In front of me is a painting by Vladimir Makovsky. Stampede on Khodynka Field. Now there is no field there, it’s an urban area, the beginning of Leningradsky Prospekt. And then it was a suburb, a space where folk festivals and trade were often held. There was also a parade ground for the troops of the Moscow garrison.
And now - the coronation of the young Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich. According to the new style - May 26, 1896. We've been waiting for this day. They hoped that it would be remembered as a celebration, as a day of national rejoicing. The coronation, the crowning of the kingdom, was perceived as the most important event in the history of the country, as the main holiday. This is the tradition of Russian autocracy, which is based on the unity of the dynasty and the people. Poems and hymns were composed for this day, and thousands of people from all over Russia flocked to Moscow. After all, Russian sovereigns have been crowned kings for centuries not just anywhere, but in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral. In Monomakh's hat, in the traditions of Grozny... On holidays, everything bad was forgotten, the new king treated his subjects to wine and meat, bread and honey.
Thus, after the coronation, the new emperor wrote off arrears from the people totaling 100 million rubles. and donated hundreds of thousands of rubles from his personal savings to charitable needs. The celebrations continued for several days, their program was planned in advance. Everything was furnished more magnificently than in previous years: illuminations, festive pavilions. Four days after the coronation, on Khodynka Field, during public festivities, the royal gifts were to be distributed, which consisted of a bag of sausage, cod, a large gingerbread, candy and nuts. This gift also included a commemorative “coronation mug” with a coat of arms and initials.
In 1883, during the coronation of Emperor Alexander III, the distribution of gifts on Khodynka went smoothly. But this time the valuable gift became a stumbling block. There were rumors that the bartenders were stealing free food. And the people gathered on the Khodynskoye field in advance... Without exaggeration, crowds of thousands.
The outstanding journalist A.S. Suvorin, a man of tenacious mind, writes in his diary: “There were a lot of people in the evening. Some sat near the fire, some slept on the ground, some treated themselves to vodka, while others sang and danced.” “The artel workers pampered us and began to give out a few bundles to their friends. When the people saw this, they began to protest and climb into the windows of the tents and threaten the artel workers. They got scared and started giving out (gifts).” Gifts turned out to be a dangerous temptation; passions flared up because of them, and blood was shed because of them.
Historian Sergei Oldenburg, hot on his heels, interpreted the situation as follows: “The crowd suddenly jumped up as one person and rushed forward with such swiftness, as if fire was chasing it... The back rows pressed on the front: whoever fell was trampled, having lost the ability to feel that they walk on still living bodies, as if on stones or logs. The disaster lasted only 10-15 minutes. When they came to their senses, it was already too late. There were 1,282 people killed on the spot and those who died in the coming days, and several hundred wounded.” Huge losses! Our commanders often lost much less in general battles, although they had to face enemy bayonets, under fire, under buckshot. The police were considered guilty - and rightly so. When a combination of circumstances coincides with the criminal negligence of law enforcement officers, trouble cannot be avoided.
Everything happened incredibly quickly. Then they managed to calm the crowd, many were horrified... And for a long time they took the wounded and dead out of Khodynka... The authorities were confused and ignorant. There were songs on Khodynka, including funny ones. And this was before they had time to wash the blood off the ground and send the wounded to hospitals. A prayer service would have been more appropriate, but everything continued according to a predetermined plan. This holiday will be called dancing on corpses. The people were supposed to greet the emperor...
On the road to Khodynka, he met carts with wounded and dead. Nikolai, to whom responsibility for the state had only recently fallen on his shoulders, stopped and uttered words of sympathy. He did not yet know the scale of what had happened - as, probably, did the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. It was he who insisted that the day's program remain unchanged, despite the unfortunate excesses. In those hours, they could not even imagine that the number of victims was in the thousands. Perhaps that is why the celebrations on Khodynka were not cancelled. The young emperor, as expected, was greeted with shouts of “Hurray!” and hymns. A short lunch took place.
A little later, the emperor would write in his diary: “The crowd, who had spent the night on the Khodynka field waiting for the start of the distribution of lunch and mugs, pressed against the buildings, and then there was a stampede, and, horribly to add, about one thousand three hundred people were trampled. I found out about this at ten and a half o’clock... This news left a disgusting impression.” The authorities did not remain indifferent to the victims of the tragedy. They gave out one thousand rubles per family of those killed or injured in the Khodynka tragedy. The amount is considerable.
In addition, the dead were buried at public expense, and their children, if necessary, were sent to an orphanage. But you can’t bring back the dead, and you can’t heal the maimed. On May 19, the imperial couple, together with the governor-general, visited the Staro-Catherine Hospital, where the wounded on the Khodynka Field were admitted. Many repented and complained about their own greed. After all, it all started because of gifts... Others scolded the Moscow authorities. Many considered it necessary to resign Sergei Alexandrovich. But the emperor limited himself to resignations in the police department.
Why were the police unprepared for such excesses? Russia's population grew amazingly quickly in the 19th century. Our capitals have also become more crowded. The state apparatus was not ready to manage such a populous country, such massive gatherings... They worked the old fashioned way, as if there were still 50 million citizens in Russia.
Meanwhile, at the fateful 5 o’clock in the morning on May 18, there were a total of at least 500 thousand people on the Khodynskoye field. Let me remind you that a little more than a million lived in Moscow at that time, including old people and children. The Moscow authorities simply failed to organize the delivery and distribution of gifts. They turned out to be unprepared for such massive celebrations with a complex program.
Big politics also failed. As you know, under Alexander III, Russia entered into an alliance with France. Rapprochement with this power required a lot. France needed the military power of Russia, trade routes to the East, and in the future, the vast Russian sales market. And Russia, first of all, saw France as a financial support and was interested in loans, without which it would be difficult to carry out industrialization. Both powers counted on support in their rivalry with a growing Germany. A ball was scheduled for the evening of that day at the French ambassador's. The Allies intended to congratulate the new Russian monarch. To disrupt such an event means to darken the relationship between the two powers.
The emperor could not miss the French envoy's ball, although many advised him to refrain from entertainment events. In the memoirs of S.Yu. Witte we read: “The Emperor and the Empress were supposed to be present at the ball. During the day we did not know whether this ball would be canceled due to the disaster or not; It turned out that the ball was not cancelled. Then they assumed that although there would be a ball, their majesties would probably not come.” Witte further reports that the emperor was sad at the ball and quickly left the meeting.
Disputes about this decision continue to this day. And they began already that May night: “Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Moscow Governor-General. As soon as we met, naturally, we started talking about this catastrophe, and the Grand Duke told us that many advised the sovereign to ask the ambassador to cancel this ball and, in any case, not to come to this ball, but that the sovereign completely disagreed with this opinion; in his opinion, this catastrophe is the greatest misfortune, but a misfortune that should not overshadow the coronation holiday; the Khodynka catastrophe should be ignored in this sense” (the same Witte).
The opposition got a reason to gossip that the emperor was indifferent to the people's tragedy and had fun at the ball that evening. In the twentieth century, every step of the ruler had to be correlated with the context of the information war. Konstantin Balmont, a rebellious poet, prophesied: “He is a coward, he feels with hesitation, But it will happen, the hour of reckoning awaits. He who began to reign as Khodynka will end by standing on the scaffold...” Cruel words, with overlap, with emotional overkill. The king was turned into the sole culprit of the deadly winepress. This is the destiny of an autocrat - to bear responsibility for everything. Of course, the execution of the former emperor did not bring happiness to the poet: Balmont emigrated from revolutionary Russia, cursing the Bolsheviks.
What happened on Khodynka? A clouding of minds, a terrorist attack? Rather, it was an accident, a set of circumstances, aggravated by the negligence of the authorities. And it is not at all by chance that the concept “Khodynka” has become iconic and has become a proverb.
The memory of the tragedy and its victims was not hushed up. In 1896, at the Vagankovskoye cemetery above the hill of the mass grave, a monument to the victims of the stampede on Khodynskoye Field was erected according to the design of the architect I. A. Ivanov-Shits - a beautiful stele with the date of the tragedy engraved on it.
Have similar tragedies happened in other countries? Yes, all sorts of things happened, especially where there were large crowds of people, where gifts were distributed... But the Khodynka tragedy is one of the largest in this sad series.
About Khodynka Field
Khodynka on a map of Moscow in 1895
The Khodynskoye field was quite large (about 1 km²), but there was a ravine next to the field, and on the field itself there were many gullies and holes after the extraction of sand and clay. Serving as a training ground for the troops of the Moscow garrison, Khodynskoye Field had previously been repeatedly used for public festivities. Temporary “theatres”, stages, booths, shops were built along its perimeter, including 20 wooden barracks for free distribution of beer and honey and 150 stalls for distribution of free souvenirs - gift bags, which included: a mug with the monograms of Their Majesties, a pound cod, half a pound of sausage, Vyazma gingerbread with a coat of arms and a bag of sweets and nuts. In addition, the organizers of the festivities planned to scatter tokens with a commemorative inscription among the crowd. According to Gilyarovsky, the pits remained from metal pavilions, which were dug up shortly before and transported to the trade and industrial “All-Russian Fair” in Nizhny Novgorod.
Events
The start of the festivities was scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 18, but already from the evening of May 17 (29), people (often families) began to arrive at the field from all over Moscow and the surrounding area, attracted by rumors of gifts and the distribution of valuable coins.
At 5 o'clock in the morning on May 18, there were a total of at least 500 thousand people on the Khodynskoye field.
When a rumor spread through the crowd that the bartenders were distributing gifts among “their own”, and therefore there were not enough gifts for everyone, the people rushed to the temporary wooden buildings. 1,800 police officers specially assigned to maintain order during the festivities were unable to contain the onslaught of the crowd. Reinforcements arrived only the next morning.
The distributors, realizing that people could demolish their shops and stalls, began throwing bags of food directly into the crowd, which only intensified the commotion.
The incident was reported to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Emperor Nicholas II. The disaster site was cleaned up and cleared of all traces of the drama, and the celebration program continued. On Khodynka Field, the orchestra under the direction of conductor Safronov played a concert; at 14:00 Emperor Nicholas II arrived, greeted with a thunderous “hurray” and the singing of the National Anthem.
The coronation festivities continued in the evening at the Kremlin Palace, and then with a ball at a reception with the French ambassador. Many expected that if the ball was not cancelled, then at least it would take place without the sovereign. According to Sergei Alexandrovich, although Nicholas II was advised not to come to the ball, the tsar said that although the Khodynka disaster was the greatest misfortune, it should not overshadow the coronation holiday. Nicholas II opened the ball with Countess Montebello (the envoy's wife), and Alexandra Feodorovna danced with the count.
Consequences
Most of the corpses (except for those identified immediately on the spot and handed over for burial to their parishes) were collected at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, where their identification and burial took place.
According to official data, 1,360 people died on the Khodynskoye field (and shortly after the incident), and several hundred more were injured. The imperial family donated 90 thousand rubles to the victims and sent a thousand bottles of Madeira to hospitals for the victims. On May 19, the imperial couple, together with the Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, visited the Staro-Catherine Hospital, where the wounded on the Khodynka Field were admitted; On May 20 we visited the Mariinsky Hospital.
Maria Feodorovna, the Tsar's mother, sent a thousand bottles of port and Madeira to Moscow hospitals for the seriously wounded - from the remnants of the Kremlin reserves, which still survived after three weeks of coronation balls and banquets.
The son, following his mother, felt a call to mercy, ordered that each orphaned family be given an allowance of 1000 rubles. When it became clear that there were not dozens, but thousands of dead, he secretly took back this favor and, through various reservations, reduced the payment to some to 50-100 rubles, and completely deprived others of benefits. In total, the tsar allocated 90 thousand rubles for this purpose, of which the Moscow city government snatched 12 thousand to reimburse expenses for the funerals of the victims.
And the coronation celebrations themselves cost 100 million rubles. - three times more than spent in the same year on public education. And not from the personal funds of the royal family, but from the treasury, that is, from the state budget.
Church "on the Blood"
At the Vagankovskoye cemetery, a monument dedicated to the victims of the Khodynka disaster was erected on a mass grave, with the date of the tragedy stamped on it: “May 18, 1896.”
The Moscow Chief of Police Vlasovsky and his assistant were punished - both were removed from their positions. Vlasovsky was “removed with a lifelong pension of 3 thousand rubles. in year".
The inhabitants blamed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich for everything as the organizer of the festivities, giving him the nickname “Prince Khodynsky.”
On November 18, 1896, a student demonstration was held to express “protest against the existing system, which allows the possibility of such sad facts.” The demonstrators were not allowed to enter the Vagankovo cemetery, after which they marched through the city streets. For refusing to disperse, the demonstrators were registered and 36 people found instigating them were arrested. After this, meetings were held at the Imperial St. Petersburg University for three days; each time their participants were arrested. A total of 711 people were detained. Of these, 49 instigators were singled out, the rest were expelled from the university for a year.
The plot of the Khodynka disaster, to which the memoirs of eyewitnesses published before 1917 were devoted, was used by Gorky when writing the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin”, and is also mentioned in other literary, artistic and journalistic works, for example in the novel by Boris Akunin “Coronation, or the Last of the Romans” "
According to modern medical terminology, the cause of death for most victims was compression asphyxia.
Reflection in culture
- Short story by Leo Tolstoy, "", 1910
- Fyodor Sologub's story "In the Crowd"
- A description of the tragedy is given in V. Pikul’s book “Evil Spirits”.
- The tragedy on the Khodynka Field is described in Boris Akunin’s novel “Coronation, or the Last of the Romanovs”. In it, the stampede was provoked by Erast Fandorin’s opponent, Doctor Lind.
- The tragedy on the Khodynka Field is the basis for the novel “Quench My Sorrows” by Boris Vasiliev.
- In the first part of Yu. Burnosov’s novel “Revolution” from the “Ethnogenesis” cycle, the tragedy was provoked by one of the main characters - Tsuda Sanzo, a Japanese policeman who had previously committed an assassination attempt on the emperor.
- Vera Kamshi’s novel “Winter Break” describes a similar situation. Probably, the stampede on Khodynka Field served as a prototype for the events in the capital Taliga.
- In K. Balmont’s poem “Our Tsar” (1906): “...Who began to reign - Khodynka, // He will end - standing on the scaffold.”
Notes
Literature
- Government Bulletin. May 21 (June 2), 1896, No. 109, p. 3 (description of the national holiday of May 18, 1896 and the incident before it began).
- In memory of the Holy Coronation of Their Imperial Majesties Nikolai Alexandrovich and Alexandra Feodorovna. With many illustrations from the best artists. - St. Petersburg: German Goppe publishing house, 1896, Part II, pp. 193-194.
- National holiday on the occasion of the Holy Coronation of Their Imperial Majesties the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Description of holiday fun. M., 1896 (description of the program of the “national holiday” on Khodynskoye Field - before the event).
- Krasnov V. Khodynka. The story is not trampled to death. - Kharkov, 1919; 2nd ed. - M.-L., 1926.
- Krasnov V. Khodynka // Moscow album: Memories of Moscow and Muscovites of the 19th-20th centuries. - M.: Our heritage; Polygraph resources, 1997. - pp. 141-170. - 560, p. - (Russian memoirs). - ISBN 5-89295-001-8(in translation)
- Gilyarovsky V. A. Disaster on the Khodynskoye Field
Links
- Khodynka disaster of 1896 - Memoirs of Vladimir Gilyarovsky
| Nicholas II | |
|---|---|
| Events | Eastern journey of Nicholas II · Incident in Otsu · Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna · Stampede on Khodynka Field· Russo-Japanese War · Revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia · Abdication of Nicholas II · Arrest of the abdicated Nicholas II in Tsarskoye Selo · Exile of the abdicated Nicholas II in Tobolsk · Relocation of the abdicated Nicholas II from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg · Execution of the royal family |
| Policy | Russification of Finland · Stolypin agrarian reform · Manifesto of October 17, 1905 · June 3rd coup · Establishment of a de facto protectorate over Mongolia () · Establishment of a protectorate over the Uriankhai region () |
| History of Moscow | |
|---|---|
| Early history | |
| Center of the Moscow Principality | |
| Center of the Russian Kingdom | |
| During the period of the Russian Empire | |
| During the First World War and the Civil War | |
| Moscow in the Soviet years and during the Great Patriotic War |
|
| Modernity | |
| Thematic resources: Portal "Moscow" | Project "Moscow" | |
May 18, 1896- an ambiguous date in the history of the Russian Empire. I remember this day as celebration of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II– and as a day of mourning for the hundreds who died as a result of a ridiculous accident. "Tragedy on Khodynka"- this is the name given to the bloody drama that took place on a huge field in Moscow.
In honor of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, 3 days off were declared in the country, many prisoners received an amnesty, debts were forgiven for malicious defaulters, and mass festivities were planned in Moscow on Khodynka Field. In those days, it was located on the outskirts of the city; on holidays this place was often used for public festivities; the rest of the time the field was a training ground for military units of the Moscow garrison. Therefore, the field was dug with trenches and ditches.
The coronation took place on May 14, and mass celebrations were scheduled for May 18. Everyone was informed in advance that gifts would be distributed to everyone at the holiday. Therefore, people began to gather on the field in the dead of night. By morning there were already about 500 thousand people there. Someone started a rumor that cups filled with silver and gold would be distributed. In fact, the souvenirs were very simple - gingerbread, nuts, sweets and enamel mugs with the imperial monogram. In total, 400 thousand gift sets were prepared, and there were many more people willing to receive them.
The field area was about 1 square. km, on the outskirts they set up tents in which they planned to distribute gifts. The tents were located very poorly - all in one place. In front of them remained a narrow area, separated from the field by a deep ditch, which became an insurmountable obstacle for many. The organization of the holiday did not take the necessary precautions to avoid crowds. It was expected that people, in turn, would begin to receive souvenirs from 10:00 and at 14:00, by the time the king arrived, all the goods would gradually be distributed.
But already at dawn people began to attack the tents. Frightened artel workers threw bags into the crowd to quickly distribute all the goods. In the ensuing panic and crush, someone fell to the ground and was immediately trampled, someone suffocated from the onslaught of the maddened crowd. Many fell into ditches and trenches, from where it was no longer possible to rise.
The events on Khodynka were reported to the Moscow authorities, and infantry and Cossack units raised on alarm were urgently sent there, but they could no longer help. In a terrible crush, hundreds of people were trampled in just 20 minutes; the number of deaths was, according to various sources, from 1300 to 1900 people, and the same number were injured of varying degrees of severity.
Despite the tragedy, the celebrations were not cancelled. By 14:00 the crowd was dispersed, and the planned events went on as usual. In the evening they continued in the Kremlin, then a ball took place at the French embassy. And although the emperor was not to blame for the incident, many accused him of not reacting to the incident in a timely manner.
120 years ago, on May 30, 1896, in Moscow, during the celebration of the accession of Nicholas II, a stampede occurred on the Khodynka field, which became known as the Khodynka disaster. The exact number of victims is unknown. According to one version, 1,389 people died on the field, and about 1,500 were injured. Public opinion blamed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who was the organizer of the event, for everything; he received the nickname “Prince Khodynsky.” Only a few minor officials were “punished”, including the Moscow Chief of Police A. Vlasovsky and his assistant - they were sent into retirement.
Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III, was born on May 6, 1868 in St. Petersburg. The heir received his education at home: he was given lectures on the course at the gymnasium, then at the Faculty of Law and the Academy of the General Staff. Nikolai was fluent in three languages - English, German and French. The political views of the future emperor were formed under the influence of the traditionalist, Chief Prosecutor of the Senate K. Pobedonostsev. But in the future his policies will be contradictory - from conservatism to liberal modernization. From the age of 13, Nikolai kept a diary and carefully filled it out until his death, without missing almost a single day in the entries.
For more than a year (with interruptions), the prince underwent military practice in the army. Later he rose to the rank of colonel. Nikolai remained in this military rank until the end of his life - after the death of his father, no one could assign him the rank of general. To supplement his education, Alexander sent his heir on a trip around the world: Greece, Egypt, India, China, Japan and other countries. In Japan they made an attempt on his life and almost killed him.
However, the education and preparation of the heir was still far from complete; there was no experience in management when Alexander III died. It was believed that the prince still had a lot of time under the “wing” of the king, since Alexander was in the prime of his life and had great health. Therefore, the untimely death of the 49-year-old sovereign shocked the whole country and his son, becoming a complete surprise for him. On the day of his parent’s death, Nikolai wrote in his diary: “October 20th. Thursday. My God, my God, what a day. The Lord called back our adored, dear, beloved Pope. My head is spinning, I don’t want to believe - the terrible reality seems so implausible... Lord, help us in these difficult days! Poor dear Mom!... I felt like I was dead...” Thus, on October 20, 1894, Nikolai Alexandrovich actually became the new tsar of the Romanov dynasty. However, the coronation celebrations on the occasion of long mourning were postponed; they took place only a year and a half later, in the spring of 1896.
Preparation of celebrations and their beginning
The decision about his own coronation was made by Nicholas on March 8, 1895. It was decided to hold the main celebrations according to tradition in Moscow from May 6 to May 26, 1896. Since the accession of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin remained the permanent place of this sacred rite, even after the capital was moved to St. Petersburg. The Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and the Minister of the Imperial Court, Count I. I. Vorontsov-Dashkov, were responsible for the celebrations. The Supreme Marshal was Count K.I. Palen, the Supreme Master of Ceremonies was Prince A.S. Dolgorukov. A coronation detachment was formed consisting of 82 battalions, 36 squadrons, 9 hundreds and 26 batteries - under the main command of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, under whom a special headquarters was formed headed by Lieutenant General N. I. Bobrikov.
These May weeks became the central event not only in Russian, but also in European life. The most eminent guests arrived in the ancient capital of Rus': the entire European elite, from titled nobility to official and other representatives of countries. The number of representatives of the East increased, there were representatives from the eastern patriarchates. For the first time, representatives of the Vatican and the Anglican Church were present at the celebrations. In Paris, Berlin and Sofia, friendly greetings and toasts were heard in honor of Russia and its young emperor. A brilliant military parade was even organized in Berlin, accompanied by the Russian anthem, and Emperor Wilhelm, who had the gift of an orator, made a heartfelt speech.
Every day, trains brought thousands of people from all over the vast empire. Delegations came from Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Far East, from Cossack troops, etc. There were a lot of representatives of the northern capital. A separate “detachment” consisted of journalists, reporters, photographers, even artists, as well as representatives of various “free professions” who came not only from all over Russia, but from all over the world. The upcoming celebrations required the efforts of many representatives of various professions: carpenters, diggers, painters, plasterers, electricians, engineers, janitors, firefighters and police officers, etc. worked tirelessly. Moscow restaurants, taverns and theaters were filled to capacity these days. Tverskoy Boulevard was so clogged that, according to eyewitnesses, “you had to wait for hours to cross from one side to the other. Hundreds of magnificent carriages, carriages, landaulets and others pulled in lines along the boulevards.” The main street of Moscow, Tverskaya, has been transformed, prepared for the majestic procession of the imperial cortege. It was decorated with all kinds of decorative structures. Masts, arches, obelisks, columns, and pavilions were erected along the entire route. Flags were raised everywhere, houses were decorated with beautiful fabrics and carpets, entwined with garlands of greenery and flowers, in which hundreds and thousands of electric light bulbs were installed. Tribunes for guests were built on Red Square.
Work was in full swing on the Khodynskoe field, where on May 18 (30) a folk festival was planned with the distribution of memorable royal gifts and treats. The holiday was supposed to follow the same scenario as the coronation of Alexander III in 1883. Then about 200 thousand people came to the holiday, they were all fed and given gifts. The Khodynskoye field was large (about 1 square kilometer), but next to it there was a ravine, and on the field itself there were many gullies and holes, which were hastily covered with boards and sprinkled with sand. Having previously served as a training ground for the troops of the Moscow garrison, Khodynskoye Field has not yet been used for public festivities. Temporary “theatres”, stages, booths, and shops were erected along its perimeter. Smooth pillars for the dodgers were dug into the ground, and prizes were hung on them: from beautiful boots to Tula samovars. Among the buildings were 20 wooden barracks filled with barrels of alcohol for the free distribution of vodka and beer and 150 stalls for the distribution of royal gifts. Gift bags for those times (and even now) were rich: commemorative earthenware mugs with a portrait of the Tsar, a bun, gingerbread, sausage, a bag of sweets, a bright cotton scarf with a portrait of the imperial couple. In addition, it was planned to scatter small coins with a commemorative inscription among the crowd.
Sovereign Nicholas with his wife and retinue left the capital on May 5 and on May 6 arrived at the Smolensky station in Moscow. According to the old tradition, the sovereign spent three days before entering Moscow in the Petrovsky Palace in Petrovsky Park. On May 7, a ceremonial reception was held at the Petrovsky Palace for the Bukhara Emir and the Khan of Khiva. On May 8, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna arrived at the Smolensky station, who was met by the royal couple in front of a huge crowd of people. In the evening of the same day, a serenade was arranged at the Petrovsky Palace, performed by 1,200 people, among whom were the choirs of the Imperial Russian Opera, students of the conservatory, members of the Russian choral society, etc.
Emperor Nicholas (on a white horse), accompanied by his retinue, marches in front of the stands from the Triumphal Gate along Tverskaya Street on the day of the ceremonial entry into Moscow
On May 9 (21), the ceremonial royal entry into the Kremlin took place. From Petrovsky Park, past the Triumphal Gate, Strastnoy Monastery, along the entire Tverskaya Street, the royal train was supposed to travel to the Kremlin. These few kilometers were filled with people already in the morning. Petrovsky Park took on the appearance of a huge camp, where groups of people who came from all over Moscow spent the night under every tree. By 12 o'clock all the lanes leading to Tverskaya were roped off and crowded with people. The troops stood in rows on the sides of the street. It was a brilliant spectacle: a mass of people, troops, beautiful carriages, generals, foreign nobility and envoys, all in ceremonial uniforms or suits, many beautiful ladies of high society in elegant outfits.
At 12 o'clock, nine cannon salvoes announced the start of the ceremony. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and his retinue left the Kremlin to meet the Tsar. At half past three, guns and the ringing of bells from all Moscow churches notified that the ceremonial entry had begun. And only about five o’clock the lead platoon of mounted gendarmes appeared, followed by His Majesty’s convoy, etc. They transported senators in gilded carriages, followed by “people of various ranks”, and passed by fast walkers, araps, cavalry guards, representatives of the peoples of Central Asia on beautiful horses. Again the cavalry guards and only then the king on a white Arabian horse. He drove slowly, bowed to the people, was excited and pale. When the Tsar proceeded through the Spassky Gate to the Kremlin, the people began to disperse. At 9 o'clock the illumination was lit. For that time it was a fairy tale; people walked enthusiastically among the city sparkling with millions of lights.
Illumination in the Kremlin on the occasion of the holiday
Day of sacred wedding and anointing to the kingdom
May 14 (26) was the day of the sacred coronation. From early morning all the central streets of Moscow were packed with people. At about 9 o'clock. 30 min. The procession began, cavalry guards, courtiers, state dignitaries, representatives of volosts, cities, zemstvos, nobility, merchants, and professors of Moscow University descended. Finally, with deafening shouts of “hurray” from the hundred thousand masses and the sounds of “God Save the Tsar” performed by the court orchestra, the Tsar and Tsarina appeared. They followed to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
In an instant there was silence. At 10 o'clock the sacred rite began, the solemn rite of wedding and anointing to the kingdom, which was performed by the first member of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Palladius of St. Petersburg, with the participation of Metropolitan Ioannikis of Kyiv and Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow. Also present at the ceremony were many Russian and Greek bishops. In a loud, clear voice, the tsar pronounced the symbol of faith, after which he placed a large crown on himself and a small crown on Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Then the full imperial title was read out, fireworks rang out and congratulations began. The king, who knelt down and said the appropriate prayer, was anointed and received communion.
The ceremony of Nicholas II repeated the established tradition in its main details, although each king could make some changes. Thus, Alexander I and Nicholas I did not wear “dalmatik” - the ancient clothing of the Byzantine basileus. And Nicholas II appeared not in a colonel’s uniform, but in a majestic ermine robe. Nicholas's thirst for Moscow antiquity appeared already at the beginning of his reign and manifested itself in the resumption of ancient Moscow customs. In particular, churches in the Moscow style began to be built in St. Petersburg and abroad; after more than half a century, the royal family celebrated Easter holidays in Moscow, etc.
The sacred rite, in fact, was carried out by the entire people. “Everything that happened in the Assumption Cathedral,” the chronicle reported, “like the chatter of the heart, was heard throughout this vast crowd and, like a beating pulse, was reflected in its most distant rows. Here is the Tsar, kneeling, praying, pronouncing the holy, great words of the established prayer, filled with such deep meaning. Everyone in the cathedral is standing, only the Emperor is on his knees. There is a crowd in the squares, but how everyone has become quiet at once, what reverent silence all around, what a prayerful expression on their faces! But then the Emperor stood up. The Metropolitan also falls to his knees, followed by the entire clergy, the entire church, and behind the church the entire people covering the Kremlin squares and even standing behind the Kremlin. Now those wanderers with their knapsacks are down, and everyone is on their knees. Only one King stands before his throne, in all the greatness of his dignity, among the people fervently praying for Him.”
And finally, the people greeted the Tsar with enthusiastic shouts of “hurray,” who walked into the Kremlin Palace and bowed to everyone present from the Red Porch. The holiday on this day ended with a traditional lunch in the Palace of Facets, the walls of which were re-painted under Alexander III and acquired the appearance they had during Muscovite Rus'. Unfortunately, three days later the celebrations that began so magnificently ended in tragedy.
The imperial couple at the foot of the Red Porch of the Chamber of Facets on the day of coronation
Solemn procession to the Assumption Cathedral
The Emperor emerges from the southern gate of the Assumption Cathedral onto Cathedral Square after the completion of the coronation ceremony
The ceremonial procession of Nicholas (under the canopy) after the coronation ceremony
Khodynka disaster
The start of the festivities was scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 18 (30). The program of the celebration included: distribution of royal gifts, prepared in the amount of 400 thousand pieces, to everyone; at 11-12 o’clock musical and theatrical performances were to begin (scenes from “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, “The Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Ermak Timofeevich” and circus programs of trained animals were to be shown on the stage); at 14:00 the “highest exit” to the balcony of the imperial pavilion was expected.
And the expected gifts, and spectacles unprecedented for ordinary people, as well as the desire to see with their own eyes the “living king” and at least once in their lives to take part in such a wonderful action forced huge masses of people to head to Khodynka. Thus, the artisan Vasily Krasnov expressed the general motive of the people: “Waiting for the morning to go to ten o’clock, when the distribution of gifts and mugs “as a keepsake” was scheduled, seemed simply stupid to me. There are so many people that there will be nothing left when I come tomorrow. Will I still live to see another coronation? ... It seemed shameful to me, a native Muscovite, to be left without “memory” of such a celebration: what kind of seeding in the field am I? The mugs, they say, are very beautiful and “eternal”…”
In addition, due to the carelessness of the authorities, the place for the celebrations was chosen extremely poorly. The Khodynskoe field, dotted with deep ditches, holes, trenches, entirely parapets and abandoned wells, was convenient for military exercises, and not for a holiday with crowds of thousands. Moreover, before the holiday, he did not take emergency measures to improve the field, limiting himself to cosmetic improvements. The weather was excellent and the “prudent” Moscow people decided to spend the night on Khodynskoye Field in order to be the first to get to the holiday. It was a moonless night, but people kept coming, and, not seeing the road, even then they began to fall into holes and ravines. A terrible crush formed.
The well-known reporter, correspondent for the newspaper “Russkie Vedomosti” V. A. Gilyarovsky, who was the only journalist who spent the night on the field, recalled: “Steam began to rise above the million-strong crowd, similar to swamp fog... The crush was terrible. Many became ill, some lost consciousness, unable to get out or even fall: deprived of feelings, with their eyes closed, squeezed as if in a vice, they swayed along with the mass. The tall, handsome old man standing next to me had not breathed for a long time: he suffocated silently, died without a sound, and his cold corpse swayed with us. Someone was vomiting next to me. He couldn’t even lower his head...”
By morning, at least half a million people had gathered between the city border and the buffets. The thin line of several hundred Cossacks and police sent “to maintain order” felt that they could not cope with the situation. The rumor that the bartenders were giving gifts to “their own” finally brought the situation out of control. People rushed to the barracks. Some died in a stampede, others fell into holes under collapsed decking, others were injured in fights for gifts, etc. According to official statistics, 2,690 people were injured in this “regrettable incident,” of which 1,389 died. The true number of those who received various injuries, bruises, and mutilations is not known. Already in the morning, all Moscow fire brigades were engaged in eliminating the terrible incident, transporting the dead and wounded convoy after convoy. Seasoned policemen, firefighters and doctors were horrified by the sight of the victims.
Nicholas was faced with a difficult question: to conduct the celebrations according to the planned scenario or to stop the fun and, on the occasion of a tragedy, turn the holiday into a sad, memorial celebration. “The crowd, who spent the night on the Khodynskoye field waiting for the start of the distribution of lunch and mugs,” Nikolai noted in his diary, “pressed against the buildings, and then there was a stampede, and, horribly, about one thousand three hundred people were trampled. I found out about this at ten and a half o’clock... This news left a disgusting impression.” However, the “disgusting impression” did not force Nikolai to stop the holiday, for which many guests came from all over the world, and large sums were spent.
They pretended that nothing special had happened. The bodies were cleaned up, everything was disguised and smoothed over. The celebration over the corpses, as Gilyarovsky put it, went on as usual. A mass of musicians performed the concert under the baton of the famous conductor Safonov. At 2 p.m. 5 minutes. The imperial couple appeared on the balcony of the royal pavilion. On the roof of a specially built building, the imperial standard soared and fireworks went off. Foot and horse troops marched in front of the balcony. Then, in the Petrovsky Palace, in front of which deputations from peasants and Warsaw nobles were received, a dinner was held for the Moscow nobility and volost elders. Nicholas uttered lofty words about the welfare of the people. In the evening, the Emperor and Empress went to a pre-planned ball hosted by the French ambassador, Count Montebello, who and his wife were in great favor with high society. Many expected that the dinner would take place without the imperial couple, and Nicholas was advised not to come here. However, Nikolai did not agree, saying that, although the catastrophe is the greatest misfortune, it should not overshadow the holiday. At the same time, some of the guests who did not make it to the embassy admired the ceremonial performance at the Bolshoi Theater.
A day later, an equally luxurious and grandiose ball took place, given by the young tsar’s uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and his wife, the elder sister of the Empress Elizaveta Feodorovna. The continuously ongoing holidays in Moscow ended on May 26 with the publication of the Supreme Manifesto of Nicholas II, which contained assurances of the inextricable connection between the Tsar and the people and his readiness to serve for the benefit of his beloved Fatherland.
Nevertheless, in Russia and abroad, despite the beauty and luxury of the celebrations, some unpleasant aftertaste remained. Neither the king nor his relatives observed even the appearance of decency. For example, the Tsar’s uncle, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, organized, on the day of the funeral of the victims of Khodynka at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, in his shooting range near it, shooting “at flying pigeons” for distinguished guests. On this occasion, Pierre Allheim noted: “... at a time when all the people were crying, a motley cortege of old Europe passed by. Europe of perfumed, decaying, moribund Europe... and soon gunshots began to crackle.”
The imperial family made donations to the victims in the amount of 90 thousand rubles (despite the fact that about 100 million rubles were spent on the coronation), port and wine were sent to hospitals for the wounded (apparently from the remains of feasts), the sovereign himself visited hospitals and attended funeral service, but the reputation of the autocracy was undermined. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was nicknamed “Prince Khodynsky” (he died from a revolutionary bomb in 1905), and Nicholas - “Bloody” (he and his family were executed in 1918).
The Khodynka disaster acquired symbolic significance and became a kind of warning for Nicholas. From that moment on, a chain of catastrophes began, which had the bloody overtones of Khodynka, which ultimately led to the geopolitical catastrophe of 1917, when the empire collapsed, autocracy and Russian civilization was on the verge of destruction. Nicholas II was unable to begin the process of modernizing the empire, its radical reform “from above.” The coronation showed a deep split in society into a pro-Western “elite,” for whom affairs and connections with Europe were closer to people’s suffering and problems, and the common people. Taking into account other contradictions and problems, this led to the disaster of 1917, when the degraded elite died or fled (a small part of the military, managerial and scientific-technical personnel took part in the creation of the Soviet project), and the people, under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, created a new project, which saved civilization and the Russian superethnos from occupation and death.
During the Khodynka disaster, the inability of Nikolai Alexandrovich, a generally intelligent person, to subtly and sensitively respond to changing situations and adjust his own actions and the actions of the authorities in the right direction was clearly demonstrated. All this ultimately led the empire to disaster, since it was no longer possible to live in the old way. The coronation celebrations of 1896, which began for health and ended for peace, symbolically stretched for two decades for Russia. Nicholas ascended the throne as a young man full of energy, in a relatively calm time, greeted with the hopes and sympathies of wide sections of the population. And he ended his reign with a virtually destroyed empire, a bleeding army and with the people turning away from the king.
Immediately after the tragedy, various versions of what happened appeared in society, the names of the culprits were named, among whom were the Governor General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and Chief of Police Colonel Vlasovsky, and Nicholas II himself, nicknamed “Bloody.” Some branded the officials slobs, others tried to prove that the disaster on the Khodynskoye Field was a planned action, a trap for the common people. Thus, opponents of the monarchy had another argument against autocracy. Over the years, “Khodynka” has become overgrown with myths. It is all the more interesting to figure out what really happened in those distant May days.
Nicholas II ascended the throne back in 1894, after the death of his father Alexander III. Urgent matters, state and personal (the wedding with his beloved bride Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, Alexandra Fedorovna in Orthodoxy), forced the emperor to postpone the coronation for a year and a half. All this time, a special commission carefully developed a plan for the celebrations, for which 60 million rubles were allocated. The two holiday weeks included numerous concerts, banquets, and balls. They decorated everything they could, even the bell tower of Ivan the Great and its crosses were hung with electric lights. One of the main events included a folk festival on the specially decorated Khodynka field, with beer and honey, and royal gifts. About 400 thousand bundles of colored scarves were prepared, in each of which they wrapped a cod, half a pound of sausage, a handful. sweets and gingerbread, as well as an enamel mug with a royal monogram and gilding. It was the gifts that became a kind of “stumbling block” - unprecedented rumors were spread among the people about them. The farther from Moscow, the more significantly the cost of the gift increased: peasants from remote villages of the Moscow province were absolutely sure that the sovereign would grant each family a cow and a horse. However, giving half a pound of sausage for free also suited many people. Thus, only the lazy did not gather at Khodynskoye Field in those days.
The organizers only took care of setting up a festive area the size of a square kilometer, on which they placed swings, carousels, stalls with wine and beer, and tents with gifts. When drawing up the project for the festivities, they completely did not take into account that the Khodynskoye Field was the site of troops stationed in Moscow. Military maneuvers were held here and trenches and trenches were dug. The field was covered with ditches, abandoned wells and trenches from which sand was taken.
Mass celebrations were scheduled for May 18. However, already on the morning of May 17, the number of people heading to Khodynka was so large that in some places they clogged the streets, including pavements, and interfered with the passage of carriages. Every hour the influx increased - whole families walked, carried small children in their arms, joked, sang songs. By 10 o'clock in the evening the crowd of people began to assume alarming proportions; by 12 o'clock at night tens of thousands could be counted, and after 2-3 hours - hundreds of thousands. People continued to arrive. According to eyewitnesses, from 500 thousand to one and a half million people gathered in the fenced field: “A thick fog of steam stood above the masses of people, making it difficult to distinguish faces at close range. Those even in the front rows were sweating and looked exhausted.” The crush was so strong that after three o'clock in the morning many began to lose consciousness and die from suffocation. The victims and corpses closest to the passages were dragged by the soldiers into the inner square reserved for the festivities, and the dead, who were in the depths of the crowd, continued to “stand” in their places, to the horror of the neighbors, who vainly tried to move away from them, but, nevertheless, did not try leave the celebration. Screams and groans were heard everywhere, but people did not want to leave. 1800 police officers, naturally, could not influence the situation; they could only observe what was happening. The first corpses of forty-six victims transported around the city in open carts (there were no traces of blood or violence on them, since all died from suffocation) did not make an impression on the people: everyone wanted to attend the holiday, receive the royal gift, thinking little about their fate.
To restore order, at 5 o'clock in the morning they decided to start distributing gifts. The team members, fearing that they would be swept away along with their tents, began to throw packages into the crowd. Many rushed for bags, fell and immediately found themselves trampled into the ground by their neighbors pressing from all sides. Two hours later, a rumor spread that carriages with expensive gifts had arrived, their distribution began, but only those who were closer to the carriages would be able to receive the gifts. The crowd rushed to the edge of the field where unloading was taking place. Exhausted people fell into ditches and trenches, slid down embankments, and others walked along them. There is evidence that a relative of the manufacturer Morozov, who was in the crowd, when he was carried into the pits, began to shout that he would give 18 thousand to the one who saved him. But it was impossible to help him - everything depended on the spontaneous movement of a huge human flow.
Meanwhile, unsuspecting people arrived at the Khodynskoye field, many of whom immediately found their death here. So, workers from Prokhorov’s factory came across a well filled with logs and covered with sand. As they passed, they pushed the logs apart, some simply broke under the weight of people, and hundreds flew into this well. They were taken out of there for three weeks, but they could not get them all - the work became dangerous due to the corpse smell and the constant crumbling of the walls of the well. And many died without ever reaching the field where the celebration was supposed to take place. This is how Alexei Mikhailovich Ostroukhoe, a resident at the 2nd Moscow City Hospital, describes the sight that appeared before his eyes on May 18, 1896: “It’s a terrible picture, however. The grass is no longer visible; all knocked out, gray and dusty. Hundreds of thousands of feet trampled here. Some impatiently strove for gifts, others trampled, being squeezed from all sides, struggling from powerlessness, horror and pain. In some places, they sometimes squeezed so hard that their clothes tore. And here is the result - I didn’t see piles of bodies of a hundred, one and a half hundred, piles of less than 50-60 corpses. At first, the eye did not distinguish details, but saw only legs, arms, faces, the semblance of faces, but all in such a position that it was impossible to immediately orientate oneself whose hands it was or whose legs it was. The first impression is that these are all “Khitrovtsy” (wandering people from the Khitrov market - editor's note), everything is in dust, in tatters. Here is a black dress, but of a dirty gray color. Here you can see a woman’s bare, dirty thigh; there is underwear on the other leg; but it’s strange, good high boots are a luxury inaccessible to the “Khitrovtsy”... A thin gentleman is stretched out - his face is covered in dust, his beard is full of sand, there is a gold chain on his vest. It turned out that in the wild crush everything was torn; those who fell grabbed the trousers of those who stood, tore them off, and in the numb hands of the unfortunates only one piece remained. The fallen man was trampled into the ground. That is why many corpses took on the appearance of rags. But why did separate heaps form from the pile of corpses?.. It turned out that the distraught people, when the crush stopped, began to collect the corpses and dump them in heaps. At the same time, many died, since the one who came to life, being crushed by other corpses, had to suffocate. And that many were faint is evident from the fact that I, along with three firefighters, brought 28 people from this pile to their senses; there were rumors that the dead in the police corpses were coming to life...”
All day on May 18, carts loaded with corpses cruised around Moscow. Nicholas II learned about what had happened in the afternoon, but did nothing, deciding not to cancel the coronation celebrations. Following this, the emperor went to a ball hosted by the French ambassador Montebello. Naturally, he would not have been able to change anything, but his callous behavior was met by the public with obvious irritation. Nicholas II, whose official accession to the throne was marked by enormous human sacrifices, has since been popularly known as “The Bloody.” Only the next day, the emperor and his wife visited the victims in hospitals, and ordered each family that had lost a relative to be given a thousand rubles. But this did not make the king any kinder for the people. Nicholas II failed to take the right tone in relation to the tragedy. And in his diary on the eve of the New Year he ingenuously wrote: “God grant that the next year, 1897, will go as well as this one.” That is why he was blamed for the tragedy in the first place.
An investigative commission was created the next day. However, those responsible for the tragedy were never publicly named. But even the Dowager Empress demanded to punish the mayor of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, to whom the highest rescript declared gratitude “for the exemplary preparation and conduct of the celebrations,” while the Muscovites awarded him the title of “Prince Khodynsky.” And Chief Police Chief of Moscow Vlasovsky was sent to a well-deserved rest with a pension of 3 thousand rubles a year. This is how the sloppiness of those responsible was “punished.”
The shocked Russian public did not receive an answer from the investigative commission to the question: “Who is to blame?” Yes, and it is impossible to answer it unambiguously. Most likely, a fatal coincidence of circumstances is to blame for what happened. The choice of the location of the celebration was unsuccessful, the ways of approaching people to the place of events were not thought out, and this despite the fact that the organizers had already initially counted on 400 thousand people (the number of gifts). Too many people, attracted to the holiday by rumors, formed an uncontrollable crowd, which, as we know, acts according to its own laws (of which there are many examples in world history). It is also interesting that among those eager to receive free food and gifts were not only poor working people and peasants, but also fairly wealthy citizens. They could have done without the “goodies.” But we couldn’t resist the “free cheese in the mousetrap.” So the instinct of the crowd turned the festive celebration into a real tragedy. The shock of what happened was instantly reflected in Russian speech: for more than a hundred years, the word “hodynka” has been in use, included in dictionaries and explained as “a crush in a crowd, accompanied by injuries and casualties...” And there is still no reason to blame Nicholas II for everything. By the time the emperor stopped by Khodynskoe Field after the coronation and before the ball, everything had already been carefully cleaned, a crowd of dressed-up audiences crowded around, and a huge orchestra was performing a cantata in honor of his accession to the throne. “We looked at the pavilions, at the crowd surrounding the stage, the music played the anthem and “Glory” all the time. Actually, there was nothing there...”
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