Historical and political portrait of Alexander 1: a description and interesting facts

In this article, we will draw a political and historical portrait of Alexander 1, briefly, of course. The activities of the Emperor of Russia is rich in various facts, for the full coverage of which will need more than a dozen pages.

Early Ideas

Alexander Pavlovich was born on December 12, 1777. The upbringing of the heir to the throne was occupied by his grandmother Catherine II. She believed that she could grow an ideal emperor for Russia. The young man's teacher was a Swiss named Laharp. The Empress loved and spoiled her grandson. She married him early, at 16 years old. And his wife, Countess of Baden, was only 14. Despite their young age, they lived together, although the two children that Elizabeth gave birth (before the baptism of Louise) died in infancy.

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The political portrait of Alexander 1 will be complete, if not to mention that in his youth he hoped to create a humane society. He was close to the idea of abandoning the autocracy. In the French Revolution, he saw nothing wrong. His father was killed during the palace coup in 1801. Alexander was only 24 years old, but he already clearly saw the mistakes that must be avoided, so that he would not suffer the same sad fate.

Start of activity

Therefore, on ascension to the throne, he first returned the privileges to the nobility, which was abolished by Paul I. Namely: he permitted to travel abroad, amnestied the repressed, and lifted the ban on foreign literature in Russia. The portrait of Emperor Alexander 1 is supplemented by information that he cared not only about the nobility, but also about ordinary people, peasants. In 1803 he issued a decree according to which the peasant could become a free man if he paid a ransom to his master. Of course, if the landowner were against this, then the deal would not have taken place, but a certain chance to gain freedom from the serf appeared. This law was called "Decree on Free-Herders". During the reign of Alexander I, other schemes were developed, according to which the peasant could become a free man, but they were not realized. However, at that time ordinary people who were given a free one could have their own property.

There is no autocracy

During the reign of Alexander I, the government reform was carried out. After it, the decrees of the emperor could be abolished by a specially created body, which was called the Indispensable Council. This body was a legal counsel. It included young people who surrounded the emperor from his youth. Many of their ideas have never been implemented. When Alexander I ascended the throne, he began to think about how to retain his power. And he noticed that the reforms proposed by the Indispensable Council could lead to the fact that he would lose it under pressure from the upper class, to whose members they were not happy. The main member of the council was Mikhail Speransky. But the cautious emperor was forced to remove him from his post and send him to exile. As if emphasizing that he did not agree with his ideas, among them the equalization of the rights of nobles, peasants, burghers, workers and servants, the transformation of legislative and executive power.

Best the enemy of the good

However, some progressive ideas have been realized. For example, the Cabinet became the administrative body. It was formed after all the colleges were replaced by ministries. At the same time, the nobility's monopoly of ownership of the land collapsed. Now the land could be acquired by merchants and petty bourgeoises. At their sites, they engaged in economic activities, using wage labor. After Speransky, Arakcheev became an important man in the state. With his help, Alexander I began to implement the idea of creating military settlements. He dreamed of saving the state from the need to maintain an army. And in these settlements people would live who were engaged in agriculture and fed themselves and clothed themselves. However, the experience was not entirely successful. People protested against being military and farming at the same time. The uprisings were harshly suppressed by Arakcheyev. No matter how the people opposed the innovations, but by 1857, when the settlements were abolished, there were 800,000 soldiers in them.

Need to study

In the historical portrait of Alexander 1 it is necessary to add a few more bright colors. It's about education reform. Being himself a highly educated person, the emperor understood that the more educated people in Russia, the better for the country. Therefore, during his reign, many gymnasiums and colleges were opened. Five universities were also opened. Russia was divided into study districts, each of which had its own university.

Our victory

The political portrait of Alexander 1 will be incomplete, if not to say that it was during his reign, in 1812, that the war with France began. Under the leadership of the emperor, our country was able to defeat Napoleon, defend its borders. But the enemy was strong and could conquer all of Europe. Few people know that Napoleon asked the hands of Alexander I's sister - Anna Pavlovna, but he was refused. Another interesting fact is that Russia and France were originally allies. But they could not agree on who will own some land.

End of life

Gloomy colors in the portrait of Alexander 1 adds the story of his death. He died in Taganrog. According to one version, from typhoid fever, on the other - from inflammation of the brain. This happened in 1825. He was only 48 years old. This death was so ridiculous that the people came up with their own version. In accordance with it, the emperor did not die, but went to the people and lived as a hermit until his old age. About the old times can recall a coin with a portrait of Alexander 1, although during his lifetime he forbade minting his profile. But in the 19 century, still released a few such coins. A total of 30 were minted. In our days, one such coin, which depicts a portrait of Alexander 1, costs about 2 million rubles.

Successor

To whom did the power come after the death of Alexander I? He wanted his brother Constantine to become emperor after his death, but he renounced the throne. Therefore, in 1923, Alexander wrote a secret manifesto on the appointment of the emperor's second brother - Nicholas. But since no one knew about this, the Guard and Nikolai swore loyalty to Konstantin, which meant the appointment of the latter as emperor. However, the secret society of the Decembrists prepared an uprising in order to try to overthrow Nicholas, who allegedly illegally occupied the throne. At the same time, they wanted to abolish serfdom and kill the tsar, once and for all, ending the autocracy. However, they did not succeed. And Nicholas I ascended to the throne . But this is a completely different story ...