(Nikolai Pavlovich Romanov). Born June 25 (July 6), 1796, in Tsarskoe Selo, now the city of Pushkin; died Feb. 18 (Mar. 2), 1855, in St. Petersburg. Emperor of Russia (1825–55).
The third son of the emperor Paul I, Nicholas ascended the throne after the sudden death of his brother Alexander I. After crushing the Decembrist rebellion, Nicholas began his reign with the execution of the rebellion’s leaders.
Nicholas I received an education that was limited to military engineering. He was cruel and despotic by nature. Rigid in his political views, Nicholas believed that autocracy was unshakable, and the notion of legality was beyond his grasp. In the final analysis, his personal conceptions were the measure of what was true, and hence, the principal quality that he demanded of those around him was obedience. This led to the establishment of an atmosphere of falsehood, servility, and hypocrisy around him.
Nicholas’ reign saw the apex of absolute monarchy in its military-bureaucratic form. The strengthening and centralization of the bureaucratic apparatus reached unprecedented proportions under Nicholas I; expenditures on government officials and on the army consumed nearly all state revenues. Militarylike order prevailed in all institutions, Gymnasiums, and universities. For the slightest disobedience, officials were marched off to the guardhouse and students were impressed into the army. The crisis that the feudal, serf-owning system reached in the second quarter of the 19th century was reflected in Nicholas’ economic policy.
Striving to strengthen the existing political system and mistrusting the bureaucratic apparatus, Nicholas significantly broadened the functions of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Chancery. He gave this chancery control over all major branches of government, replacing the higher state organs. The most important department in the chancery was the Third Section, which administered the secret political police.
At the beginning of his reign, Nicholas strove to reform existing state institutions. He altered legislation, creating the committee of 6 December 1826. During his reign, all legislative acts in effect in 1835 were compiled in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. In public education, the strict principle of separation by estate (soslovnost’) was implemented. Under this principle the dvorianstvo (nobility or gentry) was given preferential treatment (Statute on Gymnasiums of 1828 and General Statute on Imperial Russian Universities of 1835). In 1826 a new statute on censorship was introduced. Dubbed the “cast-iron” statute, this extremely reactionary measure was replaced in 1828 by a more moderate statute. However, numerous restrictions on literary activity were soon added to the new statute.
All ideology was subject to the formula “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality.” The term “nationality” was understood to mean official patriotism—chauvinist praise of the existing regime. The most progressive Russians were subjected to persecution and repression. Among the victims of Nicholas’ arbitrariness were A. S. Pushkin, M. Iu. Lermontov, A. I. Herzen, N. P. Ogarev, N. A. Polevoi, N. I. Nadezhdin, P. Ia. Chaadaev, and T. G. Shevchenko. Among the revolutionary organizations forcibly disbanded during this period were the Petrashevskii circle and the Society of Cyril and Methodius. Nicholas cruelly suppressed national movements, such as the one led by Shamil and the Polish Uprising of 1830–31. He intensified the russification and Christianization of non-Russian nationalities and persecuted the Old Believers.
The most important issue of domestic policy under Nicholas I was the peasant problem. The monarch understood the necessity of abolishing serfdom but could not accomplish its abolition because of opposition from the dvorianstvo and because of fear of a “general shock.” Consequently he limited his efforts to such insignificant measures as the promulgation of a law on obligated peasants (obiazannye krest’iane) and the partial implementation of reforms affecting state peasants.
Despite Nicholas’ policy of preserving existing feudal institutions, however, the objective process of social development led to a number of measures that furthered the economic development of Russia. These measures included the creation of councils of trade and manufactures, the organization of industrial exhibitions, and the opening of higher educational institutions, including technical institutes. In spite of Nicholas’ wishes, the number of raznochintsy (intellectuals of no definite class) in secondary and higher educational institutions increased.
During the entire length of Nicholas’ reign, Russia’s foreign policy was conducted by K. V. Nessel’rode. A major element in this policy was the Eastern Question, which involved Russia’s desire to ensure the existence of a regime favorable to Russia in the Black Sea straits. This was extremely important both for the security of the southern borders and for the economic development of the state. However, with the exception of the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi of 1833, Nicholas planned to achieve his ends through aggressive action—by partitioning the Ottoman (Osman) Empire. This was the cause of the Crimean War of 1853–56. An important aspect of Nicholas’ foreign policy was the return to the principles of the Holy Alliance. This was proclaimed in 1833 after Nicholas’ entry into an alliance with the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia against revolution in Europe. While implementing the principles of this alliance, Nicholas broke off diplomatic relations with France in 1848, undertook an invasion of the Danubian principalities, and cruelly suppressed the revolution of 1848–49 in Hungary. He conducted a policy of energetic territorial expansion in Middle Asia and Kazakhstan. Defeat in the Crimean War led to the collapse of the political system of Nicholas I and to the death of the emperor himself.
P. A. ZAIONCHKOVSKII