Successors of Alexander II

§ 171. Emperor Alexander III Alexandrovich (1881-1894)

Portrait of Emperor Alexander III

In particular, the following important events of the time of Emperor Alexander III should be noted.

1. With regard to estates a number of measures were taken to bring order to their frustrated situation. Nobility experienced a severe economic crisis after the peasant reform. His farm fell into disarray with the loss of free peasant labor. The lands left the hands of the nobles with considerable speed, and at the same time, with the sale of estates, the nobles themselves left the counties. By a number of measures, the government tried to support the declining class in every possible way. The nobles were granted predominance in the zemstvos (by means of a corresponding change in the order of the zemstvo elections). The post of "zemstvo district chiefs" was established in the districts. They replaced the justices of the peace and at the same time received great administrative power over peasant societies. Provided by law to local nobles, the position of the zemstvo chief was, of course, to raise the importance of the nobility in the counties. At the same time, the government came to the aid of the material needs of the nobility. A "noble land bank" was established to issue loans to nobles secured by their land on very favorable terms.

At the same time, the government made attempts to improve the material life. peasants ... In many places the peasant holdings were insufficient to provide for the increased peasant population. There was an urgent need for land. In view of this, a "peasant land bank" was established for the peasants, which issued loans to peasants for the purchase of land by purchase. Another means of combating land scarcity was the peasant resettlement to vacant lands in Siberia and Central Asia. The government tried to streamline and guide the resettlement movement; it came to the aid of the settlers, showing them land plots and facilitating the difficulties of their long journey. The lack of land drove the peasants from the villages to the cities and factories. The growth of factory production in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. led to the fact that in the cities and factory centers a crowded working class , torn off the ground and provided with nothing but factory labor. Relations between factory owners and workers sometimes escalated, leading to clashes and strikes. Power was made necessary to regulate these relations by law. Under Emperor Alexander III, not only began factory legislation, but also the post of factory inspectors was established to monitor factory procedures in order to impose discipline among the workers and protect their legitimate interests from the exploitation of the owners.

Reception of volost elders by Alexander III. Painting by I. Repin, 1885-1886

2. With regard to finance and state economy under Emperor Alexander III, important measures were taken. The financial position of Russia after the war of 1877-1878, due to various reasons (§163), was unsatisfactory. The rate of credit notes was low (reaching 60 kopecks per ruble or even less) and constantly fluctuated. Every year there were deficits in the budget. Emperor Alexander III resorted to extreme frugality and adopted a system of protective duties, highly taxing imported goods and encouraging Russian production. The finance ministers (N. Kh. Bunge, I.A. With its help, a reform of monetary circulation was prepared, which was already carried out during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. In the form of economic growth of the eastern outskirts and their closer connection with the state center, the construction of the great Siberian railway was undertaken, which connected European Russia with the Pacific Ocean, and the Trans-Caspian railways, which connected Central Asia with Russia.

Nikolai Khristoforovich Bunge, Minister of Finance during the reign of Alexander III. Portrait by I. Tyurin, 1887

3. Foreign policy Emperor Alexander III was distinguished by certainty and stability. Strictly protecting Russian national interests, he decisively avoided interfering in European affairs and always displayed an invariable peacefulness. At the first manifestations of dissatisfaction with the Russian protectorate on the part of the southern Slavs, Emperor Alexander III retreated from him and provided Bulgaria and Serbia with them. own forces... He did not maintain the old ties with the Prussian Hohenzollerns either, being very dissatisfied with the German policy at the Berlin Congress (§169). Founded in those years under the hegemony of Germany, its "triple alliance" with Austria and Italy was considered by Emperor Alexander III a threat to European peace and the interests of Russia and France. Therefore, he approached precisely with France and entered with her into a defensive alliance, which restored political equilibrium in Europe and for a long time became the bulwark of the European world. The constancy of the Russian sovereign in maintaining the common peace and the sincerity of his peacefulness gave him the name "peacemaker". During the entire reign of Alexander III, Russia had only one minor armed clash with the Afghans (1885) on the river. Kushk on the occasion of the annexation of the Merv oasis and the Pendé oasis to Russia. The defeat of the Afghan detachment by General Komarov did not cause any further complications either with Afghanistan or with its patroness England, and the disputed lands remained with Russia.

4. As a representative of a strictly national foreign policy, Emperor Alexander was also a bearer of Russian national idea ... He strove for a close unification of the foreign regions with the state center and for the possible Russification of foreigners. The unification policy especially strongly affected the Ostsee region. There, instead of the old German forms of government and self-government, state institutions with the Russian language were introduced; and the German university in the city of Yuryev (which was called Dorpat until 1893) was transformed into Russian. In the Polish provinces, steps were also taken to strengthen Russian influence. With regard to Finland, decisive measures were taken. During the reign of Emperor Alexander II, the Finns managed to achieve such forms of self-government that turned Finland from an autonomous Russian province into a special country, as it were. The Finnish population was allowed to have their own coins (stamps and pennies), their post office, their own customs system, their own railways, even their own army. There is no doubt that all these signs of internal independence and isolation should have instilled in the Finns a view of their homeland as a special state, located only in union with Russia. By the time of Emperor Alexander III, this look had already led to many inconveniences and misunderstandings between the government and the Finnish Sejm and the Senate. Not sympathizing with the Finnish isolation, the sovereign announced (1890) that the Grand Duchy of Finland was "the property and sovereign possession of the Russian Empire" and that it should be returned to closer union with other parts of the Russian state. In accordance with this principle, government control over the Finnish administration was strengthened and measures were outlined, and partly implemented, to limit Finnish autonomy.

CHAPTER ONE

Manifesto on the accession of the sovereign to the throne. - Assessment of the reign of Emperor Alexander III (V.O. Klyuchevsky, K.P. Pobedonostsev). - General situation in 1894 - Russian Empire. - Tsarist power. - Officialdom. - The tendencies of the ruling circles: "demophilic" and "aristocratic". - Foreign policy and the Franco-Russian union. - Army. - The fleet. - Local government. - Finland. - Printing and censorship. - Softness of laws and courts.

The role of Alexander III in Russian history

“God Almighty was pleased to interrupt in his inscrutable ways the precious life of our dearly beloved Parent, Sovereign Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich. A serious illness did not yield to either the treatment or the fertile climate of the Crimea, and on October 20, He died in Livadia, surrounded by His August Family, in the arms of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress and Ours.

Our grief cannot be expressed in words, but every Russian heart will understand it, and We believe that there will be no place in our vast State where hot tears would not be shed for the Tsar, who untimely departed into eternity and left his native land, which He loved with all His power. Russian soul and on whose welfare He placed all His thoughts, sparing neither His health nor His life. And not only in Russia, but far beyond its borders, they will never cease to honor the memory of the Tsar, who personified unshakable truth and peace, never violated during all of His reign ”.

These words begin the manifesto announcing to Russia the ascension of Emperor Nicholas II to the ancestral throne.

The reign of Emperor Alexander III, who received the name of the Tsar-Peacemaker, was not replete with external events, but it left a deep imprint on Russian and world life. During these thirteen years, many knots were tied - both in foreign and domestic politics - to untie or cut which his son and successor, Emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovich, had a chance.

Both friends and enemies of imperial Russia equally admit that Emperor Alexander III significantly increased the international weight of the Russian Empire, and within its borders he approved and exalted the importance of autocratic tsarist power. He took the Russian state ship on a different course than his father. He did not believe that the reforms of the 60s and 70s were an absolute blessing, but tried to introduce into them those amendments that, in his opinion, were necessary for the internal equilibrium of Russia.

After the era of great reforms, after the war of 1877-1878, this enormous exertion of Russian forces in the interests of the Balkan Slavs, Russia in any case needed a respite. It was necessary to master, "digest" the changes that had taken place.

Estimates of the reign of Alexander III

In the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities at Moscow University, the famous Russian historian, prof. V.O. Klyuchevsky, in his speech in memory of Emperor Alexander III, a week after his death, said:

“During the reign of Emperor Alexander III, before the eyes of one generation, we peacefully carried out in our state system a number of deep reforms in the spirit of Christian rules, therefore, in the spirit of European principles - such reforms that cost Western Europe centuries and often violent efforts, - and this Europe continued to see in us representatives of Mongolian inertia, some kind of imposed adopters of the cultural world ...

Thirteen years of the reign of Emperor Alexander III have passed, and the more hastily the hand of death hastened to close His eyes, the wider and more amazed Europe's eyes opened to the world significance of this short reign. Finally, the stones cried out, the organs of public opinion in Europe began to speak the truth about Russia, and they spoke the more sincerely, the more unusual it was for them to say it. It turned out, according to these admissions, that European civilization had insufficiently and inadvertently ensured its peaceful development, for its own safety it was placed in a powder magazine, that the burning fuse more than once approached this dangerous defensive warehouse from different sides, and each time the caring and patient hand of the Russian Tsar quietly and cautiously removed him ... Europe recognized that the Tsar of the Russian people were the sovereign of the international world, and with this recognition confirmed the historical vocation of Russia, for in Russia, according to its political organization, the Tsar's will expresses the thought of His people, and the will of the people becomes the thought of his Tsar. Europe recognized that the country, which it considered a threat to its civilization, stood and stands on its guard, understands, appreciates and protects its foundations no worse than its creators; she recognized Russia as an organically necessary part of her cultural composition, a blood, natural member of the family of her peoples ...

Science will give Emperor Alexander III a proper place not only in the history of Russia and all of Europe, but also in Russian historiography, will say that He won a victory in the area where these victories are most difficult to get, defeated the prejudice of peoples and thereby contributed to their rapprochement, conquered the public conscience in the name of peace and truth, increased the amount of goodness in the moral circulation of mankind, encouraged and raised Russian historical thought, Russian national consciousness, and did all this so quietly and silently that only now, when He is no longer there, Europe understood what He was for her. "

If Professor Klyuchevsky, a Russian intellectual and rather a "Westernizer", dwells more on the foreign policy of Emperor Alexander III and, apparently, hints at a rapprochement with France, the closest collaborator of the late monarch, K. P . Pobedonostsev:

“Everyone knew that he would not yield to the Russian, by the history of the bequeathed interest either in Poland or in other outskirts of a foreign element, that he deeply kept in his soul the same faith and love for the Orthodox Church with the people; finally, that he, along with the people, believes in the unshakable significance of autocratic power in Russia and will not allow for it, in the specter of freedom, a disastrous confusion of languages ​​and opinions. "

At a meeting of the French Senate, its chairman Challmel-Lacourt said in his speech (November 5, 1894) that the Russian people are experiencing “the grief of the loss of a ruler who is immensely devoted to his future, his greatness, his security; the Russian nation, under the just and peaceful rule of its emperor, enjoyed security, this supreme good of society and an instrument of true greatness. "

Most of the French press spoke of the late Russian tsar in the same tones: “He leaves Russia greater than he received it,” wrote the Journal des Debats; a "Revue des deux Mondes" echoed the words of V.O. Klyuchevsky: “This grief was our grief as well; for us it has acquired a national character; but other nations experienced almost the same feelings ... Europe felt that it was losing an arbiter who was always guided by the idea of ​​justice. "

International position towards the end of the reign of Alexander III

1894 - like the 80s and 90s in general. - refers to that long period of "calm before the storm", the longest period without major wars in modern and medieval history. This time left an imprint on everyone who grew up during these quiet years. By the end of the 19th century, the growth of material well-being and external education proceeded with an increasing acceleration. Technology went from invention to invention, science - from discovery to discovery. Railways, steamers have already made possible "travel around the world in 80 days"; Following the telegraph wires, there were already strands of telephone wires stretching all over the world. Electric lighting quickly replaced gas lighting. But in 1894, the clumsy early automobiles could not yet compete with the sleek sidecars and carriages; "Live photography" was still at the stage of preliminary experiments; managed Balloons were only a dream; devices heavier than air have not yet been heard. Radio was not invented, and radium was not discovered yet ...

In almost all states, the same political process was observed: the growth of the influence of parliament, the expansion of suffrage, the transfer of power to more left circles. In fact, no one in the West waged a real struggle against this trend, which seemed at that time to be a spontaneous course of "historical progress". The conservatives, themselves gradually fading and "left", were content with the fact that from time to time they slowed down the pace of this development - in 1894, in most countries, it was just such a slowdown.

In France, after the assassination of President Carnot and a series of senseless anarchist attempts, up to the bomb in the Chamber of Deputies and the notorious Panama scandal, which marked the beginning of the 90s. in this country, there was just a slight shift to the right. The president was Casimir Perier, a right-wing Republican inclined to expand presidential power; ruled by the ministry of Dupuis, based on a moderate majority. But already at that time those who were in the extreme left of the National Assembly in the 70s were considered "moderate"; just shortly before - about 1890 - under the influence of the advice of Pope Leo XIII, a significant part of French Catholics joined the ranks of the republicans.

In Germany, after the resignation of Bismarck, the influence of the Reichstag increased significantly; Social Democracy, gradually conquering all the big cities, became the largest German party. The Conservatives, for their part, relying on the Prussian Landtag, waged a stubborn struggle against the economic policy of Wilhelm II. For lack of energy in the struggle against the socialists, Chancellor Caprivi was replaced in October 1894 by the aged Prince Hohenlohe; but there was no noticeable change in course.

In England in 1894, the liberals were defeated on the Irish question, and Lord Rosebury's "interim" ministry was in power, which soon gave way to the cabinet of Lord Salisbury, which relied on conservatives and unionist liberals (opponents of Irish self-government). These unionists, led by Chamberlain, played such a prominent role in the government majority that soon the name of the unionists supplanted the name of the Conservatives for about twenty years. Unlike Germany, the British labor movement was not yet political in nature, and powerful trade unions, already staging very impressive strikes, were content with economic and professional achievements for the time being - meeting in this more support from conservatives than from liberals. These correlations explain the phrase of a prominent English figure of that time: "We are all now socialists" ...

In Austria and Hungary, parliamentary rule was more pronounced than in Germany: cabinets that did not have a majority had to resign. On the other hand, the parliament itself opposed the expansion of suffrage: the ruling parties were afraid of losing power. By the time of the death of Emperor Alexander III in Vienna, the short-lived ministry of Prince. Windischgrez, who relied on very heterogeneous elements: on the German liberals, on the Poles and on the clerics.

In Italy, after a period of domination of the left with Giolitti at the head, after the scandal with the appointment of the thief bank director Tanlongo to the Senate, at the beginning of 1894 the old politician Crispi came to power again, one of the authors of the Triple Alliance, who in special Italian parliamentary conditions played the role conservative.

Although the Second International was already founded in 1889 and socialist ideas were becoming more widespread in Europe, by 1894 the socialists still did not represent a serious political force in any country except Germany (where in 1893 they already held 44 deputies ). But the parliamentary system in many small states - Belgium, Scandinavian, Balkan countries - has received an even more straightforward application than that of the great powers. Apart from Russia, only Turkey and Montenegro from the European countries did not have parliaments at all at that time.

The era of calm was at the same time the era of the armed peace. All the great powers, and after them the small ones, increased and improved their weapons. Europe, as V. O. Klyuchevsky put it, “for its own safety, was placed in a powder magazine.” Compulsory military service was carried out in all the main states of Europe, except for island England. The technology of war did not lag behind the technology of peace in its development.

Mutual mistrust between states was great. The triple alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy seemed to be the most powerful combination of powers. But its members did not fully rely on each other. Germany until 1890 still considered it necessary to "play it safe" by a secret treaty with Russia - and Bismarck saw a fatal mistake in the fact that Emperor Wilhelm II did not renew this treaty - and France entered into negotiations with Italy more than once, trying to tear it away from the Triple union. England was in "splendid isolation." France harbored the unhealed wound of its defeat in 1870-1871. and was ready to join any enemy of Germany. The thirst for revenge was clearly manifested in the late 80s. successes of boulangism.

The partition of Africa was roughly completed by 1890, at least along the coast. Inside the mainland, where there were still unexplored areas, enterprising colonizers from everywhere strove to be the first to raise the flag of their country and secure "no-man's land" to it. Only on the middle reaches of the Nile, the British were still blocked by the state of the Mahdists, fanatical Muslims, who in 1885 defeated and killed the English General Gordon during the capture of Khartoum. And the mountainous Abyssinia, on which the Italians began their campaign, prepared for them an unexpectedly powerful rebuff.

All these were just islands - Africa, like Australia and America before, was becoming the property of the white race. Until the end of the 19th century, the prevailing belief was that Asia would suffer the same fate. England and Russia have already watched each other through the thin barrier of still weak independent states, Persia, Afghanistan, semi-independent Tibet. The closest came to the war during the entire reign of Emperor Alexander III, when in 1885 General Komarov defeated the Afghans near Kushka: the British were vigilantly watching the "gate to India"! However, the acute conflict was resolved by the agreement of 1887.

But in the Far East, where back in the 1850s. The Russians occupied the Ussuri region, which belonged to China, without a struggle, the dormant peoples just began to stir. When Emperor Alexander III was dying, cannons rattled on the shores of the Yellow Sea: little Japan, having mastered European technology, won its first victories over the huge, but still motionless China.

Russia towards the end of the reign of Alexander III

Portrait of Alexander III. Artist A. Sokolov, 1883

In this world, the Russian Empire, with its area of ​​twenty million square miles, with a population of 125 million, occupied a prominent position. Since the Seven Years' War, and especially since 1812, Russia's military power has been highly valued in Western Europe. The Crimean War showed the limits of this power, but at the same time confirmed its strength. Since then, the era of reforms, including in the military sphere, has created new conditions for the development of Russian power.

At this time, they began to seriously study Russia. A. Leroy-Beaulieu on French, Sir D. Mackenzie-Wallace published extensive studies on Russia in English in the 1870s and 1880s. The structure of the Russian Empire was very different from Western European conditions, but foreigners then already began to understand that it comes about dissimilar, and not about "backward" state forms.

“The Russian Empire is governed on the exact basis of laws, issued by the Supreme Power. The emperor is an autocratic and unlimited monarch ”- read the Russian basic laws. The tsar belonged to all the fullness of the legislative and executive powers. This did not mean arbitrariness: there were precise answers to all essential questions in the laws, which were subject to execution until they were repealed. In the field of civil rights, the Russian tsarist government generally avoided a sharp breakdown, took into account the legal skills of the population and acquired rights and left in action on the territory of the empire both the Napoleon's code (in the Kingdom of Poland), the Lithuanian Statute (in the Poltava and Chernigov provinces), and Magdeburg law (in the Baltic region), and customary law among the peasants, and all kinds of local laws and customs in the Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia.

But the right to legislate was inseparably owned by the tsar. There was a Council of State of the highest dignitaries appointed there by the sovereign; he discussed draft laws; but the king could agree, at his discretion, both with the opinion of the majority and with the opinion of the minority - or reject both. Usually, special commissions and meetings were formed to carry out important events; but they had, of course, only a preparatory meaning.

In the area of ​​executive power, the fullness of the royal power was also unlimited. Louis XIV, after the death of Cardinal Mazarin, announced that from now on he wanted to be his first minister himself. But all Russian monarchs were in the same position. Russia did not know the position of the first minister. The title of chancellor, sometimes conferred on the minister of foreign affairs (the last chancellor was the Most High Prince A.M. Gorchakov, who died in 1883), gave him the rank of 1st class according to the table of ranks, but did not mean any superiority over the other ministers. There was a Committee of Ministers, it had a permanent chairman (in 1894, the former Minister of Finance NH Bunge was still in it). But this Committee was, in essence, only a kind of interdepartmental meeting.

All ministers and chief managers of individual units had their own independent report from the sovereign. The sovereign was also directly subordinate to the governors-general, as well as the mayors of both capitals.

This did not mean that the sovereign was included in all the details of managing individual departments (although, for example, Emperor Alexander III was "his own minister of foreign affairs", to whom all "incoming" and "outgoing" were reported; NK Girs was, as it were, his "Assistant minister"). Individual ministers sometimes had great power and the opportunity for broad initiative. But they had them, because and so far the emperor trusted them.

To carry out the plans coming from above, Russia also had a large staff of officials. Emperor Nicholas I dropped the once ironic phrase that Russia is governed by 30,000 clerks. Complaints about "bureaucracy" and "mediastinum" were quite common in Russian society. It was customary to scold officials and grumble at them. Abroad, there was an idea of ​​almost universal bribery of Russian officials. He was often judged by the satyrs of Gogol or Shchedrin; but a caricature, even a successful one, cannot be considered a portrait. In some departments, such as the police, low salaries have indeed contributed to a fairly widespread use of bribes. Others, such as the finance ministry or the judiciary after the 1864 reform, enjoyed, on the contrary, a reputation for high integrity. It must be admitted, however, that one of the features that made Russia akin to the Eastern countries was the everyday condescending attitude towards many acts of dubious honesty; the fight against this phenomenon was not easy psychologically. Certain groups of the population, such as engineers, enjoyed an even worse reputation than officials - quite often, of course, undeserved.

But the government leaders were free from this ailment. Cases where ministers or other government officials were involved in abuses were the rarest sensational exceptions.

Be that as it may, the Russian administration, even in its most imperfect units, carried out, despite difficult conditions, the task assigned to it. The tsarist government had at its disposal an obedient and well-organized state apparatus, adapted to the diverse needs of the Russian Empire. This apparatus was created over the centuries - from the Moscow orders - and in many respects has reached high perfection.

But the Russian tsar was not only the head of state: he was at the same time the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which occupied the leading position in the country. This, of course, did not mean that the tsar had the right to touch upon church dogmas; the conciliar structure of the Orthodox Church excluded such an understanding of the rights of the tsar. But at the suggestion of the Holy Synod, the highest church collegium, the appointment of bishops was carried out by the tsar; and the replenishment of the Synod itself depended on him (in the same order). The link between church and state was the chief prosecutor of the Synod. For more than a quarter of a century, this position was held by K.P. Pobedonostsev, a man of outstanding intelligence and strong will, the teacher of two emperors - Alexander III and Nicholas II.

During the reign of Emperor Alexander III, the following main tendencies of power were manifested: not an indiscriminate negative, but in any case a critical attitude towards what was called "progress", and the desire to give Russia more internal unity by affirming the primacy of the Russian elements of the country. In addition, two currents appeared at the same time, far from similar, but, as it were, complementing each other. One that sets itself the goal of protecting the weak from the strong, preferring the broad masses of the people to the upper classes that have separated from them, with some egalitarian inclinations, in the terms of our time could be called "demophilic" or Christian-social. This is a trend, representatives of which were, along with others, the Minister of Justice Manasein (who resigned in 1894) and K.P. Another trend that found its expression in the Minister of Internal Affairs gr. DA Tolstoy, strove to strengthen the ruling classes, to establish a certain hierarchy in the state. The first trend, by the way, ardently defended the peasant community as a kind of Russian form of solving the social question.

The Russification policy met with more sympathy from the "demophilic" trend. On the contrary, a prominent representative of the second trend, the famous writer K.N. political nationalism is nothing else than the spread of cosmopolitan democratization, modified only in methods ”.

Of the prominent right-wing publicists of that time, M. H. Katkov adhered to the first trend, and to the second - kn. V.P. Meshchersky.

Emperor Alexander III himself, with his deeply Russian mentality, did not sympathize with Russification extremes and wrote expressively to K.P. Pobedonostsev (in 1886): “There are gentlemen who think that they are only Russians, and no one else. Do they no longer imagine that I am German or Chukhonets? It is easy for them with their fancy patriotism when they are not responsible for anything. I will not give offense to Russia. "

Foreign policy results of the reign of Alexander III

In foreign policy, the reign of Emperor Alexander III brought great changes. That closeness with Germany, or rather with Prussia, which remained a common feature of Russian politics with Catherine the Great and runs like a red thread through the reigns of Alexander I, Nicholas I and especially Alexander II, has been replaced by a noticeable cooling. It would hardly be correct, as is sometimes done, to attribute this development of events to the anti-German sentiments of Empress Maria Feodorovna, a Danish princess who married a Russian heir shortly after the Danish-Prussian war of 1864! It can only be said that political complications this time were not mitigated, as in previous reigns, by personal good relations and family ties of dynasties. The reasons were, of course, predominantly political.

Although Bismarck considered it possible to combine the Triple Alliance with friendly relations with Russia, the Austro-German-Italian alliance was, of course, at the heart of the chill between old friends. The Berlin Congress left bitterness in Russian public opinion. Anti-German notes began to sound at the top. Known harsh speech of the gene. Skobeleva against the Germans; Katkov in Moskovskiye Vedomosti led a campaign against them. By the mid-1980s, the tension began to be felt more strongly; Germany's seven-year military budget ("septtenat") was caused by the deterioration of relations with Russia. The German government closed the Berlin market for Russian securities.

Emperor Alexander III, like Bismarck, was seriously worried about this aggravation, and in 1887 he was imprisoned - for a three-year term - the so-called. reinsurance contract. It was a secret Russian-German agreement, according to which both countries promised each other benevolent neutrality in the event of an attack by any third country on one of them. This agreement constituted an essential reservation to the Act of the Triple Alliance. It meant that Germany would not support any anti-Russian action by Austria. Legally, these treaties were compatible, since the Triple Alliance provided only support if any of its participants were attacked (which gave Italy the opportunity in 1914 to declare neutrality without violating the union treaty).

But this reinsurance treaty was not renewed in 1890. Negotiations on it coincided with the moment of Bismarck's resignation. His successor, gen. Caprivi, with military straightforwardness, pointed out to William II that this treaty seemed disloyal to Austria. For his part, Emperor Alexander III, who had sympathy for Bismarck, did not seek to contact the new rulers of Germany.

After that, in the 90s, it came to the Russian-German customs war, which ended with a trade agreement on March 20, 1894, concluded with the close participation of the Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte. This treaty gave Russia - for a ten-year term - significant advantages.

Relations with Austria-Hungary had nothing to do with spoiling: since the time when Austria, saved from the Hungarian revolution by Emperor Nicholas I, “surprised the world with ingratitude” during the Crimean War, Russia and Austria collided along the entire Balkan front as Russia and England on the entire front of Asia.

England at that time still continued to see in the Russian Empire its main enemy and rival, "a huge glacier hanging over India," as Lord Beaconsfield (Disraeli) put it in the English parliament.

In the Balkans, Russia experienced in the 80s. grave disappointments. The liberation war of 1877-1878, which cost Russia so much blood and such financial turmoil, did not bring it immediate results. Austria actually took possession of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Russia was forced to admit this in order to avoid a new war. In Serbia, the Obrenovic dynasty, represented by the King of Milan, was in power, clearly gravitating towards Austria. About Bulgaria, even Bismarck said caustically in his memoirs: "The liberated peoples are not grateful, but pretentious." There it came down to the persecution of Russophile elements. The replacement of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, who became the head of the anti-Russian movements, by Ferdinand of Coburg did not improve Russian-Bulgarian relations. Only in 1894 was Stambulov, the main inspirer of Russophobic politics, supposed to resign. The only country with which Russia did not even have diplomatic relations for many years was Bulgaria, so recently resurrected by Russian weapons from a long state of oblivion!

Romania was in alliance with Austria and Germany, offended by the that in 1878 Russia regained a small section of Bessarabia, taken from her in the Crimean War. Although Romania received in the form of compensation all of Dobrudja with the port of Constanta, she chose to get closer to opponents of Russian policy in the Balkans.

When Emperor Alexander III proclaimed his famous toast to “the only faithful friend of Russia, Prince Nicholas of Chernogorsk,” this, in essence, was true. The power of Russia was so great that it did not feel threatened in this loneliness. But after the termination of the reinsurance treaty, during a sharp deterioration in Russian-German economic relations, Emperor Alexander III took certain steps to get closer to France.

The republican system, state unbelief and such recent phenomena as the Panama scandal could not dispose the Russian tsar, the keeper of conservative and religious principles, to France. Therefore, many considered the Franco-Russian agreement excluded. The ceremonial reception of the sailors of the French squadron in Kronstadt, when the Russian tsar listened to the Marseillaise bareheaded, showed that sympathies or antipathies for the internal structure of France were not decisive for Emperor Alexander III. Few, however, thought that already in 1892 a secret defensive alliance had been concluded between Russia and France, supplemented by a military convention indicating how many troops both sides pledged to deploy in case of war with Germany. This treaty was at that time so secret that neither the ministers (of course, except for two or three senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the military department) knew about it, nor even the heir to the throne himself.

French society has long longed for the formalization of this union, but the tsar made it a condition of the strictest preservation of secrecy, fearing that confidence in Russian support could generate militant sentiments in France, revive the thirst for revenge, and the government, due to the peculiarities of the democratic system, would not be able to resist the pressure of public opinion ...

Russian army and navy towards the end of the reign of Alexander III

The Russian Empire at that time possessed the largest peacetime army in the world. Its 22 corps, not counting the Cossacks and irregulars, reached the number of up to 900,000 people. With a four-year term of military service, the annual conscription of recruits was given in the early 90s. three times more people than the army needed. This not only made it possible to make a strict selection for physical fitness, but also made it possible to provide broad benefits for marital status. The only sons, older brothers, in whose care the younger ones were, teachers, doctors, etc., were exempted from active military service and were directly enlisted in the warriors of the militia of the second category, to whom mobilization could only reach the last turn. In Russia, only 31 percent of conscripts were enlisted each year, while in France 76 percent.

Mainly state-owned factories worked for the army; Russia did not have those "gun merchants" who enjoy such an unflattering reputation in the West.

For the training of officers, there were 37 secondary and 15 higher military educational institutions, in which 14,000-15,000 people were trained.

All the lower ranks who served in the ranks of the army received, in addition, a certain education. The illiterate were taught to read and write, and all were given some basic principles of general education.

The Russian fleet, which had been in decline since the Crimean War, revived and rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Alexander III. 114 new warships were launched, including 17 battleships and 10 armored cruisers. The displacement of the fleet reached 300,000 tons - the Russian fleet ranked third (after England and France) in a number of world fleets. Its weak point was, however, that the Black Sea Fleet - about a third of the Russian naval forces - was locked in the Black Sea under international treaties and was unable to take part in the struggle that would have arisen in other seas.

Local government in Russia towards the end of the reign of Alexander III

Russia had no imperial representative institutions; Emperor Alexander III, in the words of KP Pobedonostsev, believed "in the unshakable significance of autocratic power in Russia" and did not allow for it "in the specter of freedom, a disastrous confusion of languages ​​and opinions." But from the previous reign in the legacy remained the bodies of local self-government, zemstvos and cities; and since the time of Catherine II, there was estate self-government in the person of noble assemblies, provincial and uyezd (bourgeois councils and other self-governing bodies of the townspeople gradually lost all real significance).

Zemstvo self-governments were introduced (in 1864) in 34 (out of 50) provinces of European Russia, that is, they spread to more than half of the empire's population. They were elected by three groups of the population: peasants, private landowners and townspeople; the number of seats was distributed among the groups according to the amount of taxes they paid. In 1890 a law was passed that strengthened the role of the nobility in the zemstvos. In general, private owners, as a more educated element of the countryside, played a leading role in most provinces; but there were predominantly peasant zemstvos (Vyatka, Perm, for example). Russian zemstvos had a broader scope of activity than local governments in France now have. Medical and veterinary care, public education, road maintenance, statistics, insurance, agronomy, cooperation, etc. - this was the sphere of activity of zemstvos.

City governments (dumas) were elected by homeowners. Duma elected city councils with the mayor at the head. The sphere of their competence within the cities was, in general terms, the same as that of the zemstvos in relation to the countryside.

Reception of volost elders by Alexander III. Painting by I. Repin, 1885-1886

Finally, the village also had its own peasant self-government, in which all adult peasants and the wives of absent husbands took part. “Mir” decided local issues and elected representatives to the volost gathering. The elders (chairpersons) and clerks (secretaries) who were under them supervised these primary units of peasant self-government.

In general, by the end of the reign of Emperor Alexander III, with a state budget of 1,200,000,000 rubles, local budgets administered by elective institutions reached about 200 million, of which zemstvos and cities accounted for about 60 million a year. Of this amount, the zemstvos spent about a third on medical care and about one-sixth on public education.

The noble assemblies, created by Catherine the Great, consisted of all hereditary noblemen of each province (or district), and only those nobles who had land ownership in a given area could participate in the meetings. Provincial noble assemblies were, in fact, the only public bodies in which at times were discussed at legal basis general policy issues. Noble assemblies in the form of addresses to the Highest name have repeatedly come up with political resolutions. In addition, their sphere of competence was very limited, and they played a certain role only due to their connection with the zemstvos (the local leader of the nobility was the chairman of the provincial or district zemstvo assembly).

The importance of the nobility in the country at that time was already noticeably declining. In the early 1890s, contrary to popular beliefs in the West, in 49 lips. Out of 381 million acres of land in European Russia, only 55 million belonged to the nobles, while in Siberia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, noble land ownership was almost absent (only in the provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, the nobility owned 44 percent of the land).

In local governments, as everywhere where the elective principle operates, there were, of course, their own groupings, their own right and left. There were liberal zemstvos and conservative zemstvos. But this did not add up to real parties. There were no significant illegal groups at that time after the collapse of Narodnaya Volya, although some revolutionary publications were published abroad. Thus, the London Foundation for the Illegal Press (S. Stepnyak, N. Tchaikovsky, L. Shishko and others) reported in a report for 1893 that it had distributed 20,407 copies of illegal brochures and books during the year - of which 2,360 were in Russia, which is not a large number per 125 million of the population ...

The Grand Duchy of Finland was in a special position. There was a constitution, granted by Alexander I. The Finnish Sejm, which consisted of representatives of four estates (noblemen, clergy, townspeople and peasants), was convened every five years, and under Emperor Alexander III it even received (in 1885) the right to initiate legislation. The local government was the Senate, appointed by the emperor, and communication with the general imperial administration was ensured through the Minister-State Secretary for Finland.

Censorship of Newspapers and Books

In the absence of representative institutions, organized political activities in Russia there was no, and attempts to create party groups were immediately stopped by police measures. The press was under the watchful eye of the authorities. Some large newspapers, however, were published without prior censorship - in order to speed up their release - and therefore carried the risk of subsequent reprisals. Usually the newspaper was given two "warnings", and on the third its publication was suspended. But at the same time, the newspapers remained independent: within a certain framework, subject to some external restraint, they could carry out, and often did, views that were very hostile to the government. Most of the big newspapers and magazines were notoriously oppositional. The government only put external obstacles to the expression of views hostile to it, and did not try to influence the content of the press.

It can be said that the Russian government had neither inclination nor ability for self-promotion. Its achievements and successes often remained in the shadows, while failures and weak sides painstakingly painted with imaginary objectivity on the pages of the Russian time-based press, and spread abroad by Russian political emigrants, creating largely false ideas about Russia.

Church censorship was the strictest with regard to books. Less severe than the Vatican with its "index", it at the same time had the ability not only to enter prohibited books on the lists, but also to suppress their distribution. So, under the ban were the anti-church writings of gr. L. N. Tolstoy, "The Life of Jesus" by Renan; when translations from Heine, for example, passages containing a mockery of religion were excluded. But in general - especially if you take into account that censorship in different periods acted with varying degrees of severity, and books, once admitted, were rarely later withdrawn from circulation - books that were forbidden to the Russian "legal" reader constituted an insignificant share of world literature. Of the major Russian writers, only Herzen was banned.

Russian laws and court at the end of the reign of Alexander III

In the country, which abroad was considered "the kingdom of the whip, chains and exile to Siberia", in fact, very soft and humane laws were in force. Russia was the only country where the death penalty was abolished altogether (since the time of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna) for all crimes tried by general courts. She remained only in military courts and for the highest crimes of the state. For the XIX century. the number of those executed (if we exclude both Polish uprisings and violations of military discipline) did not make even a hundred people in a hundred years. During the reign of Emperor Alexander III, except for the participants in the regicide on March 1, only a few people who attempted to kill the emperor were executed (one of them, by the way, was just A. Ulyanov, Lenin's brother).

Administrative reference on the basis of the law on the provision of enhanced protection was applied rather widely to all types of anti-government campaigning. There were different degrees of exile: to Siberia, to the northern provinces ("places not so remote" as they usually call it), sometimes just to provincial cities. Those who were deported who did not have their own funds were given a state allowance for living. In places of exile, special colonies of people were formed, united by a common destiny; often these colonies of exiles became the cells of future revolutionary work, creating contacts and acquaintances, contributing to "enslavement" in hostility to the existing order. Those who were considered the most dangerous were placed in the Shlisselburg fortress on an island in the upper reaches of the Neva.

The Russian court, based on the judicial statutes of 1864, has stood at a great height since that time; "Gogol types" in the judicial world have moved away to the realm of legends. A careful attitude towards the defendants, the broadest guarantee of the rights of the defense, the selective composition of judges - all this constituted the subject of just pride of the Russian people and corresponded to the mood of society. Judicial charters were one of the few laws that society not only respected, but was ready to jealously defend against the authorities when it considered it necessary to introduce reservations and amendments to the liberal law for a more successful fight against crimes.

There were no zemstvos: in 12 western provinces, where non-Russian elements predominated among landowners; in the sparsely populated Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan provinces; in the region of the Don troops, and in the Orenburg province. with their Cossack institutions.

The nobility in Russia did not constitute a closed caste; the rights of hereditary nobility were acquired by everyone who reached the rank of the VIII class but the table of ranks (collegiate assessor, captain, captain).

V. Klyuchevsky: "Alexander III raised Russian historical thought, Russian national consciousness."

Education and the beginning of activities

Alexander III (Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov) was born in February 1845. He was the second son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

His elder brother Nikolai Alexandrovich was considered the heir to the throne, so the younger Alexander was preparing for a military career. But the untimely death of his elder brother in 1865 unexpectedly changed the fate of the 20-year-old boy, who faced the necessity of succession to the throne. He had to change his mind and take up a more fundamental education. Among the teachers of Alexander Alexandrovich were the most famous people of that time: the historian S. M. Soloviev, J. K. Groth, who taught him the history of literature, M. I. Dragomirov taught the art of war. But the greatest influence on the future emperor was exerted by the teacher of jurisprudence K.P.

In 1866, Alexander was married to the Danish princess Dagmara (in Orthodoxy - Maria Feodorovna). Their children: Nicholas (later Russian Emperor Nicholas II), George, Xenia, Mikhail, Olga. The last family photograph, taken in Livadia, shows from left to right: Tsarevich Nikolai, Grand Duke George, Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duke Michael, Grand Duchess Xenia and Emperor Alexander III.

The last family photo of Alexander III

Prior to his accession to the throne, Alexander Alexandrovich was the order ataman of all Cossack troops, was the commander of the troops of the Petersburg military district and the Guards corps. From 1868 he was a member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers. Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, commanded the Ruschuk detachment in Bulgaria. After the war, he participated in the creation of the Volunteer Fleet, a joint-stock shipping company (together with Pobedonostsev), which was supposed to contribute to the government's foreign economic policy.

The identity of the emperor

S.K. Zaryanko "Portrait of the Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich in his suite's coat"

Alexander III did not resemble his father in appearance, character, habits, or mentality itself. He was distinguished by a very large height (193 cm) and strength. In his youth, he could bend a coin with his fingers and break a horseshoe. Contemporaries note that he was devoid of external aristocracy: he preferred unpretentiousness in clothing, modesty, was not inclined to comfort, he liked to spend his leisure time in a narrow family or friendly circle, was thrifty, adhered to strict moral rules. S.Yu. Witte described the emperor in the following way: “He made an impression with his imposingness, calmness of his manners and, on the one hand, extreme firmness, and on the other hand, complacency in his face ... in appearance - he looked like a big Russian peasant from the central provinces, he was most approached a suit: a sheepskin coat, an overcoat and bast shoes; and nevertheless, his appearance, which reflected his enormous character, beautiful heart, complacency, justice and at the same time firmness, undoubtedly impressed, and, as I said above, if they did not know that he was the emperor, he would entered the room in any suit, - undoubtedly, everyone would have paid attention to him. "

He had a negative attitude towards the reforms of his father, Emperor Alexander II, as he saw their unfavorable consequences: the growth of bureaucracy, the plight of the people, imitation of the West, corruption in the government. He harbored a dislike for liberalism and the intelligentsia. His political ideal: patriarchal-paternal autocratic rule, religious values, strengthening of the estate structure, nationally distinctive social development.

The emperor and his family lived mainly in Gatchina due to the threat of terrorism. But he lived for a long time both in Peterhof and in Tsarskoe Selo. He was not very fond of the Winter Palace.

Alexander III simplified court etiquette and ceremonial, reduced the staff of the court ministry, significantly reduced the number of servants, and introduced strict control over the spending of money. At court he replaced expensive foreign wines with Crimean and Caucasian ones, and limited the number of balls a year to four.

At the same time, the emperor did not spare money for the acquisition of art objects, which he knew how to value, since in his youth he studied drawing with the professor of painting N.I. Tikhobrazov. Later, Alexander Alexandrovich resumed his studies with his wife Maria Fedorovna under the guidance of Academician A.P. Bogolyubov. During the reign of Alexander III, due to the workload, he left this occupation, but retained his love for art for the rest of his life: the emperor collected an extensive collection of paintings, graphics, objects of decorative and applied art, sculptures, which after his death was transferred to the one founded by the Russian emperor Nikolai II in memory of his father Russian Museum.

The emperor was fond of hunting and fishing. Belovezhskaya Pushcha became his favorite hunting ground.

On October 17, 1888, the tsar's train, in which the emperor was traveling, crashed near Kharkov. There were victims among the servants in seven wrecked carriages, but the royal family remained intact. The roof of the dining car collapsed during the crash; as is known from eyewitness accounts, Alexander kept the roof on his shoulders until his children and wife got out of the car and help arrived.

But soon after that, the emperor began to feel pain in the lower back - a concussion from a fall damaged his kidneys. The disease gradually developed. The emperor began to feel malaise more and more often: his appetite disappeared, and heart failure began. Doctors diagnosed him with nephritis. In the winter of 1894, he caught a cold, and the disease rapidly began to progress. Alexander III was sent for treatment to the Crimea (Livadia), where he died on October 20, 1894.

On the day of the death of the emperor and in previous the last days His life next to him was Archpriest John of Kronstadt, who laid his hands on the head of a dying man at his request.

The body of the emperor was taken to St. Petersburg and buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Domestic policy

Alexander II intended to continue his reforms, the project of Loris-Melikov (called the "constitution") received the highest approval, but on March 1, 1881, the emperor was killed by terrorists, and his successor curtailed the reform. Alexander III, as mentioned above, did not support the policy of his father, moreover, to the new emperor strong influence had K.P. Pobedonostsev, who was the leader of the Conservative Party in the government of the new tsar.

This is what he wrote to the emperor in the first days after his accession to the throne: “... a terrible hour and time does not stand. Either now save Russia and yourself, or never. If you sing the old siren songs that you need to calm down, you must continue in the liberal direction, you must give in to the so-called public opinion - oh, for God's sake, don’t believe, Your Majesty, don’t listen. This will be the death, the death of Russia and yours: this is clear to me as day.<…>The insane villains who have killed your Parent will not be satisfied with any concession and will only rage. They can be calmed, the evil seed can only be pulled out by fighting them on the stomach and to death, with iron and blood. It is not difficult to win: until now, everyone wanted to avoid the struggle and deceived the late Tsar, you, yourself, everyone and everything in the world, because they were not people of reason, strength and heart, but flabby eunuchs and magicians.<…>do not leave Count Loris-Melikov. I don’t believe him. He is a magician and can still play a double game.<…>The new policy must be announced immediately and decisively. It is necessary to put an end to all at once, just now, all talk about freedom of the press, about the willfulness of gatherings, about a representative assembly.<…>».

After the death of Alexander II, a struggle broke out between liberals and conservatives in the government, at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers, after some hesitation, the new emperor nevertheless accepted the draft drawn up by Pobedonostsev, which is known as the Manifesto on the inviolability of autocracy. This was a departure from the previous liberal course: liberal ministers and dignitaries (Loris-Melikov, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Dmitry Milyutin) resigned; Ignatiev (Slavophil) became the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; he issued a circular that read: “... the great and broadly conceived transformations of the past reign did not bring all the benefits that the Tsar-Liberator had the right to expect from them. The Manifesto of April 29 shows us that the Supreme Power has measured the enormity of the evil from which our Fatherland suffers, and has decided to begin to eradicate it ... ”.

The government of Alexander III pursued a policy of counterreforms that limited liberal reforms in the 1860s and 70s. A new University Charter of 1884 was issued, which abolished the autonomy of higher education. The admission to the gymnasium of children of the lower classes was limited ("circular about the cook's children", 1887). Peasant self-government from 1889 began to be subordinate to the zemstvo chiefs from local landowners, who combined the administrative and judicial power in their hands. Zemsky (1890) and city (1892) provisions tightened the administration's control over local self-government, limited the rights of voters from the lower strata of the population.

During his coronation in 1883, Alexander III announced to the volost elders: "Follow the advice and guidance of your leaders of the nobility." This meant the protection of the estate rights of the noble landowners (the establishment of the Noble Land Bank, the adoption of the Regulations on hiring for agricultural work, which was beneficial for the landowners), the strengthening of administrative guardianship over the peasantry, the conservation of the community and the large patriarchal family. Attempts were made to increase the social role of the Orthodox Church (the spread of parochial schools), and the repressions against the Old Believers and sectarians intensified. On the outskirts, a policy of Russification was pursued, the rights of foreigners (especially Jews) were limited. A percentage rate was established for Jews in secondary and then higher educational institutions (within the Pale of Settlement - 10%, outside the Pale - 5, in the capitals - 3%). A policy of Russification was pursued. In the 1880s. teaching in Russian was introduced in Polish universities (earlier, after the uprising of 1862-1863, it was introduced there in schools). In Poland, Finland, the Baltic States, the Ukraine, the Russian language was introduced in institutions, on railways, on posters, etc.

But the reign of Alexander III was characterized not only by counter-reforms. The redemption payments were lowered, the obligation to redeem peasant allotments was legalized, and a peasant land bank was established to enable peasants to receive loans for the purchase of land. In 1886 the poll tax was abolished, inheritance tax and interest-bearing securities were introduced. In 1882, a restriction was introduced on the factory work of minors, as well as on the night work of women and children. At the same time, the police regime and the estate privileges of the nobility were strengthened. Already in 1882-1884, new rules on printing, libraries and reading rooms were issued, called temporary, but in force until 1905. Then a number of measures followed, expanding the advantages of the local nobility - the law on noble escheat property (1883), the organization a long-term loan for the noble landowners, in the form of the establishment of a noble land bank (1885), instead of the all-estate land bank projected by the Minister of Finance.

I. Repin "Reception of volost elders by Alexander III in the courtyard of the Petrovsky Palace in Moscow"

During the reign of Alexander III, 114 new warships were built, including 17 battleships and 10 armored cruisers; the Russian navy ranked third in the world after England and France. The army and the military department were put in order after their disorganization during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which was facilitated by the complete confidence placed in Minister Vannovsky and Chief of the General Staff Obruchev by the emperor, who did not allow outside interference in their activities.

The influence of Orthodoxy increased in the country: the number of church periodicals increased, the circulation of spiritual literature increased; Parishes closed during the previous reign were restored, there was an intensive construction of new churches, the number of dioceses within Russia increased from 59 to 64.

During the reign of Alexander III, there was a sharp decrease in protests, in comparison with the second half of the reign of Alexander II, the decline of the revolutionary movement in the mid-80s. Terrorist activity has also decreased. After the assassination of Alexander II, there was only one successful attempt on the life of the Narodnaya Volya (1882) on the Odessa prosecutor Strelnikov and a failed (1887) attempt on Alexander III. After that, there were no more terrorist acts in the country until the beginning of the 20th century.

Foreign policy

During the reign of Alexander III, Russia did not wage a single war. For this, Alexander III received the name Peacemaker.

The main directions of Alexander III's foreign policy:

Balkan Policy: Strengthening Russia's Position.

Peaceful relations with all countries.

Search for loyal and reliable allies.

Determination of the southern borders of Central Asia.

Politics in the new territories of the Far East.

After a 5-century Turkish yoke as a result of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Bulgaria in 1879 acquired its statehood and became a constitutional monarchy. Russia intended to find an ally in Bulgaria. At first it was so: the Bulgarian prince A. Battenberg pursued a friendly policy towards Russia, but then Austrian influence began to prevail, and in May 18881 a coup d'etat took place in Bulgaria, which was headed by Battenberg himself - he abolished the constitution and became an unlimited ruler. pursuing a pro-Austrian policy. The Bulgarian people did not approve of this and did not support Battenberg, Alexander III demanded the restoration of the constitution. In 1886 A. Battenberg abdicated the throne. In order to prevent the Turkish influence on Bulgaria again, Alexander III advocated strict observance of the Berlin Treaty; offered Bulgaria to solve its problems in foreign policy itself, withdrew the Russian military without interfering in Bulgarian-Turkish affairs. Although the Russian ambassador to Constantinople announced to the Sultan that Russia would not allow a Turkish invasion. In 1886, diplomatic relations were severed between Russia and Bulgaria.

N. Sverchkov "Portrait of Emperor Alexander III in the uniform of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment"

At the same time, Russia’s relations with Britain are becoming more difficult as a result of a clash of interests in Central Asia, the Balkans and Turkey. At the same time, relations between Germany and France are also becoming more complicated, so France and Germany began to look for opportunities for rapprochement with Russia in case of war between themselves - it was provided for in the plans of Chancellor Bismarck. But Emperor Alexander III kept William I from attacking France, using family ties, and in 1891 a Russian-French alliance was concluded while the Triple Alliance existed. The treaty had a high degree of secrecy: Alexander III warned the French government that if the secret was divulged, the union would be terminated.

In Central Asia, Kazakhstan, the Kokand Khanate, the Bukhara Emirate, the Khiva Khanate were annexed, and the annexation of the Turkmen tribes continued. During the reign of Alexander III, the territory of the Russian Empire increased by 430 thousand square meters. km. This was the end of the expansion of the borders of the Russian Empire. Russia escaped war with England. In 1885, an agreement was signed on the creation of Russian-British military commissions to determine the final borders of Russia with Afghanistan.

At the same time, the expansion of Japan was intensifying, but it was difficult for Russia to conduct hostilities in that area due to the lack of roads and the weak military potential of Russia. In 1891, Russia began the construction of the Great Siberian Railway - the Chelyabinsk-Omsk-Irkutsk-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok railway line (about 7 thousand km). This could dramatically increase Russia's forces in the Far East.

Board results

During the 13 years of the reign of Emperor Alexander III (1881–1894), Russia made a strong economic breakthrough, created industry, rearmed the Russian army and navy, and became the world's largest exporter of agricultural products. It is very important that all the years of the reign of Alexander III, Russia has lived in peace.

The years of the reign of Emperor Alexander III are associated with the flourishing of Russian national culture, art, music, literature and theater. He was a wise philanthropist and collector.

PI Tchaikovsky in difficult times for him repeatedly received material support from the emperor, which is noted in the letters of the composer.

S. Diaghilev believed that for Russian culture Alexander III was the best of the Russian monarchs. It was under him that the flourishing of Russian literature, painting, music and ballet began. The great art, which later glorified Russia, began under the Emperor Alexander III.

He played an outstanding role in the development of historical knowledge in Russia: under him, the Russian Imperial Historical Society began to work actively, of which he was chairman. The Emperor was the creator and founder of the Historical Museum in Moscow.

On the initiative of Alexander, a patriotic museum was created in Sevastopol, the main exposition of which was the Panorama of the Sevastopol Defense.

Under Alexander III, the first university in Siberia (Tomsk) was opened, a project was prepared for the creation of a Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople, the Russian Imperial Palestinian Society began to operate, and Orthodox churches were built in many European cities and in the East.

The greatest works of science, culture, art, literature, the era of the reign of Alexander III are the great achievements of Russia, which we are still proud of.

“If Emperor Alexander III were destined to continue to reign for as many years as he reigned, then his reign would have been one of the greatest reigns of the Russian Empire” (S.Yu. Witte).

Tsar Alexander III, who ruled Russia from 1881 to 1894, was remembered by posterity for the fact that under him a period of stability and the absence of wars began in the country. Having survived many personal tragedies, the emperor left the empire in a phase of economic and foreign policy recovery, which seemed firm and unshakable - such were the character traits of the Peacemaker Tsar. A short biography of Emperor Alexander III will be told to the reader in the article.

Life milestones

The fate of the Tsar-Peacemaker abounded with surprises, but despite all the sharp turns in his life, he behaved with dignity, following the principles learned once and for all.

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was not initially considered in the royal family as the heir to the throne. He was born in 1845, when the country was still ruled by his grandfather, Nicholas I. Another grandson named after his grandfather, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich, who was born two years earlier, was to inherit the throne. However, at the age of 19, the heir died of tuberculous meningitis, and the right to the crown passed to the next oldest brother, Alexander.

Without an appropriate education, Alexander still had the opportunity to prepare for the future reign - he was in the status of heir from 1865 to 1881, gradually taking an increasing part in governing the state. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, the Grand Duke was at the Danube army, where he commanded one of the detachments.

Another tragedy that elevated Alexander to the throne was the murder of his father by the Narodnaya Volya. Taking the reins of government into his own hands, the new tsar dealt with the terrorists, gradually extinguishing the internal turmoil in the country. Alexander ended plans for a constitution, reaffirming his commitment to traditional autocracy.

In 1887, the organizers of the attempt on the Tsar's life, which never took place, were arrested and hanged (one of the participants in the conspiracy was Alexander Ulyanov, the elder brother of the future revolutionary Vladimir Lenin).

And the following year, the emperor nearly lost all his family members in a train crash at the Borki station in Ukraine. The king personally held the roof of the dining car in which his loved ones were.

The trauma received during this incident marked the beginning of the end of the reign of Emperor Alexander III, which was half the length of the reign of his father and grandfather.

In 1894, the Russian autocrat, at the invitation of his cousin, the Queen of Greece, went abroad for treatment for jade, but did not make it and died a month later at the Livadia Palace in Crimea.

Biography of Alexander 3, personal life

Alexander met his future wife, the Danish princess Dagmara, under difficult circumstances. The girl was officially engaged to his older brother Nikolai Alexandrovich - the heir to the throne. Before the wedding, the Grand Duke visited Italy and fell ill there. When it became known that the heir to the throne was dying, Alexander, along with his brother's bride, went to Nice to look after the dying.

The very next year after his brother's death while traveling across Europe, Alexander came to Copenhagen to offer his hand and heart to Princess Minnie (this was Dagmara's home name).

"I do not know her feelings for me, and it torments me very much. I am sure that we can be so happy together," Alexander wrote to his father at this time.

The engagement was successfully completed, and in the fall of 1866, the bride of the Grand Duke, who received the name Maria Fedorovna in baptism, married him. Subsequently, she outlived her husband by 34 years.

Failed marriages

In addition to the Danish princess Dagmara, her sister, Princess Alexandra, could become the wife of Alexander III. This marriage, on which Emperor Alexander II pinned his hopes, did not take place due to the intrigues of the British Queen Victoria, who managed to marry her son, who later became King Edward VII, to the Danish princess.

For some time Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was in love with Princess Maria Meshcherskaya, his mother's maid of honor. For her sake, he was ready to give up the rights to the throne, but after hesitation he chose the princess Dagmara. Princess Maria died 2 years later - in 1868, and later Alexander III visited her grave in Paris.

Counter-reforms of Alexander III

One of the reasons for the rampant terrorism under Emperor Alexander II was seen by his successor in the overly liberal order that had been established during this period. Ascending the throne, the new king stopped moving towards democratization and focused on strengthening his own power. The institutions created by his father were still in operation, but their powers were significantly curtailed.

1. In 1882-1884, the government issued new and stricter rules regarding printing, libraries and reading rooms.
2. In 1889-1890, the role of the nobles in the zemstvo administration was strengthened.
3. Under Alexander III, university autonomy was abolished (1884).
4. In 1892, according to the new edition of the City Regulations, clerks, small traders and other poor strata of the urban population were deprived of their voting rights.
5. A "circular on cook's children" was issued, restricting the rights of commoners to receive education.

Reforms to endow the lot of peasants and workers

The government of Tsar Alexander 3, whose biography is presented to your attention in the article, was aware of the degree of poverty in the post-reform village and sought to improve the economic situation of the peasants. In the first years of the reign, the redemption payments for land allotments were reduced, and a peasant land bank was created, the responsibility of which was to issue loans to farmers for the purchase of allotments.

The emperor also strove to streamline labor relations in the country. Under him, the factory work of children was limited, as well as night shifts in factories for women and adolescents.

Foreign policy of the Tsar-Peacemaker

In the field of foreign policy, the main feature of the reign of Emperor Alexander III was the complete absence of wars during this period, thanks to which he received the nickname of the Tsar-Peacemaker.

At the same time, the tsar, who had a military education, cannot be blamed for the lack of proper attention to the army and navy. Under him, 114 warships were launched, which made the Russian fleet the third largest in the world after the British and French.

The emperor rejected the traditional alliance with Germany and Austria, which did not show its viability, and began to focus on Western European states. Under him, an alliance was concluded with France.

Balkan U-turn

Alexander III personally took part in the events of the Russian-Turkish war, but the subsequent behavior of the Bulgarian leadership led to a cooling of Russia's sympathies for this country.

Bulgaria was involved in a war with Serbia of the same faith, which provoked the wrath of the Russian tsar, who did not want a new possible war with Turkey because of the provocative policies of the Bulgarians. In 1886, Russia broke off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria, which had succumbed to Austro-Hungarian influence.

European peacemaker

A short biography of Alexander 3 contains information that he delayed the start of the First World War for a couple of decades, which could have erupted back in 1887 as a result of Germany's failed attack on France. Kaiser Wilhelm I listened to the tsar's voice, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, harboring evil against Russia, provoked customs wars between states. Subsequently, the crisis ended in 1894 with the conclusion of a Russian-German trade agreement beneficial to Russia.

Asian conqueror

Under Alexander III, the annexation of territories in Central Asia continues by peaceful means at the expense of the lands inhabited by the Turkmens. In 1885, this caused a military clash with the army of the Afghan emir on the Kushka River, whose soldiers were led by British officers. It ended with the defeat of the Afghans.

Domestic politics and economic growth

The cabinet of Alexander III managed to achieve financial stabilization and the growth of industrial production. The finance ministers under him were N. Kh. Bunge, I. A. Vyshnegradskiy and S. Yu. Witte.

The government compensated for the abolished poll tax, which unduly burdened the poor, with a variety of indirect taxes and higher customs duties. Excise taxes were imposed on vodka, sugar, oil and tobacco.

Industrial production only benefited from protectionist measures. Under Alexander III, steel and iron production, coal and oil production grew at a record pace.

Tsar Alexander 3 and his family

The biography testifies that on his mother's side, Alexander III had relatives in the Germanic Hesse house. Subsequently, in the same dynasty, his son Nikolai Alexandrovich found himself a bride.

In addition to Nicholas, whom he named after his beloved older brother, Alexander III had five children. His second son Alexander died as a child, the third - George - at the age of 28 in Georgia. The eldest son Nicholas II and the youngest Mikhail Alexandrovich died after the October Revolution. And the two daughters of the emperor, Xenia and Olga, lived until 1960. This year one of them died in London and the other in Toronto, Canada.

Sources describe the emperor as an exemplary family man - this quality was inherited from him by Nicholas II.

Now you know summary biographies of Alexander 3. Finally, I would like to present to your attention a few interesting facts:

• Emperor Alexander III was a tall man, and in his youth he could break horseshoes with his hands and bend coins with his fingers.
• In clothing and culinary preferences, the emperor adhered to common folk traditions, at home he wore a patterned Russian shirt, and preferred simple dishes, such as pig with horseradish and pickled cucumbers, from food. However, he loved to season food with exquisite sauces, and also adored hot chocolate.
• An interesting fact in the biography of Alexander III is that he had a fondness for collecting. The tsar collected paintings and other objects of art, which then formed the basis of the collection of the Russian Museum.
• The emperor loved to hunt in the forests of Poland and Belarus, and fished in the Finnish skerries. A well-known phrase of Alexander: "When the Russian Tsar is fishing, Europe can wait."
• Together with his wife, the emperor periodically visited Denmark during his summer vacation. In the warmer months, he did not like to be disturbed, but at other times of the year he was completely immersed in business.
• The Tsar could not be denied indulgence and a sense of humor. Having learned, for example, about the criminal case against the soldier Oreshkin, who, being drunk in a tavern, said that he wanted to spit on the emperor, Alexander III ordered to stop the case, and no longer hang his portraits in taverns. “Tell Oreshkin that I didn't give a damn about him either,” he said.