was the realm of the Antichrist. One of the first orders of Nicholas was the removal of Arakcheev, who had already retired after the murder of his mistress Nastasya Minkina by serfs, from all posts and the abolition of military settlements: the new emperor, like everyone else, hated Arakcheev and, moreover, was a pragmatist, not a utopian .

There is a contrast between "evil Arakcheev - good Speransky", two faces of Alexander's reign. But every person who begins to understand more deeply in the Alexander era notes with amazement that these two statesmen deeply sympathized with each other. They probably felt an affinity as bright people who made their own careers among well-born envious people. Of course, Speransky considered himself an ideologist, a reformer, partly a Napoleon, and Arakcheev considered himself an executor of the sovereign's will, but this did not prevent them from respecting each other.

9. The beginning of Russian literature

In a nutshell: According to the romantic concept, in order to become great, a nation needs a genius who will express the soul of the people. The older generation of poets unanimously appointed young Pushkin as the future genius, and it is amazing that he fully justified this trust.

Russian literature in the form in which we know it began in the 18th century - but in the reign of Alexander it reaches maturity. The main difference between the literature of the Alexander period and the literature of the 18th century is the idea of ​​a national spirit. A romantic idea appears that the nation, the people are a single organism, a single personality. Like every individual, this nation has a soul, and its history is like the fate of a person.

The soul of a people is first of all expressed in its poetry. Echoes of these thoughts can be found in Radishchev. In Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, he says that good legislation can be arranged based on the stock of folk songs: “Who knows the voices of Russian folk songs, he admits that there is something in them, sorrow of the soul that signifies.<…>On this musical disposition of the people's ear know how to establish the reins of government. In them you will find the education of the soul of our people.” Accordingly, before writing laws, go to a tavern, listen to songs.

State Tretyakov Gallery

Of course, in Alexander's time, literature does not become truly mass, the peasants do not begin to read it. Already in the 1870s, after the abolition of serfdom, Nekrasov would ask: “When a peasant is not Blucher / And not my lord stupid - / Belinsky and Gogol / Will he carry from the market?” Nevertheless, there is a huge increase in the readership. A milestone is Karamzin's "History". It is very important that the position of a court historiographer appears, who should write the history of the Russian state, and it is equally important that the most famous writer of the country is hired for this position. In 1804, Karamzin was the face of national literature and far surpassed all others in terms of fame and recognition. Of course, there was Derzhavin, but he was perceived as an old man, and Karamzin was only 38 years old. In addition, the odes for which Derzhavin became famous were popular only in a narrow circle, and every educated person in the country read Karamzin. And all his later life Karamzin wrote history, forming a national identity.

Later, among the admirers of Karamzin, the Arzamas literary and political circle arose, one of the goals of which was to form a reformist ideology and help Alexander in the fight against retrogrades. Therefore, Arzamas, as Maria Lvovna Mayofis showed in her recent research, was a natural union of a new generation of statesmen and a new generation of writers who should be the language and embodiment of this ideology. Zhukovsky, who was the literary voice of the Holy Union, enters the circle, Vyazemsky, Batyushkov enter, and the young Pushkin appears. Nothing is clear about him yet, he is very young - but everyone already knows that he is a genius, he acquires this fame as a child.

All-Russian Museum of A. S. Pushkin

The idea of ​​genius, in which the national spirit is embodied, embraced Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. A people is great only when a people has a great poet who expresses its collective soul - and all countries are busy searching for or cultivating their geniuses. We have just defeated Napoleon and occupied Paris, and we do not yet have such a poet. The uniqueness of the Russian experience is that the entire older generation of leading poets unanimously appoints the same and still very young person to this position. Derzhavin says that Pushkin "outdid all the writers even at the Lyceum"; Zhukovsky writes to him: “To the winner-student from the defeated teacher” after the release of the rather still student poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”; Batyushkov visits the sick Pushkin in the Lyceum infirmary. Five years later, Karamzin saves him from being exiled to the Solovki, despite the fact that Pushkin tried to seduce his wife. Pushkin has not had time to write almost anything yet, but they are already talking about him: this is our national genius, now he will grow up and do everything for us. One had to have amazing qualities of character in order not to break under the yoke of such responsibility.

If you resort to mystical explanations, then we can say that it was all right, because Pushkin lived up to all expectations. Here he is 19 years old, he has just graduated from the Lyceum, wanders around St. Petersburg, plays cards, goes to the girls and falls ill with a venereal disease. And he writes at the same time: "And my incorruptible voice / Was the echo of the Russian people." Of course, at the age of 19 you can write anything about yourself, but the whole country believed this - and for good reason!

In this sense, the Alexander era is the Pushkin era. A rare case when the school definition is absolutely correct. With world fame, it turned out worse: for this we had to wait two more generations - before Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and then Chekhov. Gogol was known in Europe, but did not achieve great world fame. Another person was needed who managed to travel to Europe and act as an agent of Russian literature. It was Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, who first explained to the European public with his own works that Russian writers are worth reading, and then it turned out that in Russia there are such geniuses that Europe never dreamed of.

10. Birth of opposition

In a nutshell: The first opposition to the course of the state in Russia was the conservatives, dissatisfied with the reform initiatives of Alexander. They were opposed by officers who had just conquered Paris and believed that they could not be ignored - from them the Decembrist societies were formed.

The idea that there is a society in the country that has the right to be heard and influence public policy arises in the 19th century. In the 18th century there were only loners like Radishchev. He himself considered himself an oppositionist, but most considered him a madman.

The first intellectual movement of the 19th century that was dissatisfied with the authorities was the conservatives. Moreover, since these people were “greater monarchists than the monarch himself,” they could not refuse the absolute support of the autocrat. Criticism of Alexander was impossible for them, because he was a positive alternative to Napoleon - the embodiment of world evil. And in general, their whole worldview was based on Alexander. They were dissatisfied with the fact that Alexander was undermining the centuries-old foundations of Russian autocracy, but their aggression was vented first at the Unspoken Committee, then at Speransky, and never reached the emperor. After the Peace of Tilsit, a powerful movement arose within the elite, which turned out to be in opposition not so much to the sovereign himself, but to his policies. In 1812, on the eve of the war, this group came to power: Admiral Shishkov became Secretary of State instead of Speransky. The conservatives hope that after the victory they will begin to determine public policy.

Brown University Library

In opposition, it turns out to be another center of free-thinking, emerging in the army and even more so in the guards. A significant number of free-thinking young officers are beginning to feel that the time has come to implement the reforms that were promised to them during all 12 years of Alexander's reign. Usually, an important role is assigned to the fact that they saw Europe in the Foreign campaign - but after all, how beautiful Europe is, one could also subtract from books. The most important thing is that these people have a very strong self-esteem: we defeated Napoleon! In addition, in war the commander generally enjoys great independence, and in the Russian army - especially: the commander of the unit, even in peacetime, was entirely entrusted with the supply and maintenance of the combat readiness of the garrison, and the level of his personal responsibility was always enormous, colossal. These people are accustomed to being responsible and feel that they can no longer be ignored.

The officers begin to form circles, the initial purpose of which is to prevent the conservatives from consolidating and preventing the sovereign from carrying out the reforms that he promised. At first there were few of them, for the most part they were guardsmen and the noble elite; among them are such names as Trubetskoy and Volkonsky, the top of the aristocracy. But there was someone from the bottom. Suppose Pestel is the son of a Siberian governor-general, a terrible embezzler and criminal; Ryleev was from poor nobles.

At the beginning of the 19th century, secret societies were generally in vogue, but the members of these first secret societies in Russia applied for government positions under the current government. "Arzamas" was founded by large officials, and then the future Decembrists joined it. At the same time, the early Decembrist circles and other secret societies that arose and disappeared at that time were associated with Masonic lodges.

It is difficult to say what Alexander thought about this. The phrase "I am not their judge" is attributed to him, which was allegedly said when he learned about proto-Decembrist societies. Later, Nikolai could not forgive his brother that he, knowing about the existence of secret societies that plotted a coup d'etat, did not tell him anything.

One should not think that under Alexander there was no censorship and repression: censorship was fierce, there were arrests, there was a rout after a riot in the Semenovsky regiment The Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment rebelled in 1820 after commander Yakov Potemkin, beloved by soldiers and officers, was replaced by Arakcheev's protege Fyodor Schwartz. For this, the guards were put in a fortress, subjected to corporal punishment, the regiment was disbanded.. But the pressure was selective, it was Nikolai, taught by the bitter experience of his older brother, who first organized the Third Division The third branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was the highest body of political investigation during the reigns of Nicholas I and Alexander II., the purpose of which is to keep everything under control. Although those who retrospectively project their ideas about the NKVD and KGB onto the Third Department are mistaken: the department was small, there were few people, control was not total.

11. Death, chaos of succession and the myth of Fyodor Kuzmich

State Hermitage

In a nutshell: Alexander bequeathed the crown not to the second, but to the third brother, Nikolai, but hid the will so that he would not be killed like his father. This turned into a chaos of succession to the throne and a Decembrist uprising. The version that Alexander did not die, but went to the people under the name of Fyodor Kuzmich, is nothing more than a myth.

In the second half of the 1810s, it becomes finally clear that Alexander will not have children - heirs to the throne. According to Paul's decree on succession to the throne, in this case, the throne was to pass to the next brother, in this case, Konstantin Pavlovich. However, he did not want to reign and actually excluded himself from the throne by marrying a Catholic. Alexander drew up a manifesto on the transfer of the throne to the third brother, Nicholas. This testament was kept in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, Konstantin, Nikolai, Prince Golitsyn, Metropolitan Filaret and no one else knew about its existence.

Why the manifesto was not published was a mystery for a long time, since the catastrophe that occurred after the death of Alexander was largely due to this terrible ambiguity about the succession to the throne. This riddle was solved not by a historian, but by a mathematician - Vladimir Andreevich Uspensky. According to his hypothesis, Alexander well remembered the conditions under which he himself ascended the throne, and understood that the official heir is always the natural center of crystallization of a conspiracy - a conspiracy is impossible without relying on an heir. But Constantine did not want to reign, and no one knew that the throne was bequeathed to Nicholas - so Alexander eliminated the very possibility of consolidating the opposition.

Wikimedia Commons

On November 19, 1825, Alexander died in Taganrog and a succession crisis began with two emperors who refused to be emperors. The news of the death came to St. Petersburg, and Nikolai was faced with a choice: either swear allegiance to Konstantin, who was the governor-general of Warsaw, or announce the hidden manifesto. Nicholas decided that the latter was too dangerous (information about a possible conspiracy suddenly rained down on him), and ordered everyone to swear allegiance to his older brother, hoping that the further transfer of the throne would be soft: Konstantin would come to St. Petersburg and abdicate the throne.

Nikolai writes to his brother: Your Majesty, they swore allegiance to you, reign - in the hope that he will say “I don’t want to” and come to renounce. Constantine is horrified: he understands perfectly well that you cannot renounce the position of emperor if you are not an emperor. Konstantin writes back: Your Majesty, I congratulate you. He answered: if you don’t want to reign, come to the capital and abdicate the throne. He again refuses.

In the end, Nikolai realized that he could not get his brother out of Warsaw. He declared himself heir and demanded a re-swearing - and this is an absolutely egregious situation with a living emperor, to whom everyone had just sworn allegiance and who did not abdicate. This situation made it possible for the Decembrists-conspirators to explain to the soldiers that Nikolai had gone against the law.

Rumors that Alexander did not die, but went to walk around Rus', appeared much later than his death. They formed around Fyodor Kuzmich, a strange old man who lived in Tomsk, had a military bearing, spoke French and wrote in incomprehensible ciphers. Who Fyodor Kuzmich was is unknown, but it is obvious that he had nothing to do with Alexander I. Leo Tolstoy, who was very excited about the idea of ​​flight, briefly believed in the legend of Alexander and Fyodor Kuzmich and began to write a novel about it. As a subtle person who felt this era well, he quickly realized that this was complete nonsense.

Tomsk Regional Museum of Local Lore

The legend that Alexander did not die came about as a result of a combination of factors. First, in the last year of his reign, he was in a severe depression. Secondly, he was buried in a closed coffin - which is not surprising, because the body was taken from Taganrog to St. Petersburg for about a month. Thirdly, there were all these strange circumstances of succession to the throne.

However, the last argument, if you think about it, quite clearly speaks against the hypothesis of the disappeared emperor. After all, then Alexander should be suspected of actually treason: the only person who can foresee the chaos of succession to the throne quietly leaves without appointing an heir. In addition, in Taganrog Alexander was buried in an open coffin and more than 15 people were present at the funeral. His deathbed was also full of people; it's hard to imagine that every last one of these people could be silenced.

There is also something absolutely indisputable. In 1825, Countess Edling, the former maid of honor of the Empress Roxandra Sturdza, was in the Crimea, who had once been in a mystical alliance with Alexander. Upon learning that the sovereign was in Taganrog, she wrote to the empress asking her permission to come and express her respects. She replied that she could not allow it without her husband, who had left for a review of the troops. Then Alexander returned, and Edling was allowed to come, but when she got to Taganrog, the emperor was already dead. The countess was at the funeral and could not help but recognize Alexander; in her letter to her daughter there are the words: "His beautiful face was disfigured by traces of a terrible disease." If Alexander was planning an escape, it would be much easier for him to refuse her a visit than to invite a complete stranger and drag her into such an unthinkable scam.

The internal political activity of Alexander I (1801-1825) was controversial, especially before the war of 1812. He came to power as a result of a palace coup, after the assassination of his father Paul I. With a tough barracks policy, Paul caused sharp discontent among the nobility. The upper circles of the capital, who secured the throne for Alexander, would have wished for a more loyal tsar, who in no way offended noble privileges. Having become a monarch, Alexander 1 promised to rule "according to the law and heart" of Catherine II. Since childhood, forced to maneuver between his father and grandmother, he turned out to be a cunning and dodgy politician who knows how to find profitable compromises. The liberal influence on the king was exerted by his tutor, the writer La Harpe. The beginning of the reign was characterized by a certain desire for liberal reformism. However, these undertakings of Alexander in no way touched the foundations of the state - autocracy and serfdom.

Basic conversions

• 1. Public administration reforms
• 1) In 1803, he issued a decree “On free cultivators”, which allowed landowners to release serfs into the wild with allotment of land to them for a ransom. This aroused the discontent of the nobles, the decree was not widely used, although the government recognized the fundamental possibility of liberating the peasants, and legislatively determined the conditions for this liberation and the rights of the liberated. politics war Decembrist
• 2) Alexander created the Unofficial Committee for Reforms, which consisted of liberal-minded nobles and was nicknamed by the reactionaries the “Jacobin gang.” The unofficial committee worked for a year, but the only result was the creation of ministries instead of the old Petrine collegiums. to lead the branches of state administration.Ministers reported directly to the emperor.
• 3) The Senate became the highest judicial body of the empire. He also supervised the observance of the rule of law in the country and the activities of administrative bodies.
• 4) In 1810, the State Council was established, which was supposed to become the highest governing body, but turned out to be only an advisory body under the tsar. The decisions of the council were not valid without their approval by the monarch. It consisted of officials appointed by the emperor.

Public administration reforms led to further centralization of administration, bureaucratization, and strengthening of autocratic power.

2. Education policy

The policy in the field of education was distinguished by a progressive character: many secondary and higher educational institutions were opened, including universities (Kazan, Kharkov, St. Petersburg, Derpt) and lyceums close to them according to the program. For some time, Alexander was noticeably influenced by the reformer M. M. Speransky, the son of a village priest, who reached the high post of state secretary without patronage. But Speransky aroused acute dissatisfaction with the high-ranking nobility. Intrigues begin against him, and he is removed from business. Ultimately, apart from the establishment of ministries, no reforms were carried out. They were considered premature, in particular because of the difficult international situation. In Europe, the Napoleonic wars unfolded one after another.

• 3. Domestic policy after the Patriotic War of 1812
• 1) A “Holy Alliance” is created, uniting European monarchs to fight the revolutionary movement in Europe.
• 2) The regime of Arakcheevshchina was established in the country (a regime of unlimited police despotism and violence, the arbitrariness of the military named Arakcheev, a temporary minister)
• 3) Censorship has been introduced, progressive-minded people are being persecuted, religious consciousness is being implanted in education.
• 4) Serfdom increased. The most ugly manifestation of feudal feudal anger arises - military settlements. In them, the peasants had to serve their military service for life, while at the same time doing agriculture in order to feed their families. Their children automatically became soldiers. The life of military settlements proceeded in the conditions of cane discipline. But this aroused increased resistance; there were several uprisings of military settlers.

AI policy, first liberal, then reactionary, aimed at strengthening the autocracy and serfdom, contributed to the activation of the noble revolutionary movement in Russia - Decembrism.

Alexander 1 ruled from 1801 to 1825. “A great start to the days of Alexandrov...” - these words of Pushkin give an idea of ​​the aspirations of the young tsar. Having come to power with the help of a palace coup, he justified himself by giving Russia a constitution and free peasants. These were his aspirations. In the first years of his reign, he relied on the help of a "secret committee" - a small circle of friends: Stroganov, Novosiltsev, Kochubey, Czartorysky and others. The first reforms gave hope for the future, the policy of "enlightened absolutism" was revived

Education system created

Level 1 - elementary school

Level 2 - secondary schools, gymnasiums

Level 3 - higher - universities

Under the internal policy of Alexander 1, 5 universities and several institutes were opened.

Laws for peasants

1) The ban on selling peasants without land (essentially came down to a ban on advertising the sale of peasants)

2) Law on free cultivators 1803; the landowner, if desired, could free the peasants, endowing them with land, and receiving a ransom, but the landowners were in no hurry.

Serfdom was abolished in the Baltics.

Ministerial reform of 1802

Instead of 12 colleges - 8 ministries: military, maritime, foreign affairs, internal affairs, commerce, finance, public education, justice. Unity of command, but also old ones: bribery. But the struggle was not actively waged.

The task was to create a management system that would actively contribute to the development of the country. This task was entrusted to Speransky.

Speransky - as an achievement of the domestic policy of Alexander I

1809 the project was presented. It was based on the principle of separation of powers, preservation of the absolute monarchy and taking into account the opinion of the people, i.e. the approach itself was very controversial.

All power belonged to the emperor; under it, an advisory body is created - the state council (from persons appointed by the emperor). Through him, the emperor conducts all affairs. Next, an organ was created - the State Duma. It was an elected representative body. The highest executive power belonged to the ministries. The highest judicial power belonged to the senate (of the persons appointed by the emperor).

Accordingly, the central control system was designed by local authorities. - this was a great achievement of the domestic policy of Alexander 1.

But the project remained a project. Only the state council was taken from it, which did not have the authority that Speransky counted on and was of a legislative nature.

Before the war, Speransky fell into disgrace and was exiled. This is the result of the activities of the noble opposition.

After the Patriotic War, Alexander 1 is trying to continue his reform activities. He instructs Novosiltsev to create a draft constitution. By 1820 the project was created, but the growth of the revolutionary movement in Europe and Russia forced Alexander I to abandon further work in this direction.

In parallel with the activities of Novosiltsev, projects were being prepared to abolish serfdom. They were distinguished by moderation, for example, according to the project of Arakcheev, a gradual redemption of the peasants by the state from the landowners without land was proposed.

The beginning of the 20s of Alexander's reformist aspirations came up against the resistance of most of the nobility, bureaucracy, part of the merchant class, and the church. Consequence: Alexander 1 curtails the reformist course. Simultaneously amplifies

political reaction. It is associated with the name of Arakcheev. His policy responded to the nobles who did not want reforms, but firm power.

Features of Arakcheevshchina: centralization and bureaucratization of state administration. Military settlements since 1815 Volosts were chosen where state peasants lived - this population passed into the category of military settlements

Soldiers' regiments were settled in the same volosts. Wives were moved to the soldiers, unmarried people were married. Wives passed into the category of military settlers.

Military settlements were obliged to carry out military service and at the same time be engaged in agriculture in order to provide themselves with everything necessary. The whole life of the villagers is subject to military discipline. As a result: the military settlements collapsed. Economically, they did not justify themselves, were unprofitable, cost a lot of money to the treasury. Social tensions led to uprisings of military settlers.

Persecution of love of freedom in public education

• Revision of programs towards religion
• Elimination of university autonomy
• Tightening censorship

Such was the internal policy of Alexander 1, which introduced many innovations and progressive models into the life of Russia.

This war began at the initiative of Iran. His army numbered 140,000 cavalry and 60,000 infantry, but it was poorly armed and equipped. The Russian Caucasian army was initially led by General I.V. Gudovich. In a short time, his troops managed to conquer the Ganja, Sheki, Karabakh, Shirvan, Quba and Baku khanates. However, after the unsuccessful assault on the city of Erivan (Yerevan) in 1808, General A.P. Tormasov was appointed commander. He won several more victories.

In 1810. the Persians and Turks made an alliance against Russia, which, however, did little to help them. In 1812. Russian troops of General P. S. Kotlyarevsky, consisting of 2 thousand people, attacked the 10 thousandth Persian army led by Crown Prince Abbas Mirza and put it to flight, after which they occupied Arkevan and Lankaran. October 24, 1813. was signed Gulistan peace treaty. The Shah of Iran recognized the territories of Georgia, Dagestan, Shirvan, Mingrelia, Imeretia, Abkhazia and Guria for Russia. He was forced to conclude a military alliance with Russia and grant her the right to free navigation in the Caspian. The result of the war was a serious expansion and strengthening of the southern borders of Russia.

Rupture of the Russian-French alliance.

Alexander unsuccessfully demanded that Napoleon refuse to support the intentions of the Poles to annex the lands of Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine to the Duchy of Warsaw. Finally in February 1811 Napoleon dealt another blow to his " dear ally"- annexed the Duchy of Oldenburg in Germany to France, the crown prince of which was married to Alexander's sister Catherine. In April 1811, the Franco-Russian alliance was broken. Both countries began intensive preparations for an inevitable war.

Patriotic War of 1812 (briefly)

The cause of the war was the violation by Russia and France of the terms of the Tilsit Treaty. Russia actually abandoned the blockade of England, accepting ships with English goods under neutral flags in its ports. France annexed the Duchy of Oldenburg, and Napoleon considered Alexander's demand for the withdrawal of French troops from Prussia and the Duchy of Warsaw insulting. A military clash between the two great powers was becoming inevitable.

June 12, 1812. Napoleon at the head of a 600,000-strong army, having crossed the river. Neman, invaded Russia. With an army of about 240 thousand people, the Russian troops were forced to retreat before the French armada. On August 3, the 1st and 2nd Russian armies joined forces near Smolensk, and a battle was fought. Napoleon failed to win a complete victory. In August, M.I. was appointed commander-in-chief. Kutuzov. Kutuzov decided to give battle near the village of Borodino. A good position was chosen for the troops. The right flank was defended by the Koloch River, the left was defended by earthen fortifications - flushes, they were defended by the troops of P.I.Bagration. In the center stood the troops of General N.N. Raevsky and artillery. Their positions were closed by Shevardinsky redoubt.

Napoleon intended to break through the Russian formation from the left flank, and then direct all efforts to the center and press Kutuzov's army to the river. He directed the fire of 400 guns at Bagration's flashes. The French launched 8 attacks, which began at 5 o'clock in the morning, suffering huge losses in them. Only by 4 o'clock in the afternoon did the French manage to advance in the center, temporarily capturing Raevsky's batteries. In the midst of the battle, a desperate raid behind French lines was made by the lancers of the 1st Cavalry Corps F.P. Uvarova and the Cossacks of Ataman M.I. Platov. This held back the attacking impulse of the French.

The battle ended late in the evening. The troops suffered huge losses: the French - 58 thousand people, the Russians - 44 thousand.

September 1, 1812. At a meeting in Fili, Kutuzov decides to leave Moscow. The retreat was necessary for the preservation of the army and the further struggle for the independence of the Fatherland.

Napoleon entered Moscow on September 2 and stayed there until October 7, 1812, awaiting peace proposals. During this time, most of the city was destroyed by fires. Bonaparte's attempts to make peace with Alexander I were unsuccessful.

Leaving Moscow in October, Napoleon tried to go to Kaluga and spend the winter in a province not devastated by the war. On October 12, near Maloyaroslavets, Napoleon's army was defeated and began to retreat along the devastated Smolensk road, driven by frost and hunger. Pursuing the retreating French, the Russian troops destroyed their formations in parts. The final defeat of Napoleon's army took place in the battle near the river. Berezina November 14-16. Only 30 thousand French soldiers were able to leave Russia. On December 25, Alexander I issued a manifesto on the victorious end of the Patriotic War.

Nicholas I

Emperor Nicholas 1 was born on June 25 (July 6), 1796. He was the third son of Paul 1 and Maria Feodorovna. He received a good education, but did not recognize the humanities. He was versed in the art of war and fortification. He was good at engineering. However, despite this, the king was not loved in the army. Cruel corporal punishment and coldness led to the fact that the nickname of Nicholas 1, Nikolai Palkin, was fixed among the soldiers.

Alexandra Fedorovna- the wife of Nicholas 1, who has amazing beauty, - became the mother of the future Emperor Alexander 2.

Nicholas 1 ascended the throne after the death of his elder brother Alexander 1. Constantine, the second pretender to the throne, renounced his rights during the life of his older brother. Nicholas 1 did not know about this and at first swore allegiance to Constantine. This short period would later be called the Interregnum. Although the manifesto on the accession to the throne of Nicholas 1 was issued on December 13 (25), 1825, legally the reign of Nicholas 1 began on November 19 (December 1). And the very first day was overshadowed by the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square, which was suppressed, and the leaders were executed in 1826. But Tsar Nicholas 1 saw the need to reform the social system. He decided to give the country clear laws, while relying on bureaucracy, since trust in the nobility was undermined.

The domestic policy of Nicholas 1 was characterized by extreme conservatism. The slightest manifestations of free thought were suppressed. He defended autocracy with all his might. The secret office under the leadership of Benckendorff was engaged in political investigation.

The reforms of Nicholas 1 were limited. Legislation has been streamlined. Under the leadership of Speransky, the publication of the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire began. Kiselev carried out a reform of the management of state peasants. Peasants were allotted land when they moved to uninhabited areas, first-aid posts were built in the villages, and innovations in agricultural technology were introduced. In 1839 - 1843. a financial reform was also carried out, which established the ratio between the silver ruble and banknotes. But the question of serfdom remained unresolved.

The foreign policy of Nicholas 1 pursued the same goals as the domestic policy. During the reign of Nicholas 1, Russia fought the revolution not only within the country, but also outside it.

Nicholas 1 died on March 2 (February 18), 1855 in St. Petersburg, and his son, Alexander 2, ascended the throne.

Brief biography of Alexander 2

The domestic policy of Alexander 2 was strikingly different from the policy of Nicholas 1 and was marked by many reforms. The most important of them was the peasant reform of Alexander 2, according to which in 1861, on February 19, serfdom was abolished. This reform caused an urgent need for further changes in many Russian institutions and led Alexander II to carry out bourgeois reforms.

In 1864. Zemstvo reform was carried out by decree of Alexander II. Its goal was to create a system of local self-government, for which the institute of the county zemstvo was established.

In 1870. the city reform was carried out, which had a positive effect on the development of industry and cities. City dumas and councils were established, which were representative bodies of power.

The judicial reform of Alexander 2, carried out in 1864, was marked by the introduction of European legal norms, but some features of the previously existing judicial system were retained, for example, a special court for officials.

The military reform of Alexander 2. Its result is universal military service, as well as army organization close to European standards.

In the course of the financial reform of Alexander II, the State Bank was created, and official accounting was born.

The foreign policy of Alexander 2 was very successful. During his reign, Russia regained its military power, which had been shaken under Nicholas 1.

The great reforms of Alexander II were interrupted by his death. March 1, 1881 On that day, Tsar Alexander II intended to sign Loris-Melikov's large-scale economic and administrative reform project. The assassination attempt on Alexander 2, committed by the People's Will Grinevitsky, led to his severe injury and the death of the emperor.

Alexander 3 - the policy of counter-reforms (briefly)

April 29, 1881 - Manifesto, in which the emperor declared his will to preserve the foundations of autocracy and thereby eliminated the hopes of the democrats to transform the regime into a constitutional monarchy.

Alexander III replaced liberal figures in the government with hardliners. The concept of counter-reforms was developed by its main ideologist KN Pobedonostsev.

To strengthen the autocratic system, the system of zemstvo self-government was subjected to changes. In the hands of the zemstvo chiefs, the judicial and administrative powers were combined. They had unlimited power over the peasants.

Published in 1890 The "Regulations on Zemstvo Institutions" strengthened the role of the nobility in Zemstvo institutions and the administration's control over them. The representation of landowners in zemstvos increased significantly by introducing a high property qualification.

In 1881. the “Regulations on Measures to Preserve State Security and Public Peace” were issued, which granted numerous repressive rights to the local administration (declare a state of emergency, expel without trial, bring them to a military court, close educational institutions). This law was used until the reforms of 1917 and became a tool for fighting the revolutionary and liberal movement.

In 1892. A new “City regulation” was issued, which infringed on the independence of city governments. The government included them in the general system of state institutions, thereby putting them under control.

Alexander 3 by law of 1893 forbade the sale and pledge of peasant lands, nullifying all the successes of previous years.

In 1884. Alexander undertook a university counter-reform, the purpose of which was to educate an intelligentsia obedient to the authorities. The new university charter severely limited the autonomy of universities, placing them under the control of trustees.

Under Alexander 3, the development of factory legislation began, which restrained the initiative of the owners of the enterprise and excluded the possibility of workers fighting for their rights.

The results of the counter-reforms of Alexander 3 are contradictory: the country managed to achieve an industrial boom, refrain from participating in wars, but at the same time social unrest and tension intensified.

Emperor Nicholas 2 (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov)

Nicholas 2 (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) - the last Russian emperor, son of Alexander III.

May 26, 1896. The coronation of Nicholas II and his wife took place. On holidays, a terrible event takes place, called "Khodynki", as a result of which 1282 people died in a stampede.

During the reign of Nicholas 2, Russia experienced a rapid economic recovery. The agricultural sector is strengthening - the country becomes the main exporter of agricultural products in Europe, a stable gold currency is introduced. The industry was actively developing: cities grew, enterprises and railways were built. Nicholas 2 was a reformer, he introduced a standardized day for workers, provided them with insurance, and carried out reforms in the army and navy. The emperor supported the development of culture and science in Russia.

But, despite significant improvements in the country, there were popular unrest. In January 1905, the first Russian revolution took place, the impetus for which was Bloody Sunday. As a result, on October 17, 1905, a manifesto "On the improvement of the state order" was adopted. It talked about civil liberties. A parliament was created, which included the State Duma and the State Council. On June 3 (16), 1907, the “Third of June coup” took place, which changed the rules for elections to the Duma.

In 1914, the First World War began, as a result of which the situation inside the country worsened. Failures in battles undermined the authority of Tsar Nicholas 2. In February 1917, an uprising broke out in Petrograd, which reached grandiose proportions. On March 2, 1917, fearing mass bloodshed, Nicholas 2 signed the act of abdication.

On March 9, 1917, the provisional government arrested the entire Romanov family and sent them to Tsarskoye Selo. In August they are transported to Tobolsk, and in April 1918 to their last destination - Yekaterinburg. On the night of July 16-17, the Romanovs were taken to the basement, the death sentence was read out and the execution was carried out. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that none of the royal family managed to escape.

Russia in World War I

The First World War was a consequence of the contradictions that arose between the states of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary) and the Entente (Russia, England, France). At the heart of these contradictions was the conflict between England and Germany, including economic, naval and colonial claims. There were disputes between France and Germany over the regions of Alsace and Lorraine taken from France, as well as Germany's claims to French colonies in Africa.

The reason for the start of the war was the murder in Sarajevo on June 25, 1914 of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. August 19, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia.

Military operations in Europe were divided into two fronts: Western (in France and Belgium) and Eastern - Russian. Russian troops operated on the North-Western Front (East Prussia, the Baltic states, Poland) and the South-Western (Western Ukraine, Transcarpathia). Russia entered the war without having had time to complete the rearmament of its troops.

Successful operations were carried out against German troops near Warsaw and Lodz.

Autumn 1914. Türkiye took the side of the Triple Alliance. The opening of the Caucasian front greatly complicated the position of Russia. The troops began to experience an acute need for ammunition, the situation was complicated by the helplessness of the allies.

In 1915. Germany, having concentrated the main forces on the Eastern Front, carried out a spring-summer offensive, as a result of which Russia lost all the gains of 1914 and partly the territories of Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine and Western Belarus.

Germany transferred its main forces to the Western Front, where it began active fighting near the fortress of Verdun.

Two offensive attempts - in Galicia and Belarus ended in defeat. The Germans managed to capture the city of Riga and the Moonsund archipelago.

October 26, 1917. The 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the Decree on Peace, in which all the belligerents were asked to start peace negotiations. On November 14, Germany agreed to conduct negotiations, which began on November 20, 1917 in Brest-Litovsk.

A truce was concluded, Germany put forward demands, which the delegation headed by L. Trotsky rejected and left Brest-Litovsk. To this, the German troops responded with an offensive along the entire front. On February 18, the new Soviet delegation signed a peace treaty with Germany on even more difficult terms.

Russia lost Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, part of Belarus. The military presence of Soviet troops in the Baltic states, Finland, and Ukraine was excluded.

Russia undertook to demobilize the army, transfer the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to Germany, and pay a monetary contribution.

February Revolution of 1917 (briefly)

The difficult economic situation pushed the government to involve the bourgeoisie in managing the economy. Numerous committees and bourgeois unions appeared, the purpose of which was to provide assistance to the victims of the war. Military-industrial committees dealt with issues of defense, fuel, transport, food, etc.

At the beginning of 1917. the level of the strike movement has reached a critical point. In January-February 1917, 676,000 workers went on strike, presenting mainly (95% of the strikes) political demands. The growth of the workers' and peasants' movement showed the "unwillingness of the lower classes to live in the old way."

February 14, 1917 A demonstration took place near the Tauride Palace demanding that the deputies of the State Duma create a "government of people's salvation". At the same time, the Bolsheviks, calling on the workers to a one-day general strike, led 90,000 people out onto the streets of Petrograd. The revolutionary explosion was facilitated by the introduction of bread cards, which caused its rise in price and panic among the population. On February 22, Nicholas II left for Mogilev, where his Headquarters was located. On February 23, the Vyborg and Petrograd sides went on strike, pogroms of bakeries and bakeries began in the city.

The success of the revolution began to depend on which side the Petrograd garrison would take. On the morning of February 26, soldiers of the Volynsky, Preobrazhensky and Lithuanian regiments joined the rebels, they captured the armory and arsenal.

Political prisoners held in the Kresty prison were released. By the end of the day, most of the units of the Petrograd garrison went over to the side of the rebels.

The corps under the command of N.I. Ivanov, sent to suppress the demonstrators, was disarmed on the outskirts of the city. Without waiting for support and realizing the futility of resistance, on February 28, all the other troops, led by the commander of the military district, General S.S. Khabalov, surrendered.

The rebels have established control over the most important objects in the city.

On the morning of February 27, members of the "working group" at the Central Military Industrial Committee announced the creation of a "Provisional Executive Committee of Soviets of Workers' Deputies" and called for the election of representatives to the Soviet.

Nicholas II from Headquarters tried to break through to Tsarskoye Selo. In a situation of a developing revolutionary crisis, the emperor was forced to sign a manifesto on abdication for himself and his young son Alexei in favor of his brother, Mikhail Alekseevich Romanov. However, Michael refused the throne, stating that the issue of power should be decided by the Constituent Assembly.

October Revolution of 1917 in Russia

The Great October Socialist Revolution took place on October 25-26, 1917. This is one of the greatest events in the history of Russia, as a result of which there were cardinal changes in the position of all classes of society.

The October Revolution began as a result of a number of good reasons:

• In 1914-1918. Russia was involved in the First World War, the situation at the front was not the best, there was no sensible leader, the army suffered heavy losses. In industry, the growth of military products prevailed over consumer products, which led to an increase in prices and caused discontent among the masses. The soldiers and peasants wanted peace, and the bourgeoisie, who profited from the supply of military equipment, longed for the continuation of hostilities.
• national conflicts.
• The intensity of the class struggle. The peasants, who for centuries dreamed of getting rid of the oppression of the landowners and kulaks and taking possession of the land, were ready for decisive action.
• The fall of the authority of the Provisional Government, which was unable to solve the problems of society.
• The Bolsheviks had a strong authoritative leader V.I. Lenin, who promised the people to solve all social problems.
• The prevalence of socialist ideas in society.

The Bolshevik Party achieved tremendous influence over the masses. In October, there were already 400,000 people on their side. On October 16, 1917, the Military Revolutionary Committee was created, which began preparations for an armed uprising. During the revolution, by October 25, 1917, all the key points in the city were occupied by the Bolsheviks, led by V.I. Lenin. They're taking over the Winter palace and arrest the provisional government.

On October 26, the Decree on Peace and Land was adopted. At the congress, a Soviet government was formed, called the "Council of People's Commissars", which included: Lenin himself (chairman), L.D. Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), I.V. Stalin (People's Commissar for National Affairs). The “Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia” was introduced, which stated that all people have equal rights to freedom and development, there is no longer a nation of masters and a nation of oppressed.

As a result of the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks won, and the dictatorship of the proletariat was established. Class society was liquidated, the landlords' land was transferred into the hands of the peasants, and industrial facilities: factories, plants, mines - into the hands of the workers.

Civil War and intervention (briefly)

The civil war began in October 1917 and ended with the defeat of the White Army in the Far East in the autumn of 1922. During this time, various social classes and groups on the territory of Russia resolved the contradictions that arose between them by armed methods.

The main reasons for the start of the civil war include:

The discrepancy between the goals of the transformation of society and the methods for achieving them,

Refusal to create a coalition government,

dispersal of the Constituent Assembly,

Nationalization of land and industry,

Elimination of commodity-money relations,

The establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat,

Creation of a one-party system,

The danger of the revolution spreading to other countries,

Economic losses of the Western powers during regime change in Russia.

Spring 1918. English, American and French troops landed in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The Japanese invaded the Far East, the British and Americans landed in Vladivostok - intervention began.

May 25 there was an uprising of the 45,000th Czechoslovak corps, which was transferred to Vladivostok for further shipment to France. A well-armed and well-equipped corps stretched from the Volga to the Urals. In the conditions of the decayed Russian army, he became the only real force at that time.

November-December 1918 English troops landed in Batumi and Novorossiysk, the French occupied Odessa. In these critical conditions, the Bolsheviks managed to create a combat-ready army by mobilizing people and resources and attracting military specialists from the tsarist army.

By the autumn of 1918. The Red Army liberated the cities of Samara, Simbirsk, Kazan and Tsaritsyn.

The revolution in Germany had a significant impact on the course of the civil war. Recognizing its defeat in the First World War, Germany agreed to annul the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and withdrew its troops from the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states.

The Entente began to withdraw its troops, providing only material assistance to the Whites.

By April 1919. The Red Army managed to stop the troops of General A.V. Kolchak. Driven into the depths of Siberia, they were defeated by the beginning of 1920.

Summer 1919. General Denikin, having captured Ukraine, moved to Moscow and approached Tula. The troops of the first cavalry army under the command of M.V. Frunze and the Latvian riflemen concentrated on the Southern Front. In the spring of 1920, near Novorossiysk, the "Reds" defeated the Whites.

In the north of the country, the troops of General N.N. Yudenich fought against the Soviets. In the spring and autumn of 1919 they made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Petrograd.

In April 1920. the conflict between Soviet Russia and Poland began. In May 1920, the Poles captured Kyiv. The troops of the Western and Southwestern fronts launched an offensive, but failed to achieve a final victory.

Realizing the impossibility of continuing the war, in March 1921 the parties signed a peace treaty.

The war ended with the defeat of General P.N. Wrangel, who led the remnants of Denikin's troops in the Crimea. In 1920, the Far Eastern Republic was formed, by 1922 it was finally liberated from the Japanese.

Formation of the USSR (briefly)

In 1918, the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" was adopted, proclaiming the principle of the future structure of the country. Its federal basis, as a free union of republics, assumed the right of nations to self-determination. Following this, the Soviet government recognized the independence of Finland and the statehood of Poland.

The collapse of the Russian Empire and the imperialist war led to the establishment of Soviet power throughout Russia.

Proclaimed in 1918. The RSFSR occupied 92% of the entire territory and was the largest of all Soviet republics, where more than 100 peoples and nationalities lived. It partly included the territories of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. In fact, until 1922, the Far Eastern Republic functioned in its likeness.

From 1920 to 1921. units of the Red Army occupied these states without visible resistance and established the laws of the RSFSR there. The Sovietization of Belarus passed easily.

In Ukraine, it was not without a struggle with the pro-Kiev course. The process of establishing Soviet power in the Central Asian Soviet People's Republics - Bukhara and Khorezm - was going on heavily. Detachments of the local armed opposition continued to resist there.

Most of the communist leaders of the republics were worried about the existence of "Great Russian chauvinism", so that the unification of the republics into a single whole would not become the creation of a new empire. This problem was perceived especially painfully in Georgia and Ukraine.

The unity and rigidity of the repressive bodies served as powerful factors in the unification of the republics.

The commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was engaged in the development of the principles of the national state structure. Autonomous, federal and confederal options for building a single state were considered.

The plan for the declared autonomous entry of the Soviet republics into the RSFSR was proposed by the People's Commissar for Nationalities, Stalin. However, the commission accepted Lenin's proposal for a union federal state. He gave future republics formal sovereignty.

Lenin clearly understood that a single party and a single repressive system were a sure guarantee of the integrity of the state. Lenin's project could attract other peoples to the union, and not scare them away, as Stalin's version.

December 30, 1922. At the First Congress of Soviets, the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was proclaimed. The Congress adopted the Declaration and the Treaty.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) was elected as the supreme legislative body, which consisted of two chambers: the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities.

January 31, 1924. The II All-Union Congress of Soviets adopted the first Constitution of the USSR, which stipulated the principles of the Declaration and the Treaty.

The foreign policy of the USSR was quite active. Progress has been made in relations with the countries of the capitalist camp. An agreement on economic cooperation was signed with France (1966). The Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Nuclear Arms (SALT-1) is concluded. The 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) played an important role in relieving international tension. The USSR maintained and strengthened ties with developing countries.

The 1980s were a time of radical change and restructuring in the USSR. It led to problems in the social sphere and social production, the impending crisis in the economy of the USSR, caused by a devastating arms race for the country. The course towards the democratization of public life and publicity was announced by M.S. Gorbachev.

But perestroika could not prevent the collapse of the USSR.

Among the main reasons for the collapse of the USSR are the following:

• The actual destruction of the philosophy of communism, the spirit of which was lost first by the ruling elite of the country, and then by all its citizens.
• The imbalance in the development of industry in the USSR - as in the pre-war years, the main attention was paid to heavy industry, as well as defense and energy. The development of light industry and the level of production of consumer goods were clearly insufficient.
• The ideological failure also played its role. Life behind the Iron Curtain seemed beautiful and free to most Soviet people. And such benefits as free education and medicine, housing and social guarantees were taken for granted, people did not know how to appreciate them.
• Prices in the USSR, relatively low, were artificially "frozen", but there was a problem of shortage of many goods, often also artificial.
• The Soviet man was completely controlled by the system.
• Many experts say that one of the reasons for the fall of the USSR was a sharp drop in oil prices and the prohibition of religions.

The Baltic republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) were the first to secede from the USSR.

After the collapse of the USSR, Russia declared itself the heir to a great empire. The 1990s turned into a severe crisis for the country in all spheres. The production crisis led to the actual destruction of many industries, the contradictions between the legislative and executive authorities - to a crisis situation in the political sphere.

THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. On the German side were Romania, Hungary, Italy and Finland. In accordance with the Barbarossa plan developed in 1940, Germany planned to enter the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line as soon as possible. It was a setting for a blitzkrieg - a lightning war. Thus began the Great Patriotic War.

The main periods of the Great Patriotic War. The first period (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942) from the beginning of the war to the start of the Soviet offensive near Stalingrad. It was the most difficult period for the USSR, called the Battle of Stalingrad.

Having created a multiple superiority in people and military equipment in the main directions of the offensive, the German army has achieved significant success. By the end of November 1941, the Soviet troops, retreating under the blows of superior enemy forces to Leningrad, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, left the enemy a vast territory, lost about 5 million people killed, missing and captured, most of the tanks and aircraft .

The second period (November 19, 1942 - the end of 1943) - a radical turning point in the war. Having exhausted and bled the enemy in defensive battles, on November 19, 1942, the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, surrounding 22 fascist divisions near Stalingrad, numbering more than 300 thousand people. On February 2, 1943, this grouping was liquidated. At the same time, enemy troops were expelled from the North Caucasus. By the summer of 1943, the Soviet-German front had stabilized.

The third period (the end of 1943 - May 8, 1945) is the final period of the Great Patriotic War. In 1944, the Soviet economy reached its highest boom ever during the war. Industry, transport, and agriculture developed successfully. War production grew especially rapidly.

1944 was marked by the victories of the Soviet Armed Forces. The entire territory of the USSR was completely liberated from the fascist invaders. The Soviet Union came to the aid of the peoples of Europe - the Soviet Army liberated Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, fought its way to Norway. Romania and Bulgaria declared war on Germany. Finland left the war.

During the winter offensive of 1945, the Soviet Army pushed the enemy back more than 500 km. Poland, Hungary and Austria, the eastern part of Czechoslovakia were almost completely liberated. The Soviet Army reached the Oder. On April 25, 1945, a historic meeting of Soviet troops with American and British troops took place on the Elbe, in the Torgau region.

The fighting in Berlin was exceptionally fierce and stubborn. On April 30, the banner of Victory was hoisted over the Reichstag. On May 8, the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany was signed. May 9 - became Victory Day.

Development of the USSR in 1945-1953

The main task of the post-war period was the restoration of the destroyed economy. In March 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a plan for the reconstruction and restoration of the national economy.

The demilitarization of the economy and the modernization of the military-industrial complex began. Heavy industry was declared a priority area, mainly engineering, metallurgy, and the fuel and energy complex.

By 1948, production reached pre-war levels thanks to the heroic labor of the Soviet people, the free labor of Gulag prisoners, the redistribution of funds in favor of heavy industry, the transfer of funds from the agricultural sector and light industry, the attraction of funds from Germany's reparations, and strict economic planning.

In 1945, the gross agricultural output of the USSR was 60% of the pre-war level. The government tried to bring the industry out of the crisis by punitive measures.

In 1947, a mandatory minimum of workdays was established, the law “For encroachment on collective farm and state property” was tightened, the tax on livestock maintenance was increased, which led to its mass slaughter.

The areas of individual allotments of collective farmers have been reduced. Reduced wages in kind. Collective farmers were denied passports, which limited their freedom. At the same time, farms were enlarged and control over them was tightened.

These reforms were not successful, and only by the 1950s did they manage to reach the pre-war level of agricultural production.

In 1945 the State Defense Committee was abolished. The work of public and political organizations has been resumed

In 1946, the Council of People's Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers, and the people's commissariats into ministries.

Since 1946, the drafting of a new Constitution of the USSR began. In 1947, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks submitted the question “On the draft of a new program of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks” for consideration.

There have been changes in science and culture. Compulsory seven-year education was introduced in 1952, evening schools were opened. The Academy of Arts and the Academy of Sciences with its branches in the republics were formed. Postgraduate courses are open in many universities. Television began to broadcast regularly.

In 1948, the persecution of "cosmopolitans" began. Bans were imposed on contacts and marriages with foreigners. A wave of anti-Semitism swept across the country.

Khrushchev's foreign and domestic policy

Khrushchev's activities played a significant role in organizing mass repressions, both in Moscow and in Ukraine. During the Great Patriotic War, Khrushchev was a member of the military councils of the fronts, and by 1943 he had received the rank of lieutenant general. Also, Khrushchev led the partisan movement behind the front line.

One of the most famous post-war initiatives was the strengthening of the collective farms, which contributed to the reduction of bureaucracy. In the autumn of 1953, Khrushchev took the highest party post. The reign of Khrushchev began with the announcement of a large-scale project for the development of virgin lands. The purpose of the development of virgin lands was to increase the volume of grain harvested in the country.

Khrushchev's domestic policy was marked by the rehabilitation of the victims of political repression and by the improvement in the standard of living of the population of the USSR. Also, he made an attempt to modernize the party system.

Foreign policy changed under Khrushchev. Thus, among the theses put forward by him at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, there was also the thesis that the war between socialism and capitalism is by no means inevitable. Khrushchev's speech at the 20th Congress contained rather harsh criticism of Stalin's activities, the personality cult, and political repressions. It was perceived ambiguously by the leaders of other countries. An English translation of this speech was soon published in the United States. But the citizens of the USSR were able to get acquainted with it only in the 2nd half of the 80s.

In 1957 a conspiracy was created against Khrushchev, which was not crowned with success. As a result, the conspirators, which included Molotov, Kaganovich and Malenkov, were dismissed by the decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee.

Brief biography of Brezhnev

During the Great Patriotic War, Brezhnev L.I. served as head of the Southern Front, and received the rank of major general in 1943. At the end of hostilities, Brezhnev successfully builds a political career. He consistently works as secretary of the regional committee of Ukraine and Moldova. Since 1952, he became a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee, and after Khrushchev came to power, he was appointed secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan.

By 1957, Brezhnev returned to the Presidium and after 3 years held the position of Chairman of the Presidium. During the Brezhnev years, the country refuses to implement the ideas of the previous leader, Khrushchev. Since 1965, Brezhnev's unhurried and outwardly more modest reforms began, the goal of which was to build "developed socialism." Enterprises are gaining greater independence than in previous years, and the standard of living of the population is gradually improving, which is especially noticeable in the villages. However, already by the beginning of the 1970s, stagnation appeared in the economy.

In international relations, Khrushchev's course is maintained, and dialogue with the West continues. The agreements on disarmament in Europe, enshrined in the Helsinki Accords, are also important. Tension in international relations reappears only after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan.

Brief biography of Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich

Party career Gorbachev M.S. turned out to be successful. And high yields in the Stavropol region have created a good reputation for him. In an effort to introduce more rational methods of agricultural labor, Gorbachev publishes articles in the regional and central press. As secretary of the Central Committee, he deals with the problems of the country's agriculture.

Gorbachev came to power in 1985. Later, he held other high posts in the USSR. Gorbachev's rule was marked by serious political reforms designed to put an end to stagnation. The most famous were such actions of the country's leadership as the introduction of cost accounting, acceleration, money exchange. The famous dry law of Gorbachev caused a sharp rejection of almost all citizens of the Union. Unfortunately, the decree "On strengthening the fight against drunkenness" had an absolutely opposite effect. Most of the liquor stores were closed. However, the practice of home brewing has spread almost everywhere. There was also fake vodka. Prohibition was repealed in 1987 for economic reasons. However, fake vodka remained.

Gorbachev's perestroika was marked by a weakening of censorship and, at the same time, a deterioration in the standard of living of Soviet citizens. This happened due to ill-conceived domestic policy. The interethnic conflicts in Georgia, Baku, Nagorno-Karabakh, etc. also contributed to the growth of tension in society. The Baltic republics already during this period headed for secession from the Union.

Gorbachev's foreign policy, the so-called "policy of new thinking", contributed to the detente of the difficult international situation and the end of the Cold War.

In 1989, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev took the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and in 1990 he became the first and only president of the USSR.

In 1990, M. Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize as a person who did a lot to ease international tension. But the country at that time was already in a deep crisis.

As a result of the August putsch of 1991, organized by the former supporters of Gorbachev, the USSR ceased to exist. Gorbachev resigned after the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords. Subsequently, he continued his social activities, headed the Green Cross and Gorbachev Foundation organizations.

RUSSIA DURING B.N. YELTSIN

June 12, 1991 B.N. Yeltsin was elected President of the Russian Federation. After his election, B. Yeltsin's main slogans were the fight against the privileges of the nomenklatura and Russia's independence from the USSR.

On July 10, 1991, Boris Yeltsin took an oath of allegiance to the people of Russia and the Russian Constitution, and assumed the office of President of the RSFSR.

In August 1991, a confrontation between Yeltsin and the putschists began, which led to a proposal to ban the activities of the Communist Party, and on August 19, Boris Yeltsin made a famous speech from a tank, in which he read out a decree on the illegitimate activities of the State Emergency Committee. The coup is defeated, the activities of the CPSU are completely banned.

In December 1991, the USSR officially ceased to exist.

December 25, 1991 B.N. Yeltsin received full presidential power in Russia in connection with the resignation of the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev and the actual collapse of the USSR.

1992 - 1993 - a new stage in the construction of the Russian state - privatization has begun, economic reform is being carried out.

In September-October 1993, a confrontation between Boris Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet began, which led to the dissolution of parliament. Unrest in Moscow, which peaked on October 3-4, supporters of the Supreme Soviet seized the television center, the situation was brought under control only with the help of tanks.

In 1994, the First Chechen War began, which led to a huge number of casualties among both the civilian population and the military, as well as law enforcement officers.

May 1996 Boris Yeltsin forced to sign an order in Khasavyurt on the withdrawal of troops from Chechnya, which theoretically means the end of the first Chechen war.

In 1998 and 1999 in Russia, as a result of unsuccessful economic policy, a default occurs, then a government crisis.

On December 31, 1999, in a New Year's address to the people of Russia, B. Yeltsin announced his early resignation. Prime Minister V.V. Putin, who provides Yeltsin and his family with guarantees of complete security.