Alexander II (short biography)

The future Russian Emperor Alexander II was born on April twenty-ninth, 1818. Being the son of Nicholas the First and heir to the throne, he was able to receive a diverse education. In the role of his teachers, it is worth highlighting officer Merder, as well as Zhukovsky. His father had a significant influence on the formation of the character of the future ruler. Alexander II ascends the throne after his death in 1855. By this point, he already has experience in management, since he acted as ruler while his father was absent in the capital. This ruler went down in history as Alexander the Second Liberator.

His wife in 1841 was Maximiliana Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria (Maria Alexandrovna) - Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was able to give birth to seven children to the sovereign, but two of them (the eldest) died. Since 1880, Alexander has been married to Princess Dolgorukaya, the future mother of his four children.

The nature of the domestic policy of this ruler was significantly different from the policy of Nicholas the First, marked by many successful reforms. The most important of them, of course, was the peasant reform of 1861, according to which serfdom was completely abolished. This reform has created an urgent need for further changes in various Russian institutions.

In 1864, according to Alexander's decree, zemstvo reform was carried out and the institution of district zemstvo was established.

In 1870, an urban reform was carried out, which had a positive impact on the development of cities and industry in general. Councils and city councils are established, which are representative bodies of government. The judicial reform of 1864 was marked by the introduction of European legal norms, but some features of the former judicial system were preserved (for example, a special court for officials).

Next in line was military reform, which resulted in general conscription, as well as army organization standards closer to European standards. Later, the State Bank was created and the planning of the first Russian Constitution began.

The foreign policy of this Russian ruler was also successful. During the reign of Alexander II, Russia was able to regain its former power, subjugate the North Caucasus, and win the Turkish War. However, there were also mistakes (loss of Alaska).

Alexander II died on March 1, 1881.

Coronation:
Predecessor:	Nicholas I
Successor:
Heir:	Nicholas (before 1865), after Alexander III
Religion:	Orthodoxy
Birth:
Buried:	Peter and Paul Cathedral
Dynasty:	Romanovs
	Nicholas I
	Charlotte of Prussia (Alexandra Fedorovna)
	1) Maria Alexandrovna 2) Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova
	From the 1st marriage, sons: Nicholas, Alexander III, Vladimir, Alexey, Sergei and Pavel, daughters: Alexandra and Maria, from the 2nd marriage, sons: St. book Georgy Alexandrovich Yuryevsky and Boris daughters: Olga and Ekaterina
Autograph:
Monogram:

Reign of Alexander II

Big title

Beginning of reign

Background

Judicial reform

Military reform

Organizational reforms

Education reform

Other reforms

Autocracy reform

Economic development of the country

The problem of corruption

Foreign policy

Assassinations and murder

History of failed attempts

Results of the reign

Saint Petersburg

Bulgaria

General-Toshevo

Helsinki

Częstochowa

Monuments by Opekushin

Interesting Facts

Film incarnations

(April 17 (29), 1818, Moscow - March 1 (13, 1881, St. Petersburg) - Emperor of All Russia, Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland (1855-1881) from the Romanov dynasty. The eldest son of first the grand ducal, and since 1825, the imperial couple Nikolai Pavlovich and Alexandra Feodorovna.

He entered Russian history as a conductor of large-scale reforms. Honored with a special epithet in Russian pre-revolutionary historiography - Liberator(in connection with the abolition of serfdom according to the manifesto of February 19, 1861). Died as a result of a terrorist attack organized by the People's Will party.

Childhood, education and upbringing

Born on April 17, 1818, on Bright Wednesday, at 11 o'clock in the morning in the Bishop's House of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, where the entire imperial family, excluding the uncle of the newborn Alexander I, who was on an inspection trip to the south of Russia, arrived in early April for fasting and celebrating Easter ; A 201-gun salvo was fired in Moscow. On May 5, the sacraments of baptism and confirmation were performed over the baby in the church of the Chudov Monastery by Moscow Archbishop Augustine, in honor of which Maria Feodorovna was given a gala dinner.

He received a home education under the personal supervision of his parent, who paid special attention to the issue of raising an heir. His “mentor” (with the responsibility of leading the entire process of upbringing and education and the assignment to draw up a “teaching plan”) and teacher of the Russian language was V. A. Zhukovsky, a teacher of the Law of God and Sacred History - the enlightened theologian Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky (until 1835), military instructor - Captain K. K. Merder, as well as: M. M. Speransky (legislation), K. I. Arsenyev (statistics and history), E. F. Kankrin (finance), F. I. Brunov (foreign policy) , Academician Collins (arithmetic), C. B. Trinius (natural history).

According to numerous testimonies, in his youth he was very impressionable and amorous. So, during a trip to London in 1839, he fell in love with the young Queen Victoria (later, as monarchs, they experienced mutual hostility and enmity).

Beginning of government activities

Upon reaching adulthood on April 22, 1834 (the day he took the oath), the heir-tsarevich was introduced by his father into the main state institutions of the empire: in 1834 into the Senate, in 1835 he was introduced into the Holy Governing Synod, from 1841 a member of the State Council, in 1842 - the Committee ministers.

In 1837, Alexander made a long trip around Russia and visited 29 provinces of the European part, Transcaucasia and Western Siberia, and in 1838-1839 he visited Europe.

The future emperor's military service was quite successful. In 1836 he already became a major general, and from 1844 a full general, commanding the guards infantry. Since 1849, Alexander was the head of military educational institutions, chairman of the Secret Committees on Peasant Affairs in 1846 and 1848. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856, with the declaration of martial law in the St. Petersburg province, he commanded all the troops of the capital.

Reign of Alexander II

Big title

By God's hastening grace, We, Alexander II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauride Chersonis, Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland, Prince of Estonia , Livlyandsky, Kurlyandsky and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Bialystok, Korelsky, Tver, Yugorsky, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novagorod Nizovsky lands, Chernihiv, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavsky, Beloozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondian, Vitebsky, Mstislav and all northern countries, lord and sovereign Iverskiy, Kartalinsky, Georgia and Kabardinsky lands and Armenian regions, Cherkassky regions. and the Mountain Princes and other hereditary Sovereign and Possessor, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstin, Stormarn, Ditmarsen and Oldenburg, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Beginning of reign

Having ascended the throne on the day of his father’s death on February 18, 1855, Alexander II issued a manifesto that read: “In the face of the invisibly co-present God, we accept the sacred scope of always having as one goal the well-being of OUR Fatherland. May we, guided and protected by Providence, who has called US to this great service, establish Russia at the highest level of power and glory, may the constant desires and views of OUR August predecessors PETER, KATHERINE, ALEXANDER, the Blessed and Unforgettable, be fulfilled through US OUR Parent. "

On the original His Imperial Majesty's own hand signed ALEXANDER

The country faced a number of complex domestic and foreign policy issues (peasant, eastern, Polish and others); finances were extremely upset by the unsuccessful Crimean War, during which Russia found itself in complete international isolation.

According to the journal of the State Council for February 19, 1855, in his first speech to the members of the Council, the new emperor said, in particular: “My unforgettable Parent loved Russia and all his life he constantly thought about its benefits alone. In His constant and daily labors with Me, He told Me: “I want to take for myself everything that is unpleasant and everything that is difficult, just to hand over to You a Russia that is well-ordered, happy and calm.” Providence judged otherwise, and the late Emperor, in the last hours of his life, told me: “I hand over My command to You, but, unfortunately, not in the order I wanted, leaving You with a lot of work and worries.”

The first of the important steps was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856 - on conditions that were not the worst in the current situation (in England there were strong sentiments to continue the war until the complete defeat and dismemberment of the Russian Empire).

In the spring of 1856, he visited Helsingfors (Grand Duchy of Finland), where he spoke at the university and the Senate, then Warsaw, where he called on the local nobility to “give up dreams” (fr. pas de rêveries), and Berlin, where he had a very important meeting for him with the Prussian king Frederick William IV (his mother’s brother), with whom he secretly sealed a “dual alliance,” thus breaking the foreign policy blockade of Russia.

A “thaw” has set in in the socio-political life of the country. On the occasion of the coronation, which took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin on August 26, 1856 (the ceremony was led by Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret (Drozdov); the emperor sat on the ivory throne of Tsar Ivan III), the Highest Manifesto granted benefits and concessions to a number of categories of subjects, in particular, the Decembrists , Petrashevites, participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831; recruitment was suspended for 3 years; in 1857, military settlements were liquidated.

Abolition of serfdom (1861)

Background

The first steps towards the abolition of serfdom in Russia were taken by Emperor Alexander I in 1803 with the publication of the Decree on Free Plowmen, which spelled out the legal status of freed peasants.

In the Baltic (Baltic Sea) provinces of the Russian Empire (Estonia, Courland, Livonia), serfdom was abolished back in 1816-1819.

According to historians who specifically studied this issue, the percentage of serfs to the entire adult male population of the empire reached its maximum towards the end of the reign of Peter I (55%), during the subsequent period of the 18th century. was about 50% and increased again by the beginning of the 19th century, reaching 57-58% in 1811-1817. For the first time, a significant reduction in this proportion occurred under Nicholas I, by the end of whose reign it, according to various estimates, was reduced to 35-45%. Thus, according to the results of the 10th revision (1857), the share of serfs in the entire population of the empire fell to 37%. According to the population census of 1857-1859, 23.1 million people (of both sexes) out of 62.5 million people inhabiting the Russian Empire were in serfdom. Of the 65 provinces and regions that existed in the Russian Empire in 1858, in the three above-mentioned Baltic provinces, in the Land of the Black Sea Army, in the Primorsky region, the Semipalatinsk region and the region of the Siberian Kyrgyz, in the Derbent province (with the Caspian region) and the Erivan province there were no serfs at all; in another 4 administrative units (Arkhangelsk and Shemakha provinces, Transbaikal and Yakutsk regions) there were also no serfs, with the exception of several dozen courtyard people (servants). In the remaining 52 provinces and regions, the share of serfs in the population ranged from 1.17% (Bessarabian region) to 69.07% (Smolensk province).

During the reign of Nicholas I, about a dozen different commissions were created to resolve the issue of abolishing serfdom, but all of them were ineffective due to the opposition of the nobility. However, during this period, a significant transformation of this institution took place (see article Nicholas I) and the number of serfs sharply decreased, which facilitated the task of the final abolition of serfdom. By the 1850s A situation arose where it could have happened without the consent of the landowners. As historian V.O. Klyuchevsky pointed out, by 1850 more than 2/3 of noble estates and 2/3 of serfs were pledged to secure loans taken from the state. Therefore, the liberation of the peasants could have occurred without a single state act. To do this, it was enough for the state to introduce a procedure for the forced redemption of mortgaged estates - with the payment to the landowners of only a small difference between the value of the estate and the accumulated arrears on the overdue loan. As a result of such a redemption, most of the estates would pass to the state, and the serfs would automatically become state (that is, actually free) peasants. It was precisely this plan that was hatched by P.D. Kiselev, who was responsible for the management of state property in the government of Nicholas I.

However, these plans caused strong discontent among the nobility. In addition, peasant uprisings intensified in the 1850s. Therefore, the new government formed by Alexander II decided to speed up the solution to the peasant issue. As the Tsar himself said in 1856 at a reception with the leader of the Moscow nobility: “It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until it begins to abolish itself from below.”

As historians point out, in contrast to the commissions of Nicholas I, where neutral persons or specialists on the agrarian issue predominated (including Kiselev, Bibikov, etc.), now the preparation of the peasant issue was entrusted to large feudal landowners (including the newly appointed ministers of Lansky , Panin and Muravyova), which largely predetermined the results of the agrarian reform.

The government program was outlined in a rescript from Emperor Alexander II on November 20 (December 2), 1857 to the Vilna Governor-General V. I. Nazimov. It provided for: the destruction of the personal dependence of the peasants while maintaining all the land in the ownership of the landowners; providing peasants with a certain amount of land, for which they will be required to pay quitrents or serve corvee, and, over time, the right to buy out peasant estates (a residential building and outbuildings). In 1858, to prepare peasant reforms, provincial committees were formed, within which a struggle began for measures and forms of concessions between liberal and reactionary landowners. The fear of an all-Russian peasant revolt forced the government to change the government program of peasant reform, the projects of which were repeatedly changed in connection with the rise or decline of the peasant movement, as well as under the influence and participation of a number of public figures (for example, A. M. Unkovsky).

In December 1858, a new peasant reform program was adopted: providing peasants with the opportunity to buy out land and creating peasant public administration bodies. To consider projects of provincial committees and develop peasant reform, editorial commissions were created in March 1859. The project drawn up by the Editorial Commissions at the end of 1859 differed from that proposed by the provincial committees by increasing land allotments and reducing duties. This caused discontent among the local nobility, and in 1860 the project included slightly reduced allotments and increased duties. This direction in changing the project was preserved both when it was considered by the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs at the end of 1860, and when it was discussed in the State Council at the beginning of 1861.

The main provisions of the peasant reform

On February 19 (March 3), 1861 in St. Petersburg, Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, which consisted of 17 legislative acts.

The main act - “General Regulations on Peasants Emerging from Serfdom” - contained the main conditions of the peasant reform:

• Peasants ceased to be considered serfs and began to be considered “temporarily obliged”.
• The landowners retained ownership of all the lands that belonged to them, but were obliged to provide the peasants with “sedentary estates” and field allotment for use.
• For the use of allotment land, peasants had to serve corvee or pay quitrent and did not have the right to refuse it for 9 years.
• The size of the field allotment and duties had to be recorded in the statutory charters of 1861, which were drawn up by the landowners for each estate and verified by the peace intermediaries.
• The peasants were given the right to redeem the estate and, by agreement with the landowner, the field allotment; before this was done, they were called temporarily obliged peasants; those who exercised this right, until the full redemption was carried out, were called “redemption” peasants. Until the end of the reign of Alexander II, according to V. Klyuchevsky, more than 80% of former serfs fell into this category.
• The structure, rights and responsibilities of peasant public administration bodies (rural and volost) and the volost court were also determined.

Historians who lived in the era of Alexander II and studied the peasant question commented on the main provisions of these laws as follows. As M.N. Pokrovsky pointed out, the entire reform for the majority of peasants boiled down to the fact that they ceased to be officially called “serfs”, but began to be called “obligated”; Formally, they began to be considered free, but nothing changed in their position: in particular, the landowners continued, as before, to use corporal punishment against the peasants. “To be declared a free man by the tsar,” the historian wrote, “and at the same time continue to go to corvée or pay quitrent: this was a glaring contradiction that caught the eye. The “obligated” peasants firmly believed that this will was not real...” The same opinion was shared, for example, by the historian N.A. Rozhkov, one of the most authoritative experts on the agrarian issue of pre-revolutionary Russia, as well as a number of other authors who wrote about the peasant issue.

There is an opinion that the laws of February 19, 1861, which meant the legal abolition of serfdom (in legal terms of the second half of the 19th century), were not its abolition as a socio-economic institution (although they created the conditions for this to happen over the following decades ). This corresponds to the conclusions of a number of historians that “serfdom” was not abolished in one year and that the process of its abolition lasted for decades. In addition to M.N. Pokrovsky, N.A. Rozhkov came to this conclusion, calling the reform of 1861 “serfdom” and pointing to the preservation of serfdom in subsequent decades. Modern historian B.N. Mironov also writes about the gradual weakening of serfdom over several decades after 1861.

Four “Local Regulations” determined the size of land plots and duties for their use in 44 provinces of European Russia. From the land that was in the use of peasants before February 19, 1861, sections could be made if the peasants' per capita allotments exceeded the maximum size established for the given area, or if the landowners, while maintaining the existing peasant allotment, had less than 1/3 of the total land of the estate left.

Allotments could be reduced by special agreements between peasants and landowners, as well as upon receipt of a gift allotment. If peasants had plots of less than a small size, the landowner was obliged to either cut off the missing land or reduce duties. For the highest shower allotment, a quitrent was set from 8 to 12 rubles. per year or corvee - 40 men's and 30 women's working days per year. If the allotment was less than the highest, then the duties were reduced, but not proportionally. The rest of the “Local Provisions” basically repeated the “Great Russian Provisions”, but taking into account the specifics of their regions. The features of the Peasant Reform for certain categories of peasants and specific areas were determined by the “Additional Rules” - “On the arrangement of peasants settled on the estates of small landowners, and on benefits to these owners”, “On people assigned to private mining factories of the Ministry of Finance”, “On peasants and workers serving work at Perm private mining factories and salt mines”, “About peasants serving work in landowner factories”, “About peasants and courtyard people in the Land of the Don Army”, “About peasants and courtyard people in the Stavropol province”, “ About peasants and courtyard people in Siberia”, “About people who emerged from serfdom in the Bessarabian region”.

The “Regulations on the Settlement of Household People” provided for their release without land, but for 2 years they remained completely dependent on the landowner.

The “Regulations on Redemption” determined the procedure for peasants buying land from landowners, organizing the redemption operation, and the rights and obligations of peasant owners. The redemption of a field plot depended on an agreement with the landowner, who could oblige the peasants to buy the land at his request. The price of land was determined by quitrent, capitalized at 6% per annum. In case of redemption by voluntary agreement, the peasants had to make an additional payment to the landowner. The landowner received the main amount from the state, to which the peasants had to repay it annually for 49 years with redemption payments.

According to N. Rozhkov and D. Blum, in the non-black soil zone of Russia, where the bulk of serfs lived, the redemption value of land was on average 2.2 times higher than its market value. Therefore, in fact, the redemption price established in accordance with the reform of 1861 included not only the redemption of the land, but also the redemption of the peasant himself and his family - just as previously serfs could buy their freed land from the landowner for money by agreement with the latter. This conclusion is made, in particular, by D. Blum, as well as the historian B.N. Mironov, who writes that the peasants “bought not only the land... but also their freedom.” Thus, the conditions for the liberation of peasants in Russia were much worse than in the Baltic states, where they were liberated under Alexander I without land, but also without the need to pay a ransom for themselves.

Accordingly, under the terms of the reform, peasants could not refuse to buy out the land, which M.N. Pokrovsky calls “compulsory property.” And “to prevent the owner from running away from her,” writes the historian, “which, given the circumstances of the case, could have been expected, it was necessary to place the “released” person in such legal conditions that are very reminiscent of the state, if not of a prisoner, then of a minor or feeble-minded person in prison. under guardianship."

Another result of the reform of 1861 was the emergence of the so-called. sections - parts of the land, averaging about 20%, which were previously in the hands of peasants, but now found themselves in the hands of landowners and were not subject to redemption. As N.A. Rozhkov pointed out, the division of land was specially carried out by the landowners in such a way that “the peasants found themselves cut off by the landowner’s land from a watering hole, forest, high road, church, sometimes from their arable land and meadows... [as a result] they were forced to rent the landowner’s land land at any cost, on any terms." “Having cut off from the peasants, according to the Regulations of February 19, lands that were absolutely necessary for them,” wrote M.N. Pokrovsky, “meadows, pastures, even places for driving cattle to watering places, the landowners forced them to rent these lands only for work , with the obligation to plow, sow and harvest a certain number of acres for the landowner.” In memoirs and descriptions written by the landowners themselves, the historian pointed out, this practice of cuttings was described as universal - there were practically no landowners’ farms where cuttings did not exist. In one example, the landowner “bragged that his segments covered, as if in a ring, 18 villages, which were all in bondage to him; As soon as the German tenant arrived, he remembered atreski as one of the first Russian words and, renting an estate, first of all inquired whether this jewel was in it.”

Subsequently, the elimination of sections became one of the main demands not only of peasants, but also of revolutionaries in the last third of the 19th century. (populists, Narodnaya Volya, etc.), but also most revolutionary and democratic parties at the beginning of the 20th century, until 1917. Thus, the agrarian program of the Bolsheviks until December 1905 included the liquidation of landowner plots as the main and essentially the only point; the same demand was the main point of the agrarian program of the I and II State Duma (1905-1907), adopted by the overwhelming majority of its members (including deputies from the Menshevik, Socialist Revolutionary, Cadets and Trudoviks parties), but rejected by Nicholas II and Stolypin. Previously, the elimination of such forms of exploitation of peasants by landowners - the so-called. banalities - was one of the main demands of the population during the French Revolution.

According to N. Rozhkov, the “serfdom” reform of February 19, 1861 became “the starting point of the entire process of the origin of the revolution” in Russia.

The “Manifesto” and “Regulations” were published from March 7 to April 2 (in St. Petersburg and Moscow - March 5). Fearing the dissatisfaction of the peasants with the conditions of the reform, the government took a number of precautions (relocation of troops, sending members of the imperial retinue to places, appeal of the Synod, etc.). The peasantry, dissatisfied with the enslaving conditions of the reform, responded to it with mass unrest. The largest of them were the Bezdnensky uprising of 1861 and the Kandeyevsky uprising of 1861.

In total, during 1861 alone, 1,176 peasant uprisings were recorded, while in 6 years from 1855 to 1860. there were only 474 of them. The uprisings did not subside in 1862, and were suppressed very cruelly. In the two years after the reform was announced, the government had to use military force in 2,115 villages. This gave many people a reason to talk about the beginning of a peasant revolution. So, M.A. Bakunin was in 1861-1862. I am convinced that the explosion of peasant uprisings will inevitably lead to a peasant revolution, which, as he wrote, “essentially has already begun.” “There is no doubt that the peasant revolution in Russia in the 60s was not a figment of a frightened imagination, but a completely real possibility...” wrote N.A. Rozhkov, comparing its possible consequences with the Great French Revolution.

The implementation of the Peasant Reform began with the drawing up of statutory charters, which was largely completed by mid-1863. On January 1, 1863, peasants refused to sign about 60% of the charters. The purchase price of the land significantly exceeded its market value at that time, in the non-chernozem zone on average 2-2.5 times. As a result of this, in a number of regions there was an urgent effort to obtain gift plots and in some provinces (Saratov, Samara, Ekaterinoslav, Voronezh, etc.), a significant number of peasant gift-holders appeared.

Under the influence of the Polish uprising of 1863, changes occurred in the conditions of the Peasant Reform in Lithuania, Belarus and Right Bank Ukraine - the law of 1863 introduced compulsory redemption; redemption payments decreased by 20%; peasants who were dispossessed of land from 1857 to 1861 received their allotments in full, those dispossessed of land earlier - partially.

The peasants' transition to ransom lasted for several decades. By 1881, 15% remained in temporary obligations. But in a number of provinces there were still many of them (Kursk 160 thousand, 44%; Nizhny Novgorod 119 thousand, 35%; Tula 114 thousand, 31%; Kostroma 87 thousand, 31%). The transition to ransom proceeded faster in the black earth provinces, where voluntary transactions prevailed over compulsory ransom. Landowners who had large debts, more often than others, sought to speed up the redemption and enter into voluntary transactions.

The transition from “temporarily obligated” to “redemption” did not give the peasants the right to leave their plot - that is, the freedom proclaimed by the manifesto of February 19. Some historians believe that the consequence of the reform was the “relative” freedom of the peasants, however, according to experts on the peasant issue, the peasants had relative freedom of movement and economic activity even before 1861. Thus, many serfs left for a long time to work or trade hundreds miles from home; half of the 130 cotton factories in the city of Ivanovo in the 1840s belonged to serfs (and the other half - mainly to former serfs). At the same time, a direct consequence of the reform was a significant increase in the burden of payments. The redemption of land under the terms of the reform of 1861 for the vast majority of peasants lasted for 45 years and represented real bondage for them, since they were not able to pay such amounts. Thus, by 1902, the total amount of arrears on peasant redemption payments amounted to 420% of the amount of annual payments, and in a number of provinces exceeded 500%. Only in 1906, after the peasants burned about 15% of the landowners' estates in the country during 1905, the redemption payments and accumulated arrears were canceled, and the "redemption" peasants finally received freedom of movement.

The abolition of serfdom also affected appanage peasants, who, by the “Regulations of June 26, 1863,” were transferred to the category of peasant owners through compulsory redemption under the terms of the “Regulations of February 19.” In general, their plots were significantly smaller than those of the landowner peasants.

The law of November 24, 1866 began the reform of state peasants. They retained all the lands in their use. According to the law of June 12, 1886, state peasants were transferred to redemption, which, unlike the redemption of land by former serfs, was carried out in accordance with market prices for land.

The peasant reform of 1861 entailed the abolition of serfdom in the national outskirts of the Russian Empire.

On October 13, 1864, a decree was issued on the abolition of serfdom in the Tiflis province; a year later it was extended, with some changes, to the Kutaisi province, and in 1866 to Megrelia. In Abkhazia, serfdom was abolished in 1870, in Svaneti - in 1871. The conditions of the reform here retained the remnants of serfdom to a greater extent than under the “Regulations of February 19”. In Azerbaijan and Armenia, peasant reform was carried out in 1870-1883 and was no less enslaving in nature than in Georgia. In Bessarabia, the bulk of the peasant population was made up of legally free landless peasants - tsarans, who, according to the “Regulations of July 14, 1868,” were allocated land for permanent use in exchange for services. The redemption of this land was carried out with some derogations on the basis of the “Redemption Regulations” of February 19, 1861.

The peasant reform of 1861 marked the beginning of the process of rapid impoverishment of the peasants. The average peasant allotment in Russia in the period from 1860 to 1880 decreased from 4.8 to 3.5 dessiatinas (almost 30%), many ruined peasants and rural proletarians appeared who lived on odd jobs - a phenomenon that practically disappeared in the middle XIX century

Self-government reform (zemstvo and city regulations)

Zemstvo reform January 1, 1864- The reform consisted in the fact that issues of local economy, collection of taxes, approval of the budget, primary education, medical and veterinary services were now entrusted to elected institutions - district and provincial zemstvo councils. The elections of representatives from the population to the zemstvo (zemstvo councilors) were two-stage and ensured the numerical predominance of the nobles. Vowels from the peasants were a minority. They were elected for a term of 4 years. All matters in the zemstvo, which concerned primarily the vital needs of the peasantry, were carried out by landowners, who limited the interests of the other classes. In addition, local zemstvo institutions were subordinated to the tsarist administration and, first of all, to the governors. The zemstvo consisted of: zemstvo provincial assemblies (legislative power), zemstvo councils (executive power).

Urban reform of 1870- The reform replaced the previously existing class-based city administrations with city councils elected on the basis of property qualifications. The system of these elections ensured the predominance of large merchants and manufacturers. Representatives of big capital managed the municipal utilities of cities based on their own interests, paying attention to the development of the central quarters of the city and not paying attention to the outskirts. Government bodies under the 1870 law were also subject to the supervision of government authorities. The decisions adopted by the Dumas received force only after approval by the tsarist administration.

Historians of the late XIX – early XX centuries. commented on the self-government reform as follows. M.N. Pokrovsky pointed out its inconsistency: in many respects, “self-government by the reform of 1864 was not expanded, but, on the contrary, narrowed, and, moreover, extremely significantly.” And he gave examples of such a narrowing - the resubordination of local police to the central government, prohibitions on local authorities from establishing many types of taxes, limiting other local taxes to no more than 25% of the central tax, etc. In addition, as a result of the reform, local power was in the hands of large landowners (while previously it was mainly in the hands of officials reporting directly to the tsar and his ministers).

One of the results was changes in local taxation, which became discriminatory after the completion of the self-government reform. Thus, if back in 1868 peasant and landowner land were subject to local taxes approximately equally, then already in 1871 local taxes levied on a tithe of peasant land were twice as high as the taxes levied on a tithe of landowner land. Subsequently, the practice of flogging peasants for various offenses (which previously was mainly the prerogative of the landowners themselves) spread among zemstvos. Thus, self-government in the absence of real equality of classes and with the defeat of the majority of the country’s population in political rights led to increased discrimination against the lower classes by the upper classes.

Judicial reform

Judicial Charter of 1864- The Charter introduced a unified system of judicial institutions, based on the formal equality of all social groups before the law. Court hearings were held with the participation of interested parties, were public, and reports about them were published in the press. Litigants could hire lawyers for their defense who had a legal education and were not in public service. The new judicial system met the needs of capitalist development, but it still retained the imprints of serfdom - special volost courts were created for peasants, in which corporal punishment was retained. In political trials, even with acquittals, administrative repression was used. Political cases were considered without the participation of jurors, etc. While official crimes remained beyond the jurisdiction of general courts.

However, according to contemporary historians, the judicial reform did not produce the results that were expected from it. The introduced jury trials considered a relatively small number of cases; there was no real independence of judges.

In fact, during the era of Alexander II, there was an increase in police and judicial arbitrariness, that is, something opposite to what was proclaimed by the judicial reform. For example, the investigation into the case of 193 populists (the trial of the 193 in the case of going to the people) lasted almost 5 years (from 1873 to 1878), and during the investigation they were subjected to beatings (which, for example, did not happen under Nicholas I neither in the case of the Decembrists, nor in the case of the Petrashevites). As historians have pointed out, the authorities kept those arrested for years in prison without trial or investigation and subjected them to abuse before the huge trials that were created (the trial of 193 populists was followed by the trial of 50 workers). And after the trial of the 193s, not satisfied with the verdict passed by the court, Alexander II administratively tightened the court sentence - contrary to all the previously proclaimed principles of judicial reform.

Another example of the growth of judicial arbitrariness is the execution of four officers - Ivanitsky, Mroczek, Stanevich and Kenevich - who in 1863-1865. carried out agitation in order to prepare a peasant uprising. Unlike, for example, the Decembrists, who organized two uprisings (in St. Petersburg and in the south of the country) with the aim of overthrowing the Tsar, killed several officers, Governor-General Miloradovich and almost killed the Tsar’s brother, four officers under Alexander II suffered the same punishment ( execution), like 5 Decembrist leaders under Nicholas I, just for agitation among the peasants.

In the last years of the reign of Alexander II, against the backdrop of growing protest sentiments in society, unprecedented police measures were introduced: the authorities and police received the right to send into exile any person who seemed suspicious, to conduct searches and arrests at their discretion, without any coordination with the judiciary , bring political crimes to the courts of military tribunals - “with their application of punishments established for wartime.”

Military reform

Milyutin's military reforms took place in the 60-70s of the 19th century.

Milyutin's military reforms can be divided into two conventional parts: organizational and technological.

Organizational reforms

Report of the War Office 01/15/1862:

• Transform the reserve troops into a combat reserve, ensure that they replenish the active forces and free them from the obligation to train recruits in wartime.
• The training of recruits will be entrusted to the reserve troops, providing them with sufficient personnel.
• All supernumerary “lower ranks” of the reserve and reserve troops are considered on leave in peacetime and called up only in wartime. Recruits are used to replenish the decline in the active troops, and not to form new units from them.
• To form cadres of reserve troops for peacetime, assigning them garrison service, and to disband internal service battalions.

It was not possible to quickly implement this organization, and only in 1864 did a systematic reorganization of the army and a reduction in the number of troops begin.

By 1869, the deployment of troops to the new states was completed. At the same time, the total number of troops in peacetime compared to 1860 decreased from 899 thousand people. up to 726 thousand people (mainly due to the reduction of the “non-combat” element). And the number of reservists in the reserve increased from 242 to 553 thousand people. At the same time, with the transition to wartime standards, new units and formations were no longer formed, and units were deployed at the expense of reservists. All troops could now be brought up to wartime levels in 30-40 days, while in 1859 this required 6 months.

The new system of troop organization also contained a number of disadvantages:

• The organization of the infantry retained the division into line and rifle companies (given the same weapons, this made no sense).
• Artillery brigades were not included in the infantry divisions, which negatively affected their interactions.
• Of the 3 brigades of cavalry divisions (hussars, uhlans and dragoons), only the dragoons were armed with carbines, and the rest did not have firearms, while all the cavalry of European states was armed with pistols.

In May 1862, Milyutin presented Alexander II with proposals entitled “The main grounds for the proposed structure of military administration in districts.” This document was based on the following provisions:

• Abolish the division in peacetime into armies and corps, and consider the division to be the highest tactical unit.
• Divide the territory of the entire state into several military districts.
• Place a commander at the head of the district, who will be entrusted with supervision of the active troops and command of local troops, and also entrust him with the management of all local military institutions.

Already in the summer of 1862, instead of the First Army, the Warsaw, Kiev and Vilna military districts were established, and at the end of 1862 - Odessa.

In August 1864, the “Regulations on Military Districts” were approved, on the basis of which all military units and military institutions located in the district were subordinate to the Commander of the District Troops, thus he became the sole commander, and not an inspector, as was previously planned (with all artillery units in the district reported directly to the chief of artillery of the district). In the border districts, the Commander was entrusted with the duties of the Governor-General and all military and civil power was concentrated in his person. The structure of the district government remained unchanged.

In 1864, 6 more military districts were created: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Finland, Riga, Kharkov and Kazan. In subsequent years, the following were formed: the Caucasian, Turkestan, Orenburg, West Siberian and East Siberian military districts.

As a result of the organization of military districts, a relatively harmonious system of local military administration was created, eliminating the extreme centralization of the War Ministry, whose functions were now to exercise general leadership and supervision. Military districts ensured the rapid deployment of the army in the event of war; with their presence, it became possible to begin drawing up a mobilization schedule.

At the same time, reform of the War Ministry itself was underway. According to the new staff, the composition of the War Ministry was reduced by 327 officers and 607 soldiers. The volume of correspondence has also decreased significantly. It can also be noted as positive that the Minister of War concentrated in his hands all the threads of military control, but the troops were not completely subordinate to him, since the heads of military districts depended directly on the tsar, who headed the supreme command of the armed forces.

At the same time, the organization of the central military command also contained a number of other weaknesses:

• The structure of the General Staff was built in such a way that little space was allocated to the functions of the General Staff itself.
• The subordination of the main military court and the prosecutor to the Minister of War meant the subordination of the judiciary to the representative of the executive branch.
• The subordination of medical institutions not to the main military medical department, but to the commanders of local troops, had a negative impact on the organization of medical treatment in the army.

Conclusions of organizational reforms of the armed forces carried out in the 60-70s of the 19th century:

• During the first 8 years, the Ministry of War managed to implement a significant part of the planned reforms in the field of army organization and command and control.
• In the field of army organization, a system was created that could, in the event of war, increase the number of troops without resorting to new formations.
• The destruction of the army corps and the continued division of infantry battalions into rifle and line companies had a negative effect in terms of combat training of troops.
• The reorganization of the War Ministry ensured relative unity of military administration.
• As a result of the military district reform, local government bodies were created, excessive centralization of management was eliminated, and operational command and control of troops and their mobilization were ensured.

Technological reforms in the field of weapons

In 1856, a new type of infantry weapon was developed: a 6-line, muzzle-loading, rifled rifle. In 1862, more than 260 thousand people were armed with it. A significant part of the rifles were produced in Germany and Belgium. By the beginning of 1865, all infantry were rearmed with 6-line rifles. At the same time, work continued to improve rifles, and in 1868 the Berdan rifle was adopted for service, and in 1870 its modified version was adopted. As a result, by the beginning of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the entire Russian army was armed with the latest breech-loading rifled rifles.

The introduction of rifled, muzzle-loading guns began in 1860. The field artillery adopted 4-pound rifled guns with a caliber of 3.42 inches, superior to those previously produced in both firing range and accuracy.

In 1866, weapons for field artillery were approved, according to which all batteries of foot and horse artillery must have rifled, breech-loading guns. 1/3 of the foot batteries should be armed with 9-pounder guns, and all other foot batteries and horse artillery with 4-pounder guns. To re-equip the field artillery, 1,200 guns were required. By 1870, the rearmament of field artillery was completely completed, and by 1871 there were 448 guns in reserve.

In 1870, artillery brigades adopted high-speed 10-barrel Gatling and 6-barreled Baranovsky canisters with a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute. In 1872, the 2.5-inch Baranovsky rapid-firing gun was adopted, in which the basic principles of modern rapid-firing guns were implemented.

Thus, over the course of 12 years (from 1862 to 1874), the number of batteries increased from 138 to 300, and the number of guns from 1104 to 2400. In 1874, there were 851 guns in reserve, and a transition was made from wooden carriages to iron ones.

Education reform

During the reforms of the 1860s, the network of public schools was expanded. Along with classical gymnasiums, real gymnasiums (schools) were created in which the main emphasis was on teaching mathematics and natural sciences. The University Charter of 1863 for higher educational institutions introduced partial autonomy of universities - the election of rectors and deans and the expansion of the rights of the professorial corporation. In 1869, the first higher women's courses in Russia with a general education program were opened in Moscow. In 1864, a new School Charter was approved, according to which gymnasiums and secondary schools were introduced in the country.

Contemporaries viewed some elements of the education reform as discrimination against the lower classes. As the historian N.A. Rozhkov pointed out, in real gymnasiums, introduced for people from the lower and middle classes of society, they did not teach ancient languages ​​(Latin and Greek), unlike ordinary gymnasiums that existed only for the upper classes; but knowledge of ancient languages ​​was made mandatory when entering universities. Thus, access to universities was actually denied to the general population.

Other reforms

Under Alexander II, significant changes took place regarding the Jewish Pale of Settlement. Through a series of decrees issued between 1859 and 1880, a significant part of Jews received the right to freely settle throughout Russia. As A.I. Solzhenitsyn writes, the right of free settlement was given to merchants, artisans, doctors, lawyers, university graduates, their families and service personnel, as well as, for example, “persons of the liberal professions.” And in 1880, by decree of the Minister of Internal Affairs, it was allowed to allow those Jews who settled illegally to live outside the Pale of Settlement.

Autocracy reform

At the end of the reign of Alexander II, a project was drawn up to create a supreme council under the tsar (including major nobles and officials), to which part of the rights and powers of the tsar himself were transferred. We were not talking about a constitutional monarchy, in which the supreme body is a democratically elected parliament (which did not exist and was not planned in Russia). The authors of this “constitutional project” were the Minister of Internal Affairs Loris-Melikov, who received emergency powers at the end of the reign of Alexander II, as well as the Minister of Finance Abaza and the Minister of War Milyutin. Alexander II approved this plan two weeks before his death, but they did not have time to discuss it at the Council of Ministers, and a discussion was scheduled for March 4, 1881, with subsequent entry into force (which did not take place due to the assassination of the Tsar). As the historian N.A. Rozhkov pointed out, a similar project for reform of the autocracy was subsequently presented to Alexander III, as well as Nicholas II at the beginning of his reign, but both times it was rejected on the advice of K.N. Pobedonostsev.

Economic development of the country

Since the early 1860s. An economic crisis began in the country, which a number of historians associate with Alexander II’s refusal of industrial protectionism and the transition to a liberal policy in foreign trade. Thus, within several years after the introduction of the liberal customs tariff in 1857 (by 1862), cotton processing in Russia fell 3.5 times, and iron smelting decreased by 25%.

The liberal policy in foreign trade continued further, after the introduction of a new customs tariff in 1868. Thus, it was calculated that, compared with 1841, import duties in 1868 decreased on average by more than 10 times, and for some types of imports - even 20-40 times. According to M. Pokrovsky, “customs tariffs of 1857-1868. were the most preferential that Russia enjoyed in the 19th century...” This was welcomed by the liberal press, which dominated other economic publications at the time. As the historian writes, “financial and economic literature of the 60s provides an almost continuous chorus of free traders...” At the same time, the real situation in the country’s economy continued to deteriorate: modern economic historians characterize the entire period until the end of the reign of Alexander II and even until the second half of the 1880s. as a period of economic depression.

Contrary to the goals declared by the peasant reform of 1861, agricultural productivity in the country did not increase until the 1880s, despite rapid progress in other countries (USA, Western Europe), and the situation in this most important sector of the Russian economy also only worsened. For the first time in Russia, during the reign of Alexander II, periodically recurring famines began, which had not occurred in Russia since the time of Catherine II and which took on the character of real disasters (for example, mass famine in the Volga region in 1873).

Liberalization of foreign trade led to a sharp increase in imports: from 1851-1856. to 1869-1876 imports increased almost 4 times. If previously Russia's trade balance was always positive, then during the reign of Alexander II it worsened. Beginning in 1871, for several years it was reduced to a deficit, which by 1875 reached a record level of 162 million rubles or 35% of export volume. The trade deficit threatened to cause gold to flow out of the country and depreciate the ruble. At the same time, this deficit could not be explained by the unfavorable situation in foreign markets: for the main product of Russian exports - grain - prices on foreign markets from 1861 to 1880. increased almost 2 times. During 1877-1881 The government, in order to combat the sharp increase in imports, was forced to resort to a series of increases in import duties, which prevented further growth of imports and improved the country's foreign trade balance.

The only industry that developed rapidly was railway transport: the country's railway network was growing rapidly, which also stimulated its own locomotive and carriage building. However, the development of railways was accompanied by many abuses and a deterioration in the financial situation of the state. Thus, the state guaranteed the newly created private railway companies full coverage of their expenses and also the maintenance of a guaranteed rate of profit through subsidies. The result was huge budget expenditures to support private companies, while the latter artificially inflated their costs in order to receive government subsidies.

To cover budget expenses, the state for the first time began to actively resort to external loans (under Nicholas I there were almost none). Loans were attracted on extremely unfavorable conditions: bank commissions amounted to up to 10% of the borrowed amount, in addition, loans were placed, as a rule, at a price of 63-67% of their face value. Thus, the treasury received only a little more than half of the loan amount, but the debt arose for the full amount, and annual interest was calculated from the full amount of the loan (7-8% per annum). As a result, the volume of government external debt reached 2.2 billion rubles by 1862, and by the beginning of the 1880s - 5.9 billion rubles.

Until 1858, a fixed exchange rate of the ruble to gold was maintained, following the principles of monetary policy pursued during the reign of Nicholas I. But starting in 1859, credit money was introduced into circulation, which did not have a fixed exchange rate to gold. As indicated in the work of M. Kovalevsky, during the entire period of the 1860-1870s. To cover the budget deficit, the state was forced to resort to issuing credit money, which caused its depreciation and the disappearance of metal money from circulation. Thus, by January 1, 1879, the exchange rate of the credit ruble to the gold ruble fell to 0.617. Attempts to reintroduce a fixed exchange rate between the paper ruble and gold did not yield results, and the government abandoned these attempts until the end of the reign of Alexander II.

The problem of corruption

During the reign of Alexander II there was a noticeable increase in corruption. Thus, many nobles and noble persons close to the court established private railway companies, which received state subsidies on unprecedentedly preferential terms, which ruined the treasury. For example, the annual revenue of the Ural Railway in the early 1880s was only 300 thousand rubles, and its expenses and profits guaranteed to shareholders were 4 million rubles, thus, the state only had to maintain this one private railway company annually to pay an additional 3.7 million rubles from his own pocket, which was 12 times higher than the income of the company itself. In addition to the fact that the nobles themselves acted as shareholders of the railway companies, the latter paid them, including persons close to Alexander II, large bribes for certain permits and resolutions in their favor

Another example of corruption can be the placement of government loans (see above), a significant part of which was appropriated by various financial intermediaries.

There are also examples of “favoritism” on the part of Alexander II himself. As N.A. Rozhkov wrote, he “unceremoniously treated the state chest... gave his brothers a number of luxurious estates from state lands, built them magnificent palaces at public expense.”

In general, characterizing the economic policy of Alexander II, M.N. Pokrovsky wrote that it was “a waste of funds and effort, completely fruitless and harmful for the national economy... The country was simply forgotten.” Russian economic reality of the 1860s and 1870s, wrote N.A. Rozhkov, “was distinguished by its crudely predatory character, the waste of living and generally productive forces for the sake of the most basic profit”; The state during this period “essentially served as a tool for the enrichment of the Gründers, speculators, and, in general, the predatory bourgeoisie.”

Foreign policy

During the reign of Alexander II, Russia returned to the policy of all-round expansion of the Russian Empire, previously characteristic of the reign of Catherine II. During this period, Central Asia, the North Caucasus, the Far East, Bessarabia, and Batumi were annexed to Russia. Victories in the Caucasian War were won in the first years of his reign. The advance into Central Asia ended successfully (in 1865-1881, most of Turkestan became part of Russia). After long resistance, he decided on a war with Turkey in 1877-1878. Following the war, he accepted the rank of Field Marshal (April 30, 1878).

The meaning of annexing some new territories, especially Central Asia, was incomprehensible to part of Russian society. Thus, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin criticized the behavior of generals and officials who used the Central Asian war for personal enrichment, and M.N. Pokrovsky pointed out the meaninglessness of the conquest of Central Asia for Russia. Meanwhile, this conquest resulted in great human losses and material costs.

In 1876-1877 Alexander II took personal part in concluding a secret agreement with Austria in connection with the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the consequence of which, according to some historians and diplomats of the second half of the 19th century. became the Berlin Treaty (1878), which entered Russian historiography as “defective” in relation to the self-determination of the Balkan peoples (which significantly curtailed the Bulgarian state and transferred Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria).

In 1867, Alaska (Russian America) was transferred to the United States.

Growing public discontent

Unlike the previous reign, which was almost not marked by social protests, the era of Alexander II was characterized by growing public discontent. Along with the sharp increase in the number of peasant uprisings (see above), many protest groups emerged among the intelligentsia and workers. In the 1860s, the following arose: S. Nechaev’s group, Zaichnevsky’s circle, Olshevsky’s circle, Ishutin’s circle, the Earth and Freedom organization, a group of officers and students (Ivanitsky and others) preparing a peasant uprising. During the same period, the first revolutionaries appeared (Petr Tkachev, Sergei Nechaev), who propagated the ideology of terrorism as a method of fighting power. In 1866, the first attempt was made to assassinate Alexander II, who was shot by Karakozov (a lone terrorist).

In the 1870s these trends intensified significantly. This period includes such protest groups and movements as the circle of Kursk Jacobins, the circle of Chaikovites, the Perovskaya circle, the Dolgushin circle, the Lavrov and Bakunin groups, the circles of Dyakov, Siryakov, Semyanovsky, the South Russian Union of Workers, the Kiev Commune, the Northern Workers' Union, the new organization Earth and Freedom and a number of others. Most of these circles and groups until the end of the 1870s. engaged in anti-government propaganda and agitation only from the late 1870s. a clear shift towards terrorist acts begins. In 1873-1874 2-3 thousand people (the so-called “going to the people”), mainly from among the intelligentsia, went to the countryside under the guise of ordinary people in order to propagate revolutionary ideas.

After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 and the attempt on his life by D.V. Karakozov on April 4, 1866, Alexander II made concessions to the protective course, expressed in the appointment of Dmitry Tolstoy, Fyodor Trepov, Pyotr Shuvalov to the highest government posts, which led to a tightening of measures in the field of domestic policy.

Increasing repression by the police, especially in relation to “going to the people” (the trial of the 193 populists), caused public outrage and marked the beginning of terrorist activity, which subsequently became widespread. Thus, the assassination attempt by Vera Zasulich in 1878 on the St. Petersburg mayor Trepov was undertaken in response to the mistreatment of prisoners in the trial of 193. Despite the irrefutable evidence that the assassination attempt had been committed, the jury acquitted her, she was given a standing ovation in the courtroom, and on the street she was greeted by an enthusiastic demonstration of a large crowd of people gathered at the courthouse.

Over the following years, assassination attempts were carried out:

1878: - against the Kyiv prosecutor Kotlyarevsky, against the gendarme officer Geiking in Kyiv, against the chief of gendarmes Mezentsev in St. Petersburg;

1879: against the Kharkov governor, Prince Kropotkin, against the chief of gendarmes, Drenteln, in St. Petersburg.

1878-1881: a series of assassination attempts took place on Alexander II.

By the end of his reign, protest sentiments spread among different strata of society, including the intelligentsia, part of the nobility and the army. The public applauded the terrorists, the number of terrorist organizations themselves grew - for example, the People's Will, which sentenced the Tsar to death, had hundreds of active members. Hero of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. and the war in Central Asia, the commander-in-chief of the Turkestan army, General Mikhail Skobelev, at the end of Alexander’s reign, showed sharp dissatisfaction with his policies and even, according to the testimony of A. Koni and P. Kropotkin, expressed his intention to arrest the royal family. These and other facts gave rise to the version that Skobelev was preparing a military coup to overthrow the Romanovs. Another example of the protest mood towards the policies of Alexander II can be the monument to his successor Alexander III. The author of the monument, sculptor Trubetskoy, depicted the tsar sharply besieging the horse, which, according to his plan, was supposed to symbolize Russia, stopped by Alexander III at the edge of the abyss - where the policies of Alexander II led it.

Assassinations and murder

History of failed attempts

Several attempts were made on Alexander II's life:

• D. V. Karakozov April 4, 1866. When Alexander II was heading from the gates of the Summer Garden to his carriage, a shot was heard. The bullet flew over the emperor’s head: the shooter was pushed by the peasant Osip Komissarov, who was standing nearby.
• Polish emigrant Anton Berezovsky on May 25, 1867 in Paris; the bullet hit the horse.
• A.K. Solovyov on April 2, 1879 in St. Petersburg. Solovyov fired 5 shots from a revolver, including 4 at the emperor, but missed.

On August 26, 1879, the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya decided to assassinate Alexander II.

• On November 19, 1879, there was an attempt to blow up an imperial train near Moscow. The emperor was saved by the fact that he was traveling in a different carriage. The explosion occurred in the first carriage, and the emperor himself was traveling in the second, since in the first he was carrying food from Kyiv.
• On February 5 (17), 1880, S. N. Khalturin carried out an explosion on the first floor of the Winter Palace. The emperor had lunch on the third floor; he was saved by the fact that he arrived later than the appointed time; the guards (11 people) on the second floor died.

To protect state order and fight the revolutionary movement, on February 12, 1880, the Supreme Administrative Commission was established, headed by the liberal-minded Count Loris-Melikov.

Death and burial. Society's reaction

March 1 (13), 1881, at 3 hours 35 minutes in the afternoon, died in the Winter Palace as a result of a fatal wound received on the embankment of the Catherine Canal (St. Petersburg) at about 2 hours 25 minutes in the afternoon on the same day - from a bomb explosion (the second in the course of the assassination attempt ), thrown at his feet by Narodnaya Volya member Ignatius Grinevitsky; died on the day when he intended to approve the constitutional draft of M. T. Loris-Melikov. The assassination attempt occurred when the emperor was returning after a military divorce in the Mikhailovsky Manege, from “tea” (second breakfast) in the Mikhailovsky Palace with Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna; The tea was also attended by Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, who left a little later, having heard the explosion, and arrived shortly after the second explosion, giving orders and commands at the scene. The day before, February 28 (Saturday of the first week of Lent), the emperor, in the Small Church of the Winter Palace, together with some other family members, received the Holy Mysteries.

On March 4, his body was transferred to the Court Cathedral of the Winter Palace; On March 7, it was solemnly transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The funeral service on March 15 was led by Metropolitan Isidore (Nikolsky) of St. Petersburg, co-served by other members of the Holy Synod and a host of clergy.

The death of the “Liberator”, killed by the Narodnaya Volya on behalf of the “liberated”, seemed to many to be the symbolic end of his reign, which led, from the point of view of the conservative part of society, to rampant “nihilism”; Particular indignation was caused by the conciliatory policy of Count Loris-Melikov, who was viewed as a puppet in the hands of Princess Yuryevskaya. Right-wing political figures (including Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Evgeny Feoktistov and Konstantin Leontiev) even said with more or less directness that the emperor died “on time”: had he reigned for another year or two, the catastrophe of Russia (the collapse of the autocracy) would have become inevitable.

Not long before, K.P. Pobedonostsev, appointed Chief Prosecutor, wrote to the new emperor on the very day of the death of Alexander II: “God ordered us to survive this terrible day. It was as if God's punishment had fallen on unfortunate Russia. I would like to hide my face, go underground, so as not to see, not to feel, not to experience. God, have mercy on us. "

The rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archpriest John Yanyshev, on March 2, 1881, before the funeral service in St. Isaac's Cathedral, said in his speech: “The Emperor not only died, but was also killed in His own capital... the martyr’s crown for His sacred Head is woven on Russian soil, among His subjects... This is what makes our grief unbearable, the illness of the Russian and Christian heart incurable, our immeasurable misfortune our eternal shame!

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, who at a young age was at the bedside of the dying emperor and whose father was in the Mikhailovsky Palace on the day of the assassination attempt, wrote in his emigrant memoirs about his feelings in the days that followed: “At night, sitting on our beds, we continued to discuss the catastrophe of the past Sunday and asked each other what would happen next? The image of the late Sovereign, bending over the body of a wounded Cossack and not thinking about the possibility of a second assassination attempt, did not leave us. We understood that something incommensurably greater than our loving uncle and courageous monarch had gone with him irrevocably into the past. Idyllic Russia with the Tsar-Father and his loyal people ceased to exist on March 1, 1881. We understood that the Russian Tsar would never again be able to treat his subjects with boundless trust. He will not be able to forget the regicide and devote himself entirely to state affairs. The romantic traditions of the past and the idealistic understanding of Russian autocracy in the spirit of the Slavophiles - all this will be buried, along with the murdered emperor, in the crypt of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Last Sunday’s explosion dealt a mortal blow to the old principles, and no one could deny that the future of not only the Russian Empire, but the entire world, now depended on the outcome of the inevitable struggle between the new Russian Tsar and the elements of denial and destruction.”

The editorial article of the Special Supplement to the right-wing conservative newspaper “Rus” on March 4 read: “The Tsar has been killed!... Russian tsar, in his own Russia, in his capital, brutally, barbarously, in front of everyone - with a Russian hand... Shame, shame on our country! Let the burning pain of shame and grief penetrate our land from end to end, and let every soul tremble in it with horror, sorrow, and the anger of indignation! That rabble, which so impudently, so brazenly oppresses the soul of the entire Russian people with crimes, is not the offspring of our simple people themselves, nor their antiquity, nor even the truly enlightened newness, but the product of the dark sides of the St. Petersburg period of our history, apostasy from the Russian people, treason its traditions, principles and ideals."

At an emergency meeting of the Moscow City Duma, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: “An unheard-of and terrifying event occurred: the Russian Tsar, liberator of peoples, fell victim to a gang of villains among a people of many millions, selflessly devoted to him. Several people, the product of darkness and sedition, dared to encroach with a sacrilegious hand on the centuries-old tradition of the great land, to tarnish its history, the banner of which is the Russian Tsar. The Russian people shuddered with indignation and anger at the news of the terrible event.”

In issue No. 65 (March 8, 1881) of the official newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti, a “hot and frank article” was published that caused “a stir in the St. Petersburg press.” The article, in particular, said: “Petersburg, located on the outskirts of the state, is teeming with foreign elements. Both foreigners, eager for the disintegration of Russia, and leaders of our outskirts have built their nest here. [St. Petersburg] is full of our bureaucracy, which has long lost the sense of the people’s pulse. That’s why in St. Petersburg you can meet so many people, apparently Russians, but who reason as enemies of their homeland, as traitors to their people.”

An anti-monarchist representative of the left wing of the Cadets, V.P. Obninsky, in his work “The Last Autocrat” (1912 or later), wrote about the regicide: “This act deeply shook up society and the people. The murdered sovereign had too outstanding services for his death to pass without a reflex on the part of the population. And such a reflex could only be a desire for a reaction.”

At the same time, the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya, a few days after March 1, published a letter which, along with a statement of “execution of the sentence” to the tsar, contained an “ultimatum” to the new tsar, Alexander III: “If the government’s policy does not change , revolution will be inevitable. The government must express the will of the people, but it is a usurper gang.” Despite the arrest and execution of all the leaders of Narodnaya Volya, terrorist acts continued in the first 2-3 years of the reign of Alexander III.

The following lines by Alexander Blok (poem “Retribution”) are dedicated to the assassination of Alexander II:

Results of the reign

Alexander II went down in history as a reformer and liberator. During his reign, serfdom was abolished, universal military service was introduced, zemstvos were established, judicial reform was carried out, censorship was limited, and a number of other reforms were carried out. The empire expanded significantly by conquering and incorporating the Central Asian possessions, the North Caucasus, the Far East and other territories.

At the same time, the economic situation of the country worsened: industry was struck by a protracted depression, and there were several cases of mass starvation in the countryside. The foreign trade deficit and public external debt reached large sizes (almost 6 billion rubles), which led to a breakdown in monetary circulation and public finances. The problem of corruption has worsened. A split and acute social contradictions formed in Russian society, which reached their peak towards the end of the reign.

Other negative aspects usually include the unfavorable results of the Berlin Congress of 1878 for Russia, exorbitant expenses in the war of 1877-1878, numerous peasant uprisings (in 1861-1863: more than 1150 uprisings), large-scale nationalist uprisings in the kingdom of Poland and the North-Western region ( 1863) and in the Caucasus (1877-1878). Within the imperial family, the authority of Alexander II was undermined by his love interests and morganatic marriage.

Assessments of some of Alexander II's reforms are contradictory. Noble circles and the liberal press called his reforms “great.” At the same time, a significant part of the population (peasantry, part of the intelligentsia), as well as a number of government figures of that era, negatively assessed these reforms. Thus, K.N. Pobedonostsev at the first meeting of the government of Alexander III on March 8, 1881 sharply criticized the peasant, zemstvo, and judicial reforms of Alexander II. And historians of the late XIX - early XX centuries. they argued that the real liberation of the peasants did not occur (only a mechanism for such liberation was created, and an unfair one at that); corporal punishment against peasants (which remained until 1904-1905) was not abolished; the establishment of zemstvos led to discrimination against the lower classes; Judicial reform was unable to prevent the growth of judicial and police brutality. In addition, according to specialists on the agrarian issue, the peasant reform of 1861 led to the emergence of serious new problems (landowners, the ruin of the peasants), which became one of the reasons for the future revolutions of 1905 and 1917.

The views of modern historians on the era of Alexander II were subject to dramatic changes under the influence of the dominant ideology, and are not settled. In Soviet historiography, a tendentious view of his reign prevailed, resulting from general nihilistic attitudes toward the “era of tsarism.” Modern historians, along with the thesis about the “liberation of the peasants,” state that their freedom of movement after the reform was “relative.” Calling the reforms of Alexander II “great,” they at the same time write that the reforms gave rise to “the deepest socio-economic crisis in the countryside,” did not lead to the abolition of corporal punishment for peasants, were not consistent, and economic life in 1860-1870 -e years was characterized by industrial decline, rampant speculation and farming.

Family

• First marriage (1841) with Maria Alexandrovna (07/1/1824 - 05/22/1880), nee Princess Maximiliana-Wilhelmina-Augusta-Sophia-Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt.

• The second, morganatic, marriage with a long-time (since 1866) mistress, Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova (1847-1922), who received the title Your Serene Highness Princess Yuryevskaya.

Alexander II's net worth as of March 1, 1881 was about 12 million rubles. (securities, State Bank tickets, shares of railway companies); In 1880, he donated 1 million rubles from personal funds. for the construction of a hospital in memory of the Empress.

Children from first marriage:

• Alexandra (1842-1849);
• Nicholas (1843-1865);
• Alexander III (1845-1894);
• Vladimir (1847-1909);
• Alexey (1850-1908);
• Maria (1853-1920);
• Sergei (1857-1905);
• Pavel (1860-1919).

Children from a morganatic marriage (legalized after the wedding):

• His Serene Highness Prince Georgy Alexandrovich Yuryevsky (1872-1913);
• Your Serene Highness Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yuryevskaya (1873-1925);
• Boris (1876-1876), posthumously legitimized with the surname “Yuryevsky”;
• Your Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Yuryevskaya (1878-1959), married to Prince Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky, and then to Prince Sergei Platonovich Obolensky-Neledinsky-Meletsky.

In addition to the children from Ekaterina Dolgoruky, he had several other illegitimate children.

Some monuments to Alexander II

Moscow

On May 14, 1893, in the Kremlin, next to the Small Nicholas Palace, where Alexander was born (opposite the Chudov Monastery), it was laid, and on August 16, 1898, solemnly, after the liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral, in the Most High presence (the service was performed by Metropolitan of Moscow Vladimir (Epiphany) ), a monument to him was unveiled (the work of A. M. Opekushin, P. V. Zhukovsky and N. V. Sultanov). The emperor was sculptured standing under a pyramidal canopy in a general's uniform, in purple, with a scepter; the canopy made of dark pink granite with bronze decorations was crowned with a gilded patterned hipped roof with a double-headed eagle; The chronicle of the king's life was placed in the dome of the canopy. Adjacent to the monument on three sides was a through gallery formed by vaults supported by columns. In the spring of 1918, the sculptural figure of the Tsar was thrown off the monument; The monument was completely dismantled in 1928.

In June 2005, a monument to Alexander II was inaugurated in Moscow. The author of the monument is Alexander Rukavishnikov. The monument is installed on a granite platform on the western side of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. On the pedestal of the monument there is the inscription “Emperor Alexander II. He abolished serfdom in 1861 and freed millions of peasants from centuries of slavery. Conducted military and judicial reforms. He introduced a system of local self-government, city councils and zemstvo councils. Ended the many years of the Caucasian War. Liberated the Slavic peoples from the Ottoman yoke. Died on March 1 (13), 1881 as a result of a terrorist attack.”

Saint Petersburg

In St. Petersburg, at the site of the death of the Tsar, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was erected using funds collected throughout Russia. The cathedral was built by order of Emperor Alexander III in 1883-1907 according to a joint project by architect Alfred Parland and Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev), and consecrated on August 6, 1907 - on the day of the Transfiguration.

The tombstone installed over the grave of Alexander II differs from the white marble tombstones of other emperors: it is made of gray-green jasper.

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, Alexander II is known as Tsar Liberator. His manifesto of April 12 (24), 1877, declaring war on Turkey, is studied in a school history course. The Treaty of San Stefano on March 3, 1878 brought freedom to Bulgaria after five centuries of Ottoman rule that began in 1396. The grateful Bulgarian people erected many monuments to the Tsar-Liberator and named streets and institutions throughout the country in his honor.

Sofia

In the center of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, on the square in front of the People's Assembly, stands one of the best monuments to the Tsar-Liberator.

General-Toshevo

On April 24, 2009, a monument to Alexander II was inaugurated in the city of General Toshevo. The height of the monument is 4 meters, it is made of two types of volcanic stone: red and black. The monument was made in Armenia and is a gift from the Union of Armenians in Bulgaria. It took Armenian craftsmen a year and four months to make the monument. The stone from which it is made is very ancient.

Kyiv

In Kyiv from 1911 to 1919 there was a monument to Alexander II, which was demolished by the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution.

Kazan

The monument to Alexander II in Kazan was erected on what became Alexander Square (formerly Ivanovskaya, now May 1) near the Spasskaya Tower of the Kazan Kremlin and was inaugurated on August 30, 1895. In February-March 1918, the bronze figure of the emperor was dismantled from the pedestal, until the end of the 1930s it lay on the territory of the Gostiny Dvor, and in April 1938 it was melted down to make brake bushings for tram wheels. The “Labor Monument” was first built on the pedestal, then the monument to Lenin. In 1966, a monumental memorial complex was built on this site, consisting of a monument to Hero of the Soviet Union Musa Jalil and a bas-relief to the heroes of the Tatar resistance in Nazi captivity of the “Kurmashev group”.

Rybinsk

On January 12, 1914, the laying of a monument took place on Red Square in the city of Rybinsk - in the presence of Bishop Sylvester (Bratanovsky) of Rybinsk and the Yaroslavl governor Count D.N. Tatishchev. On May 6, 1914, the monument was unveiled (work by A. M. Opekushin).

Repeated attempts by the crowd to desecrate the monument began immediately after the February Revolution of 1917. In March 1918, the “hated” sculpture was finally wrapped and hidden under matting, and in July it was completely thrown off the pedestal. First, the sculpture “Hammer and Sickle” was placed in its place, and in 1923 - a monument to V.I. Lenin. The further fate of the sculpture is unknown; The pedestal of the monument has survived to this day. In 2009, Albert Serafimovich Charkin began working on recreating the sculpture of Alexander II; The opening of the monument was originally planned in 2011, on the 150th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom, but most townspeople consider it inappropriate to move the monument to V.I. Lenin and replace it with Emperor Alexander II.

Helsinki

In the capital of the Grand Duchy of Helsingfors, on Senate Square in 1894, a monument to Alexander II, the work of Walter Runeberg, was erected. With the monument, the Finns expressed gratitude for strengthening the foundations of Finnish culture and, among other things, for recognizing the Finnish language as the state language.

Częstochowa

The monument to Alexander II in Częstochowa (Kingdom of Poland) by A. M. Opekushin was opened in 1899.

Monuments by Opekushin

A. M. Opekushin erected monuments to Alexander II in Moscow (1898), Pskov (1886), Chisinau (1886), Astrakhan (1884), Czestochowa (1899), Vladimir (1913), Buturlinovka (1912), Rybinsk (1914) and in other cities of the empire. Each of them was unique; According to estimates, “the Czestochowa monument, created with donations from the Polish population, was very beautiful and elegant.” After 1917, most of what Opekushin created was destroyed.

• And to this day in Bulgaria, during the liturgy in Orthodox churches, during the great entrance of the liturgy of the faithful, Alexander II and all the Russian soldiers who fell on the battlefield for the liberation of Bulgaria in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 are remembered.
• Alexander II is the current current head of the Russian state who was born in Moscow.
• The abolition of serfdom (1861), carried out during the reign of Alexander II, coincided with the beginning of the American Civil War (1861-1865), where the struggle for the abolition of slavery is considered its main cause.

Film incarnations

• Ivan Kononenko (“Heroes of Shipka”, 1954).
• Vladislav Strzhelchik (“Sofya Perovskaya”, 1967).
• Vladislav Dvorzhetsky (“Yulia Vrevskaya”, 1977).
• Yuri Belyaev (“The Kingslayer”, 1991).
• Nikolai Burov (“The Emperor’s Romance”, 1993).
• Georgy Taratorkin (“The Emperor’s Love”, 2003).
• Dmitry Isaev (“Poor Nastya”, 2003-2004).
• Evgeny Lazarev (“Turkish Gambit”, 2005).
• Smirnov, Andrey Sergeevich (“Gentlemen of the Jury”, 2005).
• Lazarev, Alexander Sergeevich (“The Mysterious Prisoner”, 1986).
• Borisov, Maxim Stepanovich (“Alexander II”, 2011).

Alexander II Nikolaevich (Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov; April 17, 1818 Moscow - March 1 (13), 1881 St. Petersburg)

Alexander II

The eldest son of first the grand ducal, and since 1825, the imperial couple Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna, daughter of the Prussian king Frederick William III.

Born on April 17, 1818, on Bright Wednesday, at 11 o’clock in the morning in the Bishop’s House of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, where the entire Imperial family, with the exception of the uncle of the newborn Alexander I, who was on an inspection trip to the south of Russia, arrived in early April for fasting and celebrating Easter; A 201-gun salvo was fired in Moscow. On May 5, the sacraments of baptism and confirmation were performed over the baby in the church of the Chudov Monastery by Moscow Archbishop Augustine, in honor of which Maria Feodorovna gave a gala dinner.

The future emperor was educated at home. His mentor (with the responsibility of supervising the entire process of upbringing and education) was the poet V.A. Zhukovsky, teacher of the Law of God and Sacred History - Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky (until 1835), military instructor - Karl Karlovich Merder, as well as: M.M. Speransky (legislation), K. I. Arsenyev (statistics and history), E. F. Kankrin (finance), F. I. Brunov (foreign policy), Academician Collins (arithmetic), K. B. Trinius (natural history) .

According to numerous testimonies, in his youth he was very impressionable and amorous. So, during a trip to London in 1839, he had a fleeting, but strong, love for the young Queen Victoria, who would later become for him the most hated ruler in Europe.

Upon reaching adulthood on April 22, 1834 (the day he took the oath), the Heir-Tsarevich was introduced by his father into the main state institutions of the Empire: in 1834 into the Senate, in 1835 he was introduced into the Holy Governing Synod, from 1841 a member of the State Council, in 1842 - the Committee ministers.

In 1837, Alexander made a long trip around Russia and visited 29 provinces of the European part, Transcaucasia and Western Siberia, and in 1838-39 he visited Europe.

The future emperor's military service was quite successful. In 1836 he already became a major general, and from 1844 a full general, commanding the guards infantry. Since 1849, Alexander was the head of military educational institutions, chairman of the Secret Committees on Peasant Affairs in 1846 and 1848. During the Crimean War of 1853-56, with the declaration of martial law in the St. Petersburg province, he commanded all the troops of the capital.

In his life, Alexander did not adhere to any particular concept in his views on the history of Russia and the tasks of public administration. Having ascended the throne in 1855, he received a difficult legacy. None of the issues of his father’s 30-year reign (peasant, eastern, Polish, etc.) were resolved; Russia was defeated in the Crimean War.

The first of his important decisions was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856. A “thaw” has set in in the socio-political life of the country. On the occasion of his coronation in August 1856, he declared an amnesty for the Decembrists, Petrashevites, and participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-31, suspended recruitment for 3 years, and in 1857 liquidated military settlements.

Not being a reformer by vocation or temperament, Alexander became one in response to the needs of the time as a man of sober mind and good will.

Alexander II

It is inappropriate to evaluate the results of the complex and contradictory reform activities of Alexander II in a reference article. At the moment we are interested in, only one reform has become a fact (but what a reform!) - the peasant one. But its practical implementation has only just begun. For details of the peasant reform, see the articles already posted earlier.
Next, I refer those interested to a rather good popular journalistic book: L. Lyashenko. Alexander II, or the story of three solitudes

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Maria Alexandrovna (August 8, 1824, Darmstadt - June 8, 1880, St. Petersburg) - wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander II and mother of the future Emperor Alexander III.

Born Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Maria of Hesse (1824-1841), after her marriage she received the title of Grand Duchess (1841-1855), after her husband's accession to the Russian throne she became empress (March 2, 1855 - June 8, 1880).

Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse and her chamberlain Baron von Sénarclin de Grancy. Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, to avoid scandal and thanks to the intervention of Wilhelmina's siblings, recognized Maria and her brother Alexander as his children (the other two illegitimate children died in infancy). Despite the recognition, they continued to live separately in Heiligenberg, while Ludwig II lived in Darmstadt.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna

In 1838, the future Emperor Alexander II, traveling around Europe to find a wife, fell in love with 14-year-old Maria of Hesse and married her in 1841, although he was well aware of the secret of her origin.

Wedding silver ruble of Nicholas I for the wedding of the heir to the throne Alexander Nikolaevich and Princess Maria of Hesse

On the initiative of Maria Alexandrovna, all-class women's gymnasiums and diocesan schools were opened in Russia, and the Red Cross was established.

Cities in Russia were named in honor of Maria Alexandrovna:
Mariinsky Posad (Chuvashia). Until 1856 - the village of Sundyr. On June 18, 1856, Emperor Alexander II renamed the village to the city of Mariinsky Posad in honor of his wife.
Mariinsk (Kemerovo region). Renamed in 1857 (former name - Kiyskoe).

Here it is website(school local history museum), dedicated to Maria Alexandrovna.

* * *


At the point in time that interests us, the heir to the throne is considered... no, not the future Emperor Alexander III. And the eldest son of Alexander II is Nikolai Alexandrovich.

Nikolai Alexandrovich (8 (20) September 1843 - 12 (24) April 1865, Nice) - Tsarevich and Grand Duke, eldest son of Emperor Alexander II, ataman of all Cossack troops, major general of His Imperial Majesty's retinue, chancellor of the University of Helsingfors.

Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich

In the early 1860s, accompanied by his tutor Count S.G. Stroganov, he made study tours around the country. In 1864 he went abroad. While abroad, on September 20, 1864, he was engaged to the daughter of Christian IX, King of Denmark, Princess Dagmar (1847-1928), who later became the wife of his brother, Emperor Alexander III. While traveling in Italy, he fell ill and died of tuberculous meningitis.

Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich with his bride, Princess Dagmara

* * *


In total, at the time we are interested in, the imperial couple had seven children (and a total of 8 children were born in the family)

The first child of the future Emperor Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna, was born in 1842 and died suddenly at the age of seven. After her death, no one in the imperial family named their daughters after Alexander, since all the princesses with that name died early, before reaching the age of 20.

Second child - Nikolai Alexandrovich, Tsarevich (see above)
The third is Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III (born in 1845)
Further:
Vladimir (born in 1847)
Alexey (born in 1850)
Maria (born in 1853)
Sergei (born in 1857) (the same one who would later be killed by the Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist Ivan Kalyaev in 1905)
Pavel (born in 1860)

At least two other members of the imperial family played a major role in carrying out the Great Reforms: Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna.

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (September 9, 1827 St. Petersburg - January 13, 1892 Pavlovsk) - the second son of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I.

His father decided that Konstantin should become almiral of the fleet and, from the age of five, entrusted his upbringing to the famous navigator Fyodor Litka. In 1835 he accompanied his parents on a trip to Germany. In 1844 he was appointed commander of the brig Ulysses, in 1847 - the frigate Pallada. On August 30, 1848 he was appointed to the retinue of His Imperial Majesty and chief of the Naval Cadet Corps.

In 1848 in St. Petersburg he married Alexandra Friederike Henrietta Paulina Marianna Elisabeth, the fifth daughter of Duke Joseph of Saxe-Altenburg (in Orthodoxy Alexandra Iosifovna).

In 1849 he was appointed to sit on the State and Admiralty Councils. In 1850 he headed the Committee to revise and supplement the General Code of Naval Charter and became a member of the State Council and the Council of Military Educational Institutions. Promoted to vice admiral in 1853. During the Crimean War, Konstantin Nikolaevich took part in the defense of Kronstadt from the attack of the Anglo-French fleet.

Since 1855 - admiral of the fleet; from that time on he managed the fleet and the maritime department as a minister. The first period of his management was marked by a number of important reforms: the previous sailing fleet was replaced by a steam one, the available composition of coastal teams was reduced, office work was simplified, and emerital cash desks were established; Corporal punishment has been abolished.

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich

He adhered to liberal values, and in 1857 he was elected chairman of the peasant committee that developed reform projects.

Viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland from June 1862 to October 1863. His viceroy fell on the period before and during the January Uprising. Together with the civil governor of the CPU, Marquis Alexander Wielopolsky, he tried to pursue a conciliatory policy and carry out liberal reforms, but without success. Soon after Konstantin Nikolaevich arrived in Warsaw, an attempt was made on his life. Journeyman tailor Ludovic Yaroshinsky shot him at point-blank range with a pistol on the evening of June 21 (July 4), 1862, when he was leaving the theater, but Konstantin Nikolaevich was only slightly wounded. (more details about the events in the Central Election Commission on the eve of the January Uprising will be discussed in a separate article)

* * *


A truly outstanding person was Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, widow of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (younger brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I).

Before accepting Orthodoxy - Princess Frederike Charlotte Marie of Württemberg (German: Friederike Charlotte Marie Prinzessin von Württemberg, December 24 (January 6) 1806 - January 9 (22), 1873)

Princess of the House of Württemberg, daughter of Duke Paul Karl Friedrich August and Princess of the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg Charlotte Dahlia Friederike Louise Sophia Theresa.
She was brought up in Paris at the private boarding house Campan.
At the age of 15, she was chosen by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, also a representative of the House of Württemberg, as the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, the fourth son of Emperor Paul I.
She converted to Orthodoxy and was granted the title of Grand Duchess as Elena Pavlovna (1823). On February 8 (21), 1824, she was married according to the Greek-Eastern Orthodox rite with Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich.

In 1828, after the death of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, according to Her Highest will, control of the Mariinsky and Midwifery Institutes passed to the Grand Duchess. She was the chief of the 10th Dragoon Novgorod Regiment.

She showed herself as a philanthropist: she gave funds to the artist Ivanov to transport the painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People” to Russia, and patronized K. P. Bryullov, I. K. Aivazovsky, and Anton Rubinstein. Having supported the idea of ​​​​establishing the Russian Musical Society and Conservatory, she financed this project by making large donations, including proceeds from the sale of diamonds that personally belonged to her. The conservatory's primary classes opened in her palace in 1858.

She supported the actor I. F. Gorbunov, the tenor Nilsky, and the surgeon Pirogov. She contributed to the posthumous publication of the collected works of N. V. Gogol. She was interested in the activities of the university, the Academy of Sciences, and the Free Economic Society.

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna

In 1853-1856 she was one of the founders of the Holy Cross community of sisters of mercy with dressing stations and mobile hospitals - the community charter was approved on October 25, 1854. She issued an appeal to all Russian women not bound by family responsibilities, calling for help for the sick and wounded. The premises of the Mikhailovsky Castle were provided at the disposal of the community for storing things and medicines; the Grand Duchess financed its activities. In the fight against the views of society, which did not approve of this kind of activity by women, the Grand Duchess went to hospitals every day and bandaged the wounded with her own hands.

For the cross that the sisters were to wear, Elena Pavlovna chose St. Andrew's ribbon. On the cross there were inscriptions: “Take My yoke upon you” and “You, O God, are my strength.” Elena Pavlovna explained her choice like this: “Only in humble patience do we receive strength and strength from God.”
On November 5, 1854, after mass, the Grand Duchess herself put a cross on each of the thirty-five sisters, and the next day they left for Sevastopol, where Pirogov was waiting for them.
On N.I. Pirogov, the great Russian scientist and surgeon, was entrusted with training and then supervising their work in the Crimea. From December 1854 to January 1856, more than 200 nurses worked in Crimea.
After the end of the war, an outpatient clinic and a free school for 30 girls were additionally opened in the community.

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna among the sisters of mercy, mid-1850s

The Grand Duchess provided guardianship to the school of St. Helena; founded in memory of her daughters the Elisabeth Children's Hospital (St. Petersburg), and the Elisabeth and Mary orphanages (Moscow, Pavlovsk); reorganized the Maximilian Hospital, where, on her initiative, a permanent hospital was created.

Since the late 1840s, evenings were held in the Mikhailovsky Palace - “Thursdays” at which issues of politics and culture, literary novelties were discussed. The circle of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, which met on “Thursdays,” became the center of communication for leading statesmen - the developers and conductors of the Great Reforms.
According to A. F. Koni, meetings with Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna were the main discussion platform where plans for reforms in the second half of the 19th century were developed. Supporters of reforms called her among themselves “the benefactor mother.”

In an effort to cause a positive shift in the sentiments of the nobility regarding peasant reform, in 1856 she took the initiative to liberate the peasants on her estate Karlovka, Poltava province, which included 12 villages and villages, 9090 acres of land, with a population of 7392 men and 7625 women. A plan was developed with the manager, Baron Engelhart, which provided for the personal liberation of the peasants and the provision of land to them for a ransom.
In March 1856, Elena Pavlovna, together with N. A. Milyutin (brother of D. A. Milyutin, also a liberal statesman and one of the main developers of peasant reform), developed an action plan for the liberation of peasants in Poltava and adjacent provinces, which received preliminary approval from the Sovereign .
By patronizing liberal figures - the Milyutin brothers, Lansky, Cherkassky, Samarin and others - Elena Pavlovna acted as one of the leading forces of the upcoming peasant reform.
For her activities to liberate the peasants, she received the honorary title in the society “Princesse La Liberte”. She was awarded a gold medal by the Emperor.

Elena Pavlovna was a widely educated person, in her youth she was friends with A.S. Pushkin, then with I.S. Turgenev, communicated with the entire intellectual elite of Russia at that time; attended lectures on a variety of subjects, including technical subjects - agronomy, military statistics, etc.

The death of her 4 daughters and her husband (in 1849), for whom she mourned until her death in 1873, made a grave impression on the Grand Duchess.

Growing up in a Protestant family, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna was a deeply religious Orthodox Christian. Having been baptized in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Helen of Constantinople, she became close to the Feast of the Exaltation, especially caring for the Exaltation Church of the Moscow Yamskaya Settlement in St. Petersburg; as a gift to the temple she brought icons of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen with particles of the Cross of the Lord, the honorable relics of John the Baptist, Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and St. John Chrysostom; I ordered a large altarpiece of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross for the church. The image was created by the icon painter Fadeev in a specially designated hall of the Mikhailovsky Palace.
On the instructions of Elena Pavlovna, the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, a short prayer book and the penitential canon of Andrew of Crete were translated and published in French, “in order to acquaint foreigners with the beauty and depth of our worship and make it easier for those who have accepted Orthodoxy to understand our prayers.” In 1862, in Carlsbad, A.I. Koshelev, with the approval of the Grand Duchess, initiated a subscription for the construction of an Orthodox church there, completed within two years.

According to Count P. A. Valuev, with the death of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in 1873, “the brilliant mental lamp went out. She patronized many things and created many things...”; “It’s unlikely that anyone will replace her,” I. S. Turgenev wrote sadly.

All-Russian Emperor Alexander II (1818 - 1881), Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland (since 1855) from the Romanov dynasty, was married twice. His first wife was Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. True, the crown prince’s mother was against the marriage, suspecting that the princess was actually born from the duke’s chamberlain, but Nicholas I simply adored his daughter-in-law. In the august marriage of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna eight children were born. However, soon relations in the family went wrong and the emperor began to have favorites.
So in 1866 he became close to an 18-year-old Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. She became the closest person to the king Alexandra II and moved to the Winter Palace. She gave birth to Alexander II four illegitimate children. After the death of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, EmperorAlexander II and Ekaterina Dolgorukova got married , which legitimized common children. Who were the descendants of Emperor Alexander II - you will find out from our material.

Alexandra Alexandrovna
Alexandra was the first and long-awaited child of the grand ducal couple. She was born on August 30, 1842. Emperor Nicholas I was especially looking forward to the birth of his granddaughter. The next day, the happy parents accepted congratulations. On the ninth day, the Grand Duchess was moved to the chambers prepared for her and the child. Maria Alexandrovna expressed a desire to feed her daughter on her own, but the emperor forbade this.

On August 30, the girl was baptized in the Tsarskoe Selo Church, but unfortunately, the little Grand Duchess did not live long. She fell ill with meningitis and died suddenly on June 28, 1849, before she was 7 years old. From then on, girls in the imperial family were no longer called Alexandra. All the princesses with the name Alexandra died mysteriously before reaching the age of 20.

Nikolai Alexandrovich

Tsarevich Nicholas was born September 20, 1843 and was named after his grandfather Nicholas I. Emperor Nicholas I was so excited by the birth of the heir to the throne that he ordered his sons - the Grand Dukes Konstantin and Mikhail , - kneel before the cradle and take an oath of allegiance to the future Russian emperor. But the crown prince was not destined to become a ruler.
Nikolai grew up as everyone’s favorite: his grandfather and grandmother doted on him, but his mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, was most attached to him. Nikolai was well-mannered, polite, courteous. Was friends with his second cousin Evgenia Maximilianovna Romanovskaya, Princess of Oldenburg, who was the third daughter in the family of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1845 - 1925) from her first marriage to Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg from Bavaria. There were even negotiations about the wedding of the Tsarevich Nikolai and Evgenia , but in the end the princess’s mother, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, refused.
In 1864, the Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich went abroad. There he is on his 21st birthday got engaged to a princess Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar (1847-1928) , who would later become the wife of Alexander III - Maria Feodorovna, mother of the last emperor of Russia, Nicholas II. Everything was fine until during a trip to Italy Nikolai Alexandrovich did not suddenly fall ill, he was treated in Nice, but in the spring of 1865, Nikolai’s condition began to deteriorate.

On April 10, Emperor Alexander II arrived in Nice, and on the night of the 12th the Grand Duke Nikolay died after four hours of agony from tuberculous meningitis. The heir's body was transported to Russia on the frigate Alexander Nevsky. Mother Maria Alexandrovna she was inconsolable and, it seems, was never able to fully recover from the tragedy. After years Emperor Alexander III named his eldest son in honor of his brother Nicholas , whom he “loved more than anything in the world.”

Alexander Alexandrovich

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was two years younger than his older brother Nicholas and, by the will of fate, it was he who was destined to ascend the Russian throne and become Emperor Alexander III . Since Nicholas was being prepared to rule, Alexander did not receive the appropriate education, and after the sudden death of his brother, he had to take an additional course of science necessary for the ruler of Russia.

In 1866, Alexander became engaged to Princess Dagmar. The ascension of Emperor Alexander III to the throne was also overshadowed by the sudden the death of his father - in 1881 Emperor Alexander II died as a result of a terrorist attack. After such a brutal murder of Emperor Alexander, his son did not support his father’s liberal ideas; his goal was to suppress protests. Emperor Alexander III adhered to a conservative policy. So, instead of the draft “Loris-Melikov Constitution” supported by his father, the new emperor adopted the “Manifesto on the Inviolability of Autocracy” compiled by Pobedonostsev, which had a great influence on the emperor.

During the reign of Alexander III in Russia, administrative pressure was increased, the beginnings of peasant and city self-government were eliminated, censorship was strengthened, and the military power of Russia was strengthened, namely, Emperor Alexander III said that "Russia has only two allies - the army and the navy." Indeed, during the reign of Alexander III, there was a sharp decrease in the protests that were so characteristic of the second half of his father’s reign. Terrorist activity in the country also began to decline, and from 1887 until the beginning of the 20th century there were no terrorist attacks in Russia.

Despite the build-up of military power, during the reign of Alexander III Russia has not waged a single war, for maintaining peace the emperor received the name Peacemaker. Alexander III bequeathed his ideals to his heir and last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

Vladimir Alexandrovich

Grand Duke Vladimir was born in 1847 and devoted his life to a military career. He took part in the Russian-Turkish War, and from 1884 was the Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District. In 1881, his brother Emperor Alexander III appointed him regent in the event of his death before Tsarevich Nicholas came of age, or in the event of the latter's death.
Grand Duke Vladimir gave the order to Prince Vasilchikov to use force against a procession of workers and city residents that was heading towards the Winter Palace on Sunday, January 9, 1905, known as “Bloody Sunday.”

After a loud scandal with the marriage of his son Kirill, Grand Duke Vladimir was forced to leave his post as Commander of the Guard and the St. Petersburg Military District. His eldest son Kirill married the former wife of the brother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - Princess Victoria-Melita of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was second daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. Even despite the blessing of Kirill’s mother Maria Pavlovna, the Highest permission was not given for this marriage, since by marrying a divorcee, Kirill and all his subsequent descendants (“Kirillovichs”) lost the right of succession to the throne. Vladimir was a famous philanthropist and was even the president of the Academy of Arts. In protest against his role in the execution of workers and townspeople, artists Serov and Polenov resigned from the Academy.

Aleksey Aleksandrovich

Fifth child Emperor Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna From childhood he was enrolled in military service - in the Guards crew and Life Guards regiments Preobrazhensky and Jaeger. His fate was predetermined; he was being prepared for military service.
In 1866, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was promoted to lieutenant of the fleet and lieutenant of the guard. He took part in the voyage of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky", which was wrecked in the Strait of Jutland on the night of September 12-13, 1868. The commander of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky" noted the courage and nobility of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, who refused to leave the ship, and four days later he was promoted to staff captain and adjutant.
In 1871 became the senior officer of the frigate "Svetlana", on which he reached North America, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and, having visited China and Japan, arrived in Vladivostok, from where he reached St. Petersburg by land through all of Siberia.

In 1881 Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was appointed a member of the State Council, and in the summer of the same year - Chief of the Fleet and Maritime Department with the rights of Admiral General and Chairman of the Admiralty Council. While managing the Russian fleet, he carried out a number of reforms, introduced a maritime qualification, increased the number of crew, established the ports of Sevastopol, Port Arthur and others, and expanded the docks in Kronstadt and Vladivostok.
At the end of the Russo-Japanese War, after the Tsushima defeat, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich resigned and was dismissed from all naval posts. He was considered one of those responsible for Russia's defeat in the war with Japan. Died Prince Alexey in Paris in 1908.

Maria Alexandrovna

Grand Duchess Maria was born in 1853, and grew up as a “weak” girl, but despite doctors’ orders, her father doted on his daughter. In 1874 Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna married Prince Alfred (1844-1900), g Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Ulster and Kent -second son of the British Queen Victoria and Albert (1819-1861). Emperor Alexander II gave his daughter an incredible dowry of 100,000 pounds and an annual allowance of 20,000 pounds.

Emperor Alexander II insisted that in London his daughter be addressed only as “ Her Imperial Highness" and so that she took precedence over the Princess of Wales. Queen Victoria did not like this, however after marriage, the requirements of the Russian emperor were met.

Since 22 August 1893, the husband of Grand Duchess Maria was an admiral of the Royal Navy Prince Alfred became Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, since his elder brother Edward abdicated the throne. " Her Imperial Highness" Maria became a duchess Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , retaining the title of Duchess of Edinburgh. However, tragedy befell their family.

Children Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna and Prince Alfred (1844-1900):

Their eldest son, Crown Prince Alfred (1874-1899), was engaged to Duchess Elsa of Württemberg. However, Alfred was caught having extramarital affairs and in 1898 he began to show severe symptoms of syphilis. It is believed that the illness shook his mind. In 1899, he shot himself with a revolver during a family gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his parents' marriage. On February 6, he died at the age of 24. A year later, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died of cancer. The Dowager Duchess Maria remained to reside in Coburg.

Their eldest daughter Princess Mary (1875-1936) married, January 10, 1893, to King Ferdinand I of Romania(1865-1927); left offspring.

Their daughter - Princess Victoria Melita (1876-1936) married, April 19, 1894, to Ernest Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse; left offspring; divorced December 21, 1901
Second marriage Victoria Melita- October 8, 1905, with the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich; left offspring.

Their daughter - Princess Alexandra(1878-1942) married, April 20, 1896, for Ernest of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; left offspring.

Their daughter Princess Beatrice(1884-1966) married, July 15, 1909, to Dona Alfonso, Infanta of Spain, 3rd Duke of Galliera; left offspring

Sergey Aleksandrovich

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905) became Moscow Governor-General (1891-1904) in 1884 married Elizaveta Feodorovna (born Elisabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt), second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, granddaughter of the British Queen Victoria.

With him The Moscow Public Art Theater opened, in order to take care of students, he ordered the construction of a dormitory at Moscow University. The darkest episode of his reign in Moscow was tragedy on the Khodynka field on May 30, 1896. In t At the festivities on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II, a stampede occurred, where, according to official data, 1,389 people were killed and another 1,300 people were seriously injured. The public found Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich guilty and nicknamed him “Prince Khodynsky”, Emperor Nicholas II - “bloody”.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich supported monarchist organizations and was a fighter against the revolutionary movement. He died on the spot as a result of a terrorist attack in 1905. When approaching the Nicholas Tower, a bomb was thrown into his carriage, which tore apart the carriage of Grand Duke Sergei. The terrorist attack was carried out by Ivan Kalyaev from the Combat Organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. He planned to carry out a terrorist attack two days earlier, but was unable to throw a bomb at the carriage in which the wife and nephews of the Governor General, Maria and Dmitry, were located. Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna is the founder of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow. It is known that the widow of Prince Elizabeth visited her husband’s killer in prison and forgave him on behalf of her husband.

U Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Fedorovna did not have children of their own, but they raised the children of their brother Sergei Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, Maria and Dmitry , whose mother, Alexandra Grigorievna, died in childbirth.

Pavel Alexandrovich

made a military career, possessed not only Russian, but also foreign orders and badges of honor. He was married twice. He entered into his first marriage in 1889 with his cousin - Greek Princess Alexandra Georgievna, who gave birth to He had two children - Maria and Dmitry, but died during childbirth at the age of 20. The children were taken in by the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, to be raised by his brother Pavel Alexandrovich.

10 years after the death of the spouse Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich married a second time to a divorcee Olga Valerievna Pistolkors. Since the marriage was unequal, they could not return to Russia. In 1915, Olga Valerievna received Russian for herself and the children of Prince Pavel Alexandrovich title of the princes of Paley . They had three children: Vladimir, Irina and Natalya.

Soon after the abdication of Nicholas II, the Provisional Government took measures against the Romanovs. Vladimir Paley was exiled to the Urals in 1918 and executed at the same time. Pavel Alexandrovich himself was arrested in August 1918 and sent to prison.

In January of the following year, Pavel Alexandrovich, along with his cousins, Grand Dukes Dmitry Konstantinovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Georgiy Mikhailovich, were shot in the Peter and Paul Fortress in response to the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Germany.

Georgy Alexandrovich

Georgy Alexandrovich (1872 - 1913) was born out of wedlock, but after marriage Alexander II with Princess Dolgoruky, June 6, 1880, the emperor wanted to equalize the rights of his morganatic children from Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruky with his legal heirs to the throne from the union with Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and his decree was sent to the Senate: “Having entered into the legal marriage with Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruka, we order that she be given the name of Princess Yuryevskaya with the title of lordship. We order that the same name with the same title be given to our children: our son George, daughters Olga and Ekaterina, as well as those who may be born subsequently, we grant them all the rights belonging to legitimate children in accordance with Article 14 of the Fundamental Laws of the Empire and Article 147 of the Establishment of the Imperial Family. Alexander".

Prince George received the title His Serene Highness Prince Yuryevsky.

After the assassination of his father Emperor Alexander II, His Serene Highness Prince Georgy Alexandrovich together with sisters Ekaterina and Olga, and mother Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky , left for France.

In 1891 Prince Georgy Alexandrovich graduated from the Sorbonne with a bachelor's degree, then returned to Russia, where he continued his studies. He served in the Baltic Fleet and studied at the dragoon department of the Officer Cavalry School.

February 4 1900 His Serene Highness Prince George got married with Countess Alexandra Konstantinovna Zarnekau (1883-1957), daughter of Prince Konstantin Petrovich of Oldenburg from a morganatic marriage with Countess Alexandra Zarnekau, née Japaridze. The marriage is dissolved. On October 17, 1908, Alexandra Zarnekau married Lev Vasilyevich Naryshkin.

His Serene Highness Prince George b was seconded to the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, and resigned in 1908. 4 years later he died of nephritis in Magburg, German Empire. He was buried in Wiesbaden in the Russian cemetery.

Children His Serene Highness Prince George and Countess Alexandra Zarnekau:

Son Alexander (December 7 (20), 1900, Nice, France - February 29, 1988).
Grandson George (Hans-Georg) (born December 8, 1961, St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Olga Alexandrovna

Your Serene Highness Princess Yuryevskaya Olga Alexandrovna born in 1882, a year after her older brother George. It is interesting that Emperor Alexander II chose the title for children not by chance. It was believed that the princely family of his second wife Ekaterina Dolgoruky had its origins from Prince Yuri Dolgoruky from the Rurik family. It is known that the ancestor of the Dolgorukys was Prince Ivan Obolensky, who received this nickname for his vindictiveness. Prince Ivan Obolensky was the second cousin of Yuri Dolgoruky - Vsevolod Olgovich.

Your Serene Highness Princess Olga Yuryevskaya published in 1895 marry the grandson of Alexander Pushkin -graph Georg-Nicholas von Merenberg and began to be called Countess von Merenberg . During marriage she gave birth to a wife 12 children.

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna

The youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander II, His Serene Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya (1878 - 1959) married unsuccessfully twice and became a singer. After the accession of Emperor Nicholas II, His Serene Highness Princess Catherine, together with her mother Princess Catherine Dolgoruka, brother George and sister Olga, returned to Russia.

In 1901, His Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya married the captain Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky (1870-1910), one of the heirs of an ancient family Rurikovich , who gave the world several saints, including the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and the Holy Blessed Prince Michael of Chernigov. Alexander Vladimirovich on his father’s side is the grandson of Lieutenant General Prince Anatoly Baryatinsky (1821-1881) and the cousin grandson of Field Marshal General Prince.

Prince Aleksandr VladimirovichBaryatinsky was one of the richest people in Russia, which allowed him to lead a luxurious and sometimes thoughtless life. Since 1897, he had been in an open relationship with the famous beauty Lina Cavalieri and spent huge amounts of money on her. His infatuation with Cavalieri was so serious that he asked Emperor Nicholas II to give him permission to marry her. Baryatinsky's parents did everything to prevent this from happening, and in October 1901, Prince Alexander Boryatinsky married the princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya.

The Most Serene Princess Catherine, loving her husband, tried to win his attention from Lina Cavalieri, but it was all in vain. The three of them went everywhere - performances, operas, dinners, some even lived in a hotel together. Their love triangle fell apart with the death of Prince Boryatinsky, the inheritance went to Catherine's children - the princes Andrey (1902-1944) and Alexander (1905-1992). Since the children were minors in 1910, their mother, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya, became their guardian.

After World War I, they moved from Bavaria to the Baryatinsky estate in Ivanovsky. Soon Ekaterina Yuryevskaya met a young guards officer Prince Sergei Obolensky and married him. After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia Princes Boryatinsky They lost everything and went to Kyiv using forged documents, and then to Vienna and then to England. In order to earn money, His Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya began to sing in living rooms and at concerts. The death of Catherine Dolgoruky's mother did not improve the princess's financial situation.

IN In 1922, Prince Sergei Obolensky abandoned his wife Ekaterina Yuryevskaya for another rich lady, miss Alice Astor, daughter of millionaire John Astor. Abandoned by her husband, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya became a professional singer. For many years she lived on allowance from Queen Mary, widow of George V, but after her death in 1953 she was left without a livelihood. She sold her property and died in 1959 in a nursing home on Hayling Island.

Based on the article

Egor BOTMAN (?-1891). Portrait of Alexander II. 1856. (Fragment).
Reproduction from the site http://lj.rossia.org/users/john_petrov/

Alexander II Nikolaevich Romanov (Liberator) (1818-1881) - Russian Emperor since February 19, 1855.

In domestic politics, he carried out the Peasant Reform of 1861 and a number of liberal reforms (see Reforms of the 1860-1870s), which contributed to the modernization of the country.

Under him, the range of foreign policy directions expanded: Central Asian and Far Eastern ones were added to the European and Eastern ones. Despite the defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, tsarist diplomacy succeeded in: ensuring peaceful conditions favorable for carrying out internal reforms; bring Russia out of international isolation; achieve the abolition of the restrictive article of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856 on the neutralization of the Black Sea, restore the international prestige of Russia and maintain balance in Europe.

In European politics, he mainly focused on Germany and Austria-Hungary, with whom he concluded a number of agreements in 1873 (see Alliance of the Three Emperors).

In the eastern direction he took the side of the Balkan peoples who rebelled against the Turkish Sultan (see Eastern Crisis of 1875-1878, Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, Treaty of San Stefano).

The intensification of the Central Asian and Far Eastern directions made it possible to implement the program of annexation of Central Asia; conclude the Aigun Treaty of 1858 and the Beijing Treaty of 1860 with China; Shimoda and St. Petersburg treaties with Japan (see Russian-Japanese treaties of 1858 and 1875).

On March 1, 1881, he died as a result of a terrorist act committed by members of the Narodnaya Volya organization.

Orlov A.S., Georgieva N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical Dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 12.

Other biographical materials:

Chekmarev V.V., Doctor of Economics (Kostroma), Yudina T.N., Ph.D. (Kostroma). Peasant reform of Tsar Alexander II Alexandrovich Romanov. (Materials of the First Romanov Readings).

Literature:

"Wedding with Russia." Correspondence of Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich with Emperor Nicholas I. 1837 // Publ. L. G. Zakharova and L. I. Tyutyunik. M., 1999;

Notes of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich Obolensky / Ed. V. G. Chernukha. St. Petersburg, 2005;

Zakharova L. G. Alexander II // Russian autocrats 1801–1917. M., 1993;

Zakharova L. G. Alexander II and Russia’s place in the world // New and recent history. 2005. No. 2, 4;

Kuzmin Yu. A. Russian imperial family. 1797–1917. Bibliographic reference book. St. Petersburg, 2005; L

Yashenko L. M. Alexander II, or the Story of Three Loneliness. M., 2002;

Correspondence of Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich with Emperor Nicholas I. 1838–1839 / Ed. L. G. Zakharova and S. V. Mironenko. M., 2008;

Suvorov N. On the history of Vologda: About the stay of royalty and other remarkable historical figures in Vologda // VEV. 1867. N 11. P. 386-396.

Tatishchev S.S. Emperor Alexander II. His life and reign. T. 1–2. 2nd ed. St. Petersburg 1911;

1857–1861. Correspondence of Emperor Alexander II with Vel. book Konstantin Nikolaevich / Comp. L. G. Zakharova and L. I. Tyutyunik. M., 1994;

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