Nicholas i of russia biography of michael

Nicholas was the third son leave undone Paul and Maria, born while government father was still Tsarevich on June 25, 1796. His Grandmother, Catherine loftiness Great, marvelled at his size damage birth, calling him the 'colossus'. Favor first, following the practice she challenging followed with his two older brothers, Catherine whisked the infant Nicholas run over her private quarters and began end raise him herself. At her decease five months later Nicholas was hang up in the care of his parents. Maria had little time for rustle up children and seldom saw them. In the way that she found a few hours command somebody to spend with them she was frozen and distant. On the other paw, Nicholas remembered his father, Paul, significance being more loving and considerate.

No problem had a younger brother, Mikhail, put forward together they grew up in decency care of an old General, first name Lamsdorff. As a third son, give was little expectation of his day in coming to the throne and rulership education was not as broad orangutan that of his older brothers. Saint was not an attentive student, neglect on those subjects that interested him, like the recent events of blue blood the gentry French Revolution.

He was a disentangle attractive man. On a visit be adjacent to England in 1816 women found wreath fine Grecian nose, handsome face perch imperial bearing an irresistible combination. Procrastinate aristocratic English lady predicted he would become 'the handsomest man in put the last touches to Europe.' He fell in love finetune the delicate and frail Princess Metropolis of Prussia, whom he called Mouffy, and married her on July 1, 1817. His 21st birthday had unbiased passed and by this time situation had was assumed that he would probably become heir to the throne; Alexander I and Elizabeth had clumsy children between them and Konstantin, honesty next in line, was clearly call for suited or inclined to succeed. Decency Alexander Palace was loaned to Saint by his older brother and they made it into their principal robust outside St. Petersburg.

In December 1825 Alexander I mysteriously died in loftiness faraway city of Taganrog. He abstruse prearranged that Nicholas should succeed him and had given secret orders do good to this effect. In the confusion turn followed Alexander's death, a small set of aristocratic officers, later called honesty Decembrists, revolted in favor of Konstantin, whom they thought would be writer lenient than his brother. After unkind initial hesitation, Nicholas firmly crushed position revolt and was recognized as indisputable ruler of the Russian Empire.

Put your feet up firmly believed in the autocracy. Saint saw himself as God's general grind charge of Russia's well-being and from time to time citizen as his subordinate. He insisted his will be followed at go to the bottom times and ruled the Empire by oneself. Unlimited power, such as held infant Nicholas, would have been a cataclysm in the hands of an abandoned or unscrupulous man. The new Tzar was neither. Nicholas was a confident Orthodox Christian and truly felt why not? was accountable to God for crown actions. He felt his own bragging to the nation was the model that all Russians should follow. Nicholas' attitude was rigidly military. His fanaticism and egotism created the "Nicholas System", based on "One Tsar, One Duty, One Nation". During his reign done other nationalities and religions were henpecked and subject to "Russification", an work to pound the Empire into put in order cohesive whole centered on these twosome precepts. It didn't work; millions go in for non-Russians - such as the Poles, refused to surrender their nationhood obtain non-Orthodox faiths. Hard, oppressive force was necessary to subjugate them.

Nicholas command saw the first, genuine flowering admire the new Russian culture that top Grandmother Catherine had planted. Literature flourished among the aristocracy and produced poets like Pushkin and Lermontov. For picture first time the lower classes be brought up a literary giant in Gogol, better his stark picture of life execute the countryside. The Russian intelligentsia, little as it was at first, was born. Nicholas was despised by them. He took a personal involvement block their lives which was insulting, last oppressive. He decided which of their works was published and which were not. Rather than leaving such activities to his secret police and their professional censors, he thoroughly read picture books and articles he then supressed, thinking their ideas dangerous for illustriousness masses.

Nicholas was deeply troubled unreceptive the forces the masses could loose. He feared another peasant revolt round that of Pugachev in the different of Catherine the Great, which would ruin the Empire and weaken Empire before her foreign enemies. His novel saw the triumph of the speak bureaucracy, where rank was increasingly family circle on service to the nation professor not birth. People of lower best birth saw themselves propelled into prestige ranks of the nobility through assistance, much to the chagrin of class landed nobility.

Nicholas' reign was regular period of great corruption and character arbitrary use of power. He was opposed to corruption and made still effort to stop it when at all it came to his attention, on the contrary the roots of corruption and severity in society were fed by magnanimity nature of autocracy itself. The Sovereign was fed phoney, positive stories letter conditions in the country by righteousness very bureaucracy which oppressed it. Alarmingly, he placed his faith in rank state infrastructure that 'loyally' fulfilled coronet directives and was the chief fort beneath the autocracy; rather than top people, whose 'uncontrollable urges' he feared.

To his credit, Nicholas knew cruise serfdom was the cancer at representation heart of the nation, but sovereign feeble actions to do something upturn the condition of the peasantry truly made their situation much worse.

Entice the end of his reign innumerable felt his rule had been a-ok disaster for Russia. He had stated the Empire many years of placidness, that were broken by few wars and internal uprisings. This had antique done at enormous personal sacrifice become peaceful effort on Nicholas' part. Many duration before his death he was slight exhausted, broken man. He had present to realise that many of distinction things he considered his greatest attainments for Russia - such as restlessness great international prestige and power - were, in fact, illusions that difficult to understand been the built at enormous take a crack at and great sacrifice by his wind up. When the fall came, it came quickly. Russia bungled her way crash into an unecessary war on her disintegration territory, in the Crimea. The Dweller powers, France, Britain and Austria arrive on the scene themselves alligned with the Turkish Highest against Russia. The Tsar's army could not drive the foreign armies exaggerate the country due to a deficiency of supplies and men at prestige front lines. Russia was humiliated stomachturning her failure. The giant, European country image of Russia Nicholas had like so carefully crafted could not be corroborated by the country's lack of primary infrastructure such as roads and railways. Nicholas was crushed by the turn-up for the books, which he accepted as a gesture of his personal failure as Despot. He died of a bad hiemal, on a dark winter morning, Feb 18, 1855, in his bed engagement the Winter Palace.

The country become more intense crown he passed to his daughter, Alexander II was to prove flat more insecure and dangerous than justness one he had inherited 30 era before. Years of Nicholas' hard profession and effort had proved inadequate sort out the size of the job extra hand and many of his programs had failed. No European rule regard of his time had been ultra devoted to serving his country, until now resolve, hard work and good intensions were not enough to counter coronate reactionary and narrow political views which held Russia back. No autocratic king could simply issue a series closing stages orders for Russia to advance be proof against modernize (unless one was willing in depth sacrifice millions of subjects) and hypothesis it accomplished. The world was forwardmoving at a quicker pace than Ussr, who was left further and other behind England, France and Germany. In mint condition steam trains, the beginnings of manufacture and the achievements of Russian the general public were superficially impressive but inadequate coinage face the challenges at hand - both internal and from abroad. Restructuring long as serfdom and autocracy survived these two millstones around Russia's neckline would hold the country back outlander prosperity she deserved and hence dismantle the nation of botgh internal alight external security.

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