Sovereign Emperor Alexander III
On February 26, 1845, the future Emperor Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich gave birth to his third child and second son. The boy was named Alexander.
Alexander 3. Biography
For the first 26 years, he was raised, like other grand dukes, for a military career, since his elder brother Nicholas was to become the heir to the throne. By the age of 18, Alexander III already held the rank of colonel. The future Russian emperor, if you believe the reviews of his teachers, was not particularly distinguished by the breadth of his interests. According to the teacher’s recollections, Alexander the Third “was always lazy” and began to make up for lost time only when he became heir. An attempt to fill the gaps in education was carried out under the close leadership of Pobedonostsev. At the same time, from sources left by teachers, we learn that the boy was distinguished by perseverance and diligence in penmanship. Naturally, his education was carried out by excellent military specialists, professors from Moscow University. The boy was especially interested in Russian history and culture, which over time developed into real Russophilia.
Alexander was sometimes called slow-witted by members of his family, sometimes called “pug” or “bulldog” for his excessive shyness and clumsiness. According to the recollections of contemporaries, in appearance he did not look like a heavyweight: well built, with a small mustache, and a receding hairline that appeared early. People were attracted by such traits of his character as sincerity, honesty, benevolence, lack of excessive ambition and a great sense of responsibility.
Beginning of a political career
His serene life ended when his elder brother Nikolai died suddenly in 1865. Alexander the Third was declared heir to the throne. These events stunned him. He immediately had to take up the duties of the crown prince. His father began to involve him in government affairs. He listened to the reports of ministers, got acquainted with official papers, and received membership in the State Council and the Council of Ministers. He becomes a major general and ataman of all Cossack troops in Russia. That’s when we had to make up for the gaps in youth education. Love for Russia and Russian history He formed a course with Professor S.M. Solovyov. accompanied him all his life.
Alexander the Third remained Tsarevich for quite a long time - 16 years. During this time he received
Combat experience. He took part in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, and received the Order of St. Vladimir with swords" and "St. George, 2nd degree." It was during the war that he met people who later became his comrades. Later he created the Voluntary Fleet, which was a transport fleet in peacetime and a combat fleet in wartime.
In his internal political life, the Tsarevich did not adhere to the views of his father, Emperor Alexander II, but did not oppose the course of the Great Reforms. His relationship with his parent was complicated and he could not come to terms with the fact that his father, while his wife was alive, settled his favorite E.M. in the Winter Palace. Dolgorukaya and their three children.
The Tsarevich himself was an exemplary family man. He married his deceased brother's fiancée, Princess Louise Sofia Frederica Dagmar, who after the wedding adopted Orthodoxy and a new name - Maria Feodorovna. They had six children.
The happy family life ended on March 1, 1881, when a terrorist attack was committed, as a result of which the Tsarevich’s father died.
Reforms of Alexander 3 or transformations necessary for Russia
On the morning of March 2, members of the State Council and the highest ranks of the court took the oath to the new Emperor Alexander III. He stated that he would try to continue the work started by his father. But the firmest idea about further actions didn't appear for a long time. Pobedonostsev, an ardent opponent of liberal reforms, wrote to the monarch: “Either now save yourself and Russia, or never!”
The emperor’s political course was most accurately outlined in the manifesto of April 29, 1881. Historians nicknamed it “The Manifesto on the Inviolability of Autocracy.” It meant major adjustments to the Great Reforms of the 1860s and 1870s. The government's priority task was to fight the revolution.
The repressive apparatus, political investigation, secret search services, etc. were strengthened. To contemporaries, government policy seemed cruel and punitive. But to those living today, it may seem quite modest. But now we will not dwell on this in detail.
The government tightened its policy in the field of education: universities were deprived of their autonomy, a circular “On cooks’ children” was published, a special censorship regime was introduced regarding the activities of newspapers and magazines, and zemstvo self-government was curtailed. All these transformations were carried out to exclude that spirit of freedom,
Which hovered in post-reform Russia.
The economic policy of Alexander III was more successful. The industrial and financial sphere was aimed at introducing gold backing for the ruble, establishing a protective customs tariff, and building railways, which not only created the necessary communications routes for the domestic market, but also accelerated the development of local industries.
The second successful area was foreign policy. Alexander the Third received the nickname "Emperor-Peacemaker". Immediately after ascending the throne, he sent out a dispatch in which it was announced: the emperor wishes to maintain peace with all powers and focus his special attention on internal affairs. He professed the principles of strong and national (Russian) autocratic power.
But fate gave him a short life. In 1888, the train in which the emperor's family was traveling suffered a terrible crash. Alexander Alexandrovich found himself crushed by the collapsed ceiling. Having enormous physical strength, he helped his wife and children and got out himself. But the injury made itself felt - he developed kidney disease, complicated by “influenza” - the flu. On October 29, 1894, he died before reaching the age of 50. He said to his wife: “I feel the end, be calm, I am completely calm.”
He did not know what trials his beloved Motherland, his widow, his son and the entire Romanov family would have to endure.
Biography of Emperor Alexander III Alexandrovich
Emperor of All Russia, second son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Alexander III was born on February 26, 1845, ascended the royal throne on March 2, 1881, died November 1, 1894)
He received his education from his tutor, Adjutant General Perovsky, and his immediate supervisor, the famous professor at Moscow University, economist Chivilev. In addition to general and special military education, Alexander was taught political and legal sciences by invited professors from St. Petersburg and Moscow universities.
After premature death elder brother, heir-Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich On April 12, 1865, hotly mourned by the royal family and the entire Russian people, Alexander Alexandrovich, having become heir-Tsarevich, began to continue both theoretical studies and perform many duties on state affairs.
Marriage
1866, October 28 - Alexander married the daughter of the Danish King Christian IX and Queen Louise Sophia Frederica Dagmara, who was named Maria Feodorovna upon marriage. The happy family life of the sovereign heir bound the Russian people with the royal family with bonds of good hopes. God blessed the marriage: on May 6, 1868, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich was born. In addition to the heir, the Tsarevich, their august children: Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich, born April 27, 1871; Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, born March 25, 1875, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, born November 22, 1878, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, born June 1, 1882.
Ascension to the throne
The accession of Alexander III to the royal throne followed on March 2, 1881, after the martyrdom of his father, the Tsar-Liberator, on March 1.
Seventeenth Romanov was a man of strong will and exceptionally purposeful. He was distinguished by his amazing capacity for work, could calmly think through every issue, was direct and sincere in his resolutions, and did not tolerate deception. Being an extremely truthful person himself, he hated liars. “His words never differed from his deeds, and he was an outstanding person in his nobility and purity of heart,” this is how the people who were in his service characterized Alexander III. Over the years, the philosophy of his life was formed: to be an example of moral purity, honesty, justice and diligence for his subjects.
Reign of Alexander III
Under Alexander III, military service was reduced to 5 years of active service, and the life of soldiers improved significantly. He himself could not stand the military spirit, did not tolerate parades, and was even a bad horseman.
Solving economic and social issues was what Alexander III saw as his main task. And he devoted himself, first of all, to the cause of state development.
To get acquainted with different regions of Russia, the tsar often made trips to cities and villages and could see firsthand the difficult life of the Russian people. In general, the emperor was distinguished by his commitment to everything Russian - in this he was not like the previous Romanovs. He was called a truly Russian Tsar not only in appearance, but also in spirit, forgetting that by blood he was most likely a German.
During the reign of this tsar, the words were first heard: “Russia for the Russians.” A decree was issued prohibiting foreigners from buying real estate in the western regions of Russia, and a newspaper fuss arose against dependence Russian industry from the Germans, the first Jewish pogroms began, “temporary” rules were issued for Jews, severely infringing on their rights. Jews were not admitted to gymnasiums, universities and other educational institutions. And in some provinces they were simply forbidden to reside or enter public service.
Alexander III in his youth
This king, incapable of cunning or ingratiating himself, had his own specific attitude towards foreigners. First of all, he disliked the Germans and did not have any kindred feelings towards the German House. After all, his wife was not a German princess, but belonged to the royal house of Denmark, which was not on friendly terms with Germany. The mother of this first Danish woman on the Russian throne, the smart and intelligent wife of King Christian IX of Denmark, was nicknamed “the mother of all Europe”, as she was able to wonderfully accommodate her 4 children: Dagmara became the Russian queen; Alexandra, the eldest daughter, married the Prince of Wales, who, even during the life of Queen Victoria, played an active role in the state, and then became the king of Great Britain; son Frederick, after the death of his father, ascended the Danish throne, the youngest, George, became the Greek king; the grandchildren made almost all the royal houses of Europe related to each other.
Alexander III was also distinguished by the fact that he did not like excessive luxury and was absolutely indifferent to etiquette. He lived almost all the years of his reign in Gatchina, 49 kilometers from St. Petersburg, in the beloved palace of his great-grandfather, whose personality he was especially drawn to, keeping his office intact. And the main halls of the palace were empty. And although there were 900 rooms in the Gatchina Palace, the emperor’s family did not live in luxurious apartments, but in the former premises for guests and servants.
The king and his wife, sons and two daughters lived in narrow small rooms with low ceilings, the windows of which overlooked a wonderful park. A large beautiful park - what could be better for children! Games on fresh air, visits from numerous peers - relatives of the large Romanov family. Empress Maria, however, still preferred the city and every winter she begged the emperor to move to the capital. While sometimes agreeing to his wife’s requests, the Tsar nevertheless refused to live in the Winter Palace, finding it unfriendly and too luxurious. The imperial couple made the Anichkov Palace on Nevsky Prospect their residence.
The noisy court life and social bustle quickly bored the tsar, and the family moved to Gatchina again with the first days of spring. The emperor's enemies tried to claim that the king, frightened by the reprisal against his father, locked himself in Gatchina as if in a fortress, becoming, in fact, its prisoner.
The emperor actually did not like and was afraid of St. Petersburg. The shadow of his murdered father haunted him all his life, and he led a reclusive life, visiting the capital rarely and only on especially important occasions, preferring a lifestyle with his family, away from the “light.” And social life at court really somehow died out. Only the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir, the Tsar’s brother, the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, gave receptions and held balls in her luxurious St. Petersburg palace. They were eagerly visited by members of the government, high dignitaries of the court and the diplomatic corps. It was thanks to this that Grand Duke Vladimir and his wife were considered as representatives of the Tsar in St. Petersburg, and the life of the court was actually centered around them.
And the emperor himself with his wife and children remained at a distance, fearing assassination attempts. Ministers had to come to Gatchina to report, and foreign ambassadors sometimes could not see the emperor for months. And the visits of guests - crowned heads during the reign of Alexander III were extremely rare.
Gatchina, in fact, was reliable: soldiers were on duty for several miles around day and night, and they stood at all the entrances and exits of the palace and park. There were even sentries at the door of the emperor's bedroom.
Personal life
Alexander III was happy in his marriage to the daughter of the Danish king. He not only “relaxed” with his family, but, in his words, “enjoyed family life" The emperor was a good family man, and his main motto was constancy. Unlike his father, he adhered to strict morality and was not tempted by the pretty faces of the court ladies. He was inseparable from his Minnie, as he affectionately called his wife. The Empress accompanied him at balls and trips to the theater or concerts, on trips to holy places, at military parades, and while visiting various institutions.
Over the years, he increasingly took her opinion into account, but Maria Feodorovna did not take advantage of this, did not interfere in state affairs and did not make any attempts to influence her husband in any way or contradict him in anything. She was an obedient wife and treated her husband with great respect. And I couldn’t do it any other way.
The emperor kept his family in unconditional obedience. Alexander, while still a crown prince, gave the following instruction to the teacher of his eldest sons, Madame Ollengren: “Neither I nor the Grand Duchess want to turn them into greenhouse flowers. “They should pray well to God, study science, play ordinary children’s games, and be naughty in moderation. Teach well, do not give concessions, ask strictly, and most importantly, do not encourage laziness. If there is anything, then contact me directly, and I know what to do. I repeat that I don’t need porcelain. I need normal Russian children. They'll fight, please. But the prover gets the first whip. This is my very first requirement."
Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna
Having become king, Alexander demanded obedience from all the great princes and princesses, although among them there were persons much older than him. In this respect he was in effect the head of all the Romanovs. He was not only revered, but also feared. The seventeenth Romanov on the Russian throne developed a special “family status” for the Russian reigning House. According to this status, from now on only the direct descendants of the Russian tsars in the male line, as well as the tsar’s brothers and sisters, were entitled to the title of Grand Duke with the addition of Imperial Highness. The great-grandchildren of the reigning emperor and their eldest sons had the right only to the title of prince with the addition of highness.
Every morning the emperor got up at 7 a.m. and washed his face. cold water, dressed in simple, comfortable clothes, made himself a cup of coffee, ate a few pieces of black bread and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Having had a modest breakfast, he sat down at his desk. The whole family was already gathering for second breakfast.
One of the king's favorite recreational activities was hunting and fishing. Rising before dawn and taking a gun, he went to the swamps or forest for the whole day. He could stand in knee-deep water in high boots for hours and catch fish with a fishing rod in the Gatchina pond. Sometimes this activity pushed even state affairs into the background. Alexander’s famous aphorism: “Europe can wait while the Russian Tsar fishes” made the rounds in newspapers in many countries. Sometimes the emperor gathered a small society in his Gatchina house to perform chamber music. He himself played the bassoon, and played with feeling and quite well. From time to time, amateur performances were staged and artists were invited.
Assassination attempts on the emperor
During his not so frequent trips, the emperor forbade escorting his crew, considering this a completely unnecessary measure. But along the entire road the soldiers stood in an unbroken chain - to the surprise of foreigners. Travel by rail - to St. Petersburg or Crimea - was also accompanied by all sorts of precautions. Long before the passage of Alexander III, soldiers with guns loaded with live ammunition were stationed along the entire route. The railway switches were tightly clogged. Passenger trains were diverted to sidings in advance.
Nobody knew which train the sovereign would be traveling on. There was no single “royal” train at all, but several trains of “extreme importance.” They were all disguised as royal ones, and no one could know which train the emperor and his family were on. It was a secret. The soldiers standing in line saluted each such train.
But all this could not prevent the train from crashing from Yalta to St. Petersburg. It was carried out by terrorists at the Borki station, near Kharkov, in 1888: the train derailed and almost all the cars crashed. The Emperor and his family were having lunch at this time in the dining car. The roof collapsed, but the king, thanks to his gigantic strength, was able to hold it on his shoulders with incredible effort and held it until his wife and children got out of the train. The emperor himself received several injuries, which, apparently, resulted in his fatal kidney disease. But, having got out from under the rubble, he, without losing his cool, ordered immediate assistance to the wounded and those who were still under the rubble.
What about the royal family?
The Empress received only bruises and contusions, but the eldest daughter, Ksenia, injured her spine and remained hunchbacked - perhaps that’s why she was married off to a relative. Other family members suffered only minor injuries.
Official reports described the event as a train crash of unknown cause. Despite all efforts, the police and gendarmes were unable to solve this crime. As for the salvation of the emperor and his family, this was talked about as a miracle.
A year before the train crash, an assassination attempt on Alexander III was already being prepared, which fortunately did not take place. On Nevsky Prospect, the street along which the Tsar had to travel to attend a memorial service in the Peter and Paul Cathedral on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of his father's death, young people were arrested holding bombs made in the shape of ordinary books. They reported to the emperor. He ordered that the participants in the assassination be dealt with without unnecessary publicity. Among those arrested and then executed was Alexander Ulyanov, the elder brother of the future leader of the October Bolshevik Revolution, Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin, who even then set himself the goal of fighting against the autocracy, but not through terror, like his older brother.
Alexander III himself, the father of the last Russian emperor, mercilessly crushed opponents of the autocracy throughout the 13 years of his reign. Hundreds of his political enemies were sent into exile. Ruthless censorship controlled the press. Powerful police reduced the zeal of the terrorists and kept the revolutionaries under surveillance.
Domestic and foreign policy
The situation in the state was sad and difficult. Already the first manifesto on accession to the throne, and especially the manifesto of April 29, 1881, expressed the exact program of both foreign and domestic policy: maintaining order and power, observing the strictest justice and economy, returning to the original Russian principles and ensuring Russian interests everywhere .
In external affairs, this calm firmness of the emperor immediately gave rise to a convincing confidence in Europe that, with complete reluctance to any conquests, Russian interests would be inexorably protected. This largely ensured European peace. The firmness expressed by the government regarding Central Asia and Bulgaria, as well as the meetings of the sovereign with the German and Austrian emperors, only served to strengthen the conviction that had arisen in Europe that the direction of Russian policy was completely determined.
He entered into an alliance with France in order to obtain loans that were necessary for the construction of railways in Russia, begun by his grandfather, Nicholas I. Not liking the Germans, the emperor began to support German industrialists in order to attract their capital for the development of the economy of the state, in every possible way promote the expansion of trade relations. And during his reign, much changed in Russia for the better.
Not wanting war or any acquisitions, Emperor Alexander III had to increase the possessions of the Russian Empire during the clashes in the east, and, moreover, without military action, since the victory of General A.V. Komarov over the Afghans at the Kushka River was an accidental, completely unforeseen clash.
But this brilliant victory had a huge impact on the peaceful annexation of the Turkmens, and then on the expansion of Russia’s possessions in the south to the borders of Afghanistan when the border line was established in 1887 between the Murghab River and the Amu Darya River on the side of Afghanistan, which has since become an Asian territory adjacent to Russia by the state.
On this vast expanse that recently entered Russia, they laid railway, which connected the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea with the center of Russian Central Asian possessions - Samarkand and the Amu Darya River.
In internal affairs, many new regulations were issued.
Alexander III with children and wife
The development of the great cause of the economic structure of the multimillion-dollar peasantry in Russia, as well as the increase in the number of peasants suffering from a lack of land allotment as a result of the increasing population, caused the establishment of the government Peasant Land Bank with its branches. The bank was entrusted with an important mission - to assist in issuing loans for the purchase of land both to entire peasant societies and to peasant partnerships and individual peasants. For the same purpose, to provide assistance to noble landowners who were in difficult economic conditions, the government Noble Bank was opened in 1885.
Significant reforms appeared in the matter of public education.
In the military department, military gymnasiums were transformed into cadet corps.
Another great desire overwhelmed Alexander: to strengthen the religious education of the people. After all, what were the masses of Orthodox Christians in their majority like? In their souls, many still remained pagans, and if they worshiped Christ, they did it, rather, out of habit, and as a rule, because this was the custom in Rus' from time immemorial. And what a disappointment it was for the believing commoner to learn that Jesus was, it turns out, a Jew... By order of the tsar, who himself was distinguished by deep religiosity, three-year parochial schools began to open at churches, where parishioners studied not only the Law of God, but also studied literacy And this was extremely important for Russia, where only 2.5% of the population was literate.
The Holy Governing Synod is instructed to assist the Ministry of Public Education in the field of public schools by opening parish schools in churches.
The general university charter of 1863 was replaced by a new charter on August 1, 1884, which completely changed the position of universities: direct management of universities and direct command of a broadly assigned inspection was entrusted to the trustee of the educational district, rectors were elected by the minister and approved by the highest authority, the appointment of professors was given to the minister, the degree of candidate and the title of full student are destroyed, which is why final examinations in universities are destroyed and replaced by examinations in government commissions.
At the same time, they began to revise the regulations on gymnasiums and the highest order was taken to expand vocational education.
The court area was also not ignored. The procedure for administering a trial with a jury was supplemented by new rules in 1889, and in the same year the judicial reform spread to the Baltic provinces, in relation to which a firm decision was made to implement in the matter of local government the general principles of management available in the whole of Russia, with the introduction of Russian language.
Death of the Emperor
It seemed that the peacemaker king, this hero, would reign for a long time. A month before the king’s death, no one imagined that his body was already “wear and tear.” Alexander III died unexpectedly for everyone, one year short of his 50th birthday. The cause of his premature death was kidney disease, which was aggravated by the dampness of the premises in Gatchina. The sovereign did not like to undergo treatment and almost never spoke about his illness.
1894, summer - hunting in the swamps weakened his health even more: headaches, insomnia and weakness in the legs appeared. He was forced to turn to doctors. He was recommended to rest, preferably in the warm climate of Crimea. But the emperor was not the kind of person who was capable of disrupting his plans just because he was not feeling well. After all, at the beginning of the year, a trip to Poland with my family was planned in September to spend a couple of weeks at a hunting lodge in Spala.
The sovereign's condition remained unimportant. The largest specialist in the field was urgently called from Vienna kidney diseases, Professor Leiden. After carefully examining the patient, he diagnosed nephritis. At his insistence, the family immediately left for Crimea, to the summer Livadia Palace. The dry, warm Crimean air had a beneficial effect on the king. His appetite improved, his legs became so strong that he could go ashore, enjoy the surf, and sunbathe. Surrounded by the care of the best Russian and foreign doctors, as well as his loved ones, the tsar began to feel much better. However, the improvement turned out to be temporary. The change for the worse came abruptly, the strength began to fade quickly...
On the morning of the first day of November, the emperor insisted that he be allowed to get out of bed and sit in the chair that stood by the window. He told his wife: “I think my time has come. Don't be sad about me. I am completely calm." A little later, the children and the bride of the eldest son were called. The king did not want to be put to bed. With a smile, he looked at his wife, kneeling in front of his chair, her lips whispering: “I have not died yet, but I have already seen an angel...” Immediately after noon, the king-hero died, bowing his head on the shoulder of his beloved wife.
It was the most peaceful death in the last century of Romanov rule. Pavel was brutally killed, his son Alexander passed away, leaving behind a unsolved mystery, another son, Nicholas, despairing and disappointed, most likely, of his own free will, ceased to exist on earth, while Alexander II - the father of the peacefully deceased giant - became a victim of terrorists who called themselves opponents of autocracy and executors of the people's will.
Alexander III died after reigning for only 13 years. He fell into an eternal sleep on a wonderful autumn day, sitting in a huge “Voltaire” chair.
Two days before his death, Alexander III told his eldest son, the future heir to the throne: “You have to take the heavy burden of state power from my shoulders and carry it to the grave just as I carried it and as our ancestors carried it... Autocracy created historical individuality Russia. If the autocracy collapses, God forbid, then Russia will collapse with it. The fall of the primordial Russian power will open an endless era of unrest and bloody civil strife... Be strong and courageous, never show weakness.”
Yes! The seventeenth Romanov turned out to be a great seer. His prophecy came true a little less than a quarter of a century later...
10/20/1894 (11/2). – Tsar the Peacemaker Alexander III died in the Livadia Palace in Crimea at the age of 50
King Peacemaker
Alexander III (26.02.1845–20.10.1894) – Russian Emperor since 1881, after the death of his father, killed by terrorists.
The future Emperor Alexander III grew up in a large family with six brothers: Nicholas, Alexander, Vladimir, Alexei, Sergei, Pavel and two sisters (Maria married the son of Queen Victoria of England). The boys, at the insistence of their grandfather, were raised in a strict spirit. Regular training, which began at the age of eight, continued for 12 years. They were taught: the Law of God, the Russian language, foreign languages(German, French, English), mathematics, geography, general and Russian history, reading, penmanship, drawing, military science, gymnastics, horse riding, fencing, music.
The teachers were the most qualified specialists, so that, contrary to liberal myths about “uneducation” and “unpreparedness,” the future Emperor Alexander III, like all the royal children, received an excellent education. He was taught the Law of God by professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy N.P. Christmas. General M.I. Dragomirov taught military history and tactics. Boys were taught marching, rifle techniques and other military skills by military educators under the leadership of Major General N.V. Zinoviev. Russian literature was taught by professor philologist and historian Y.K. Grot and the future director of the Public Library in St. Petersburg M.A. Corf; history taught by a famous historian; Jurisprudence classes were first taught by Professor I.E. Andreevsky, and then a professor, who was destined to become one of the people closest to Alexander Alexandrovich.
Alexander Alexandrovich became heir to the throne in 1865 after the death of his elder brother Nicholas. In 1866 he married his fiancee - . He was an exemplary Orthodox family man, had six children (of whom one son died in infancy). The royal children were traditionally brought up in strictness and simplicity.
Upon ascending the Throne, Emperor Alexander III was aware that the murder of His August Father testified to internal troubles in the state, which required the adoption of decisive measures to combat the corrupters of state foundations. We read about the beginning of the reign of Alexander III: “His accession to the kingdom was terrible. He sat on the Throne of his fathers, watered with tears, ... in the midst of popular horror, in the midst of hissing anger and sedition.” Wanting to support the new Tsar, Pobedonostsev wrote to him:
“The mad villains who destroyed your Parent will not be satisfied with any concession and will only become furious. And the evil seed can be appeased only by fighting them to the death and to the stomach. It is not difficult to win: until now everyone wanted to avoid the fight and deceived the late Emperor, you, themselves, everyone and everything in the world... No, Your Majesty, there is only one true, direct way to get on your feet and start without falling asleep for a minute, the most holy struggle that has ever happened in Russia. The whole people are waiting for the sovereign decision to do this, and as soon as they feel the sovereign will, everything will rise, everything will come to life and there will be freshness in the air.”
“And so the darkness of unrest... began to quickly dissipate,” writes historian V.V. Nazarevsky. – Sedition, which seemed irresistible, melted like wax in the face of fire... Turmoil in the minds began to quickly give way to Russian sanity, licentiousness and self-will gave way to order and discipline. Freethinking no longer trampled on Orthodoxy as a kind of ultramontanism and our native Church as clericalism. The authority of the undisputed and hereditary national Supreme Power has again returned to its historical traditional heights.” For general health improvement atmosphere in the country, it is indicative that the number of crimes has sharply decreased and bribery has disappeared.
The guiding rules of his reign were: complete peace in external relations and concentration on the internal well-being of the state entrusted to him by God. The Tsar himself, as if a hero had come to us from a Russian epic, encouraged everything Russian, both in industry and in culture. He was the founder and first chairman of the Russian Historical Society, with his active participation and partly on his own funds created , after the death of Alexander III, which bore his name.
There is no area in which, during the less than 14 years of the reign of Alexander III, there was no significant growth. But Alexander III was especially concerned about the Church and the peasantry. To improve the welfare of peasants, the Peasant Land Bank was established in 1882. In 1883, the Coronation Manifesto. A rule was issued on the hiring of workers for rural and factory work, and factory inspection was introduced to protect the interests of workers. But it was not only the financial situation of the common people that concerned the Emperor: his constant desire was to give public education, about which he also cared a lot, a religious basis, for which purpose the establishment of parochial schools in 1884 was adopted. In 1885, the Noble Land Bank was established. In 1890, in order to improve the civil and family life of the common people, Alexander III established the position of zemstvo chiefs. Thanks to a number of measures, despite the great harvest failure of 1891, the financial and economic situation of the country improved significantly by the end of the 19th century.
In Soviet historiography, the reign of Alexander III is presented as nothing more than a “revelry of gloomy reaction”; this tradition is continued by many democratic post-Soviet authors. “For more than a hundred years, the figure of the penultimate Russian Tsar has been the target of the most impartial assessments; his personality serves as the object of unbridled attacks and tendentious criticism,” writes historian A. Bokhanov and objects: “In total, 17 people were executed for political crimes (criminal acts) during the “reaction period.” All of them either participated in the regicide or prepared for it, and not one of them repented. In total, less than 4 thousand people were interrogated and detained for anti-state acts (over almost fourteen years). If we take into account that the population of Russia then exceeded 120 million people, then these data convincingly refute the stereotyped thesis about the “regime of terror” that allegedly established itself in Russia during the reign of Alexander III.”
The people sincerely loved their Tsar. When, by the grace of God, the Sovereign and the entire August Family remained unharmed, all of Russia rejoiced and prayed.
The emerging threat of death of the entire Imperial family. The fact was that his brother Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (the next eldest son of Alexander II) in 1874 married the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who did not convert to Orthodoxy before marriage (she converted to Orthodoxy only in 1908, when children became adults). By doing this he violated Art. 185 of the Fundamental Laws: “The marriage of a male person of the Imperial House, who may have the right to inherit the Throne, with a person of another faith is not performed otherwise than upon her acceptance of the Orthodox confession.” In 1886, as chairman of the Highly approved Commission for the revision of the Institution of the Imperial Family, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich tried to change the wording of this article, limiting its effect: instead of “Marriage of a male person of the Imperial House who may have the right to inherit the Throne,” Vel. Book Vladimir Alexandrovich wrote: “Marriage of the Heir to the Throne and the eldest male person in his generation.” In this formulation, the article would no longer apply to the family of Grand Duke Vladimir. However, in 1889, Emperor Alexander III restored the article in the previous edition. For if he had died with his family in a train crash, then, within the meaning of the amended article, the Throne would have gone to his brother Vladimir and his non-Orthodox wife (these were the parents of the future violator of family, state and church laws and a traitor-Februaryist raised in this family – )...
The Emperor was deeply moral and honest, an extremely simple, cheerful and very witty person. Many of his resolutions have become classics. There is a known case when in some volost government one man spat on his portrait. Cases of lese majeste were tried in the District Courts and the verdict was necessarily brought to the attention of the Sovereign. This was the case in this case as well. The offending man was sentenced to six months in prison and this was brought to the attention of the Emperor. Alexander III burst out laughing:
- How! He didn’t give a damn about my portrait, and for this I will feed him for another six months? You are crazy, gentlemen. Send him away and tell him that I, in turn, didn’t give a damn about him. And that's the end of it. This is something unprecedented!
Or, they arrested the writer Tsebrikova on some political matter and reported this to the Emperor. He deigned to draw the following resolution on paper: “Release the old fool!” All of St. Petersburg, including ultra-revolutionary St. Petersburg, laughed to the point of tears. Ms. Tsebrikova's career was completely destroyed...
During the reign of Alexander III, it was completed, putting an end to the internecine conflicts and raids on the tribes that were part of the Russian Empire.
Peace has arrived in Europe as well. Without interfering in European affairs, since they did not affect our interests, Alexander III, with his sincere love of peace, strengthened the military power of Russia, skillfully and firmly created political balance in Europe, becoming the guardian of peace in it. Russia's influence in Europe during his reign was generally recognized. A well-known episode with fishing, which Alexander III loved very much, is typical. One day, when he was fishing on Karpiny Pond, the Minister of Foreign Affairs rushed to him and began to persistently ask him to immediately receive the ambassador of some Western power on an important European matter. To which Alexander III replied: “When the Russian Tsar fishes, Europe can wait.”
But, unfortunately, the reign of Emperor Alexander III was short-lived. After a short illness, on October 20, 1894, the Tsar, having received communion three times before his death, passed into eternity, admonished by the great prayer book and wonderworker of the Russian land who was with Him.
The historian spoke as follows after the death of the Sovereign Peacemaker: “Science will give Emperor Alexander III his rightful 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 it is most difficult to achieve victory, defeated the prejudice of peoples and by this he contributed to their rapprochement, conquered the public conscience in the name of peace and truth, increased the amount of good 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 , Europe understood what He was for her.”
Monument to Alexander III at the Marble Palace (works by P. Trubetskoy)
Indeed, the whole world reacted to the death of the Russian Tsar - and this respect for him was simply amazing against the backdrop of the usual European Russophobia. French Foreign Minister Flourens said: “Alexander III was a true Russian Tsar, such as Russia had not seen for a long time. Of course, all the Romanovs were devoted to the interests and greatness of their people. But driven by the desire to give their people Western European culture, they were looking for ideals outside of Russia... Emperor Alexander III wished that Russia would be Russia, that it would, first of all, be Russian, and he himself gave this best examples. He showed himself to be the ideal type of a truly Russian person.” Even the Marquis of Salisbury, who was hostile to Russia, admitted: “Alexander III saved Europe many times from the horrors of war. From his deeds the rulers of Europe should learn how to govern their people.” This respect of his contemporaries for the Russian Emperor is still evidenced by the bridge across the Seine named after him in the very center of Paris.
Alexander III Alexandrovich Romanov
Years of life: February 26, 1845, Anichkov Palace, St. Petersburg - October 20, 1894, Livadia Palace, Crimea.
Son of Maria Alexandrovna, recognized daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and Emperor.
Emperor of All Russia (March 1 (13), 1881 - October 20 (November 1), 1894), Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from March 1, 1881.
From the Romanov dynasty.
He was awarded a special epithet in pre-revolutionary historiography - Peacemaker.
Biography of Alexander III
He was the 2nd son in the imperial family. Born on February 26 (March 10), 1845 in Tsarskoye Selo, his elder brother was preparing to inherit the throne.
The mentor who had a strong influence on his worldview was K.P. Pobedonostsev.
As crown prince, he became a member of the State Council, commander of guards units and ataman of all Cossack troops.
During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878. he was the commander of the Separate Rushchuk detachment in Bulgaria. Created the Voluntary Fleet of Russia (since 1878), which became the core of the country's merchant fleet and the reserve of the Russian navy.
After the death of his elder brother Nicholas in 1865, he became heir to the throne.
In 1866, he married the fiancee of his deceased brother, the daughter of the Danish king Christian IX, Princess Sophia Frederica Dagmar, who took the name Maria Feodorovna in Orthodoxy.
Emperor Alexander 3
Having ascended the throne after the assassination of Alexander II on March 1 (13), 1881. 
(his father’s legs were blown off by a terrorist bomb, and his son spent the last hours of his life next to him), canceled the draft constitutional reform signed by his father immediately before his death. He stated that Russia would pursue a peaceful policy and deal with internal problems - strengthening the autocracy.
His manifesto on April 29 (May 11), 1881 reflected the program of domestic and foreign policy. The main priorities were: maintaining order and power, strengthening church piety and ensuring the national interests of Russia.
Reforms of Alexander 3
The Tsar created the state Peasant Land Bank to issue loans to peasants to purchase land, and also issued a number of laws that eased the situation of workers.
Alexander 3 pursued a tough policy of Russification, which encountered opposition from some Finns and Poles.
After Bismarck's resignation from the post of Chancellor of Germany in 1893, Alexander III Alexandrovich entered into an alliance with France (French-Russian alliance).
In foreign policy, for years of reign of Alexander 3 Russia has firmly taken a leading position in Europe. Possessing enormous physical strength, the tsar symbolized the power and invincibility of Russia for other states. One day, the Austrian ambassador began to threaten him during lunch, promising to move a couple of army corps to the borders. The king listened silently, then took a fork from the table, tied it in a knot and threw it on the ambassador's plate. “This is what we will do with your couple of buildings,” answered the king.
Domestic policy of Alexander 3
Court etiquette and ceremony became much simpler. He significantly reduced the staff of the Ministry of the Court, the number of servants was reduced and strict control over the expenditure of money was introduced. At the same time, huge amounts of money were spent on purchasing art objects, since the emperor was a passionate collector. Under him, Gatchina Castle turned into a warehouse of priceless treasures, which later became a true national treasure of Russia.
Unlike all his predecessor rulers on the Russian throne, he adhered to strict family morals and was an exemplary family man - a loving husband and a good father. He was one of the most devout Russian sovereigns, firmly adhered to the Orthodox canons, willingly donated to monasteries, to the construction of new churches and the restoration of ancient ones.
He was passionate about hunting and fishing, and boating. The emperor's favorite hunting spot was Belovezhskaya Pushcha. He participated in archaeological excavations and loved to play the trumpet in a brass band.
The family had very warm relations. Every year the wedding date was celebrated. Evenings for children were often organized: circus and puppet shows. Everyone was attentive to each other and gave gifts.
The emperor was very hardworking. And yet, despite healthy image life, died young, before reaching the age of 50, completely unexpectedly. In October 1888, the royal train crashed near Kharkov. There were many casualties, but the royal family remained intact. With incredible efforts, Alexander held the collapsed roof of the carriage on his shoulders until help arrived.
But soon after this incident, the emperor began to complain of lower back pain. Doctors came to the conclusion that the terrible concussion from the fall was the onset of kidney disease. At the insistence of Berlin doctors, he was sent to Crimea, to Livadia, but the disease progressed.
On October 20, 1894, the emperor died. He was buried in St. Petersburg, in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The death of Emperor Alexander III caused an echo throughout the world, flags were lowered in France, and memorial services were held in all churches in England. Many foreign figures called him a peacemaker.
The Marquis of Salisbury said: “Alexander III saved Europe many times from the horrors of war. From his deeds the rulers of Europe should learn how to govern their people.”
He was married to the daughter of the Danish king Christian IX, Dagmara of Denmark (Maria Feodorovna). They had children:
- Nicholas II (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918),
- Alexander (May 20, 1869 - April 21, 1870),
- Georgy Alexandrovich (April 27, 1871 - June 28, 1899),
- Ksenia Alexandrovna (April 6, 1875 - April 20, 1960, London), also Romanova by marriage,
- Mikhail Alexandrovich (December 5, 1878 - June 13, 1918),
- Olga Alexandrovna (June 13, 1882 - November 24, 1960).
He had a military rank - general-of-infantry, general-of-cavalry (Russian Imperial Army). The emperor was distinguished by his enormous height.
In 1883, the so-called “coronation ruble” was issued in honor of the coronation of Alexander III.
All-Russian Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov was born on February 26 (old style) 1845 in St. Petersburg in the Anichkov Palace. His father was a reforming emperor, and his mother was a queen. The boy was the third child in a family that later had five more children. His older brother Nicholas was preparing to become king, and Alexander was destined for the fate of a military man.
As a child, the Tsarevich studied without much zeal, and the teachers were undemanding to him. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, young Alexander was not very smart, but he had a sound mind and the gift of reasoning.
Alexander was kind-hearted and a little shy, although he had a distinguished figure: with a height of 193 cm, his weight reached 120 kg. Despite its harsh appearance, the young man loved art. He took painting lessons from Professor Tikhobrazov and studied music. Alexander mastered playing brass and woodwind instruments. Subsequently, he will support Russian art in every possible way and, with sufficient unpretentiousness in everyday life, will collect a good collection of works by Russian artists. And in opera houses with its light hand Russian operas and ballets will begin to be staged much more often than European ones.
Tsarevichs Nicholas and Alexander were very close to each other. The younger brother even claimed that there was no one closer and more beloved to him except Nikolai. Therefore, when in 1865, the heir to the throne, while traveling in Italy, suddenly felt ill and died suddenly from spinal tuberculosis, Alexander could not accept this loss for a long time. In addition, it turned out that it was he who became a contender for the throne, for which Alexander was completely unprepared.
The young man’s teachers were horrified for a moment. To a young man A course of special lectures was urgently assigned, which were read to him by his mentor Konstantin Pobedonostsev. After his accession to the kingdom, Alexander will make his teacher an adviser and will turn to him for the rest of his life. Nikolai Alexandrovich Kachalov was appointed another assistant to the Tsarevich, with whom the young man traveled around Russia.
Enthronement
In early March 1881, after another assassination attempt, Emperor Alexander II died from his wounds, and his son immediately ascended the throne. Two months later, the new emperor published the “Manifesto on the Inviolability of Autocracy,” which stopped all liberal changes in the structure of the state established by his father.
The sacrament of royal coronation took place later - on May 15, 1883 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. During his reign, the royal family moved to the palace in Gatchina.
Domestic policy of Alexander III
Alexander III adhered to pronounced monarchical and nationalist principles, his actions during domestic policy could be called a counter-reformation. The first thing the emperor did was sign decrees with which he sent liberal ministers to retire. Among them were Prince Konstantin Nikolaevich, M. T. Loris-Melikova, D. A. Milyutin, A. A. Abaza. He made K. P. Pobedonostsev, N. Ignatiev, D. A. Tolstoy, M. N. Katkov the key figures in his circle.
In 1889, a talented politician and financier S. Yu. Witte appeared at court, whom Alexander Alexandrovich soon appointed Minister of Finance and Minister of Transport. Sergei Yulievich did a lot for Great Russia. He introduced the backing of the ruble with the country's gold reserves, which contributed to the strengthening of the Russian currency on the international market. This led to the fact that the flow of foreign capital into the Russian Empire increased, and the economy began to develop at an accelerated pace. In addition, he did a lot for the development and construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is still the only road connecting Vladivostok with Moscow.
Despite the fact that Alexander III tightened the right for peasants to receive education and vote in zemstvo elections, he gave them the opportunity to take out loans at low interest rates in order to expand their farms and strengthen their position on the land. The emperor also introduced restrictions for the nobles. Already in the first year of his reign, he abolished all additional payments from the royal treasury to those close to him, and also did a lot to eradicate corruption.
Alexander III strengthened control over students, set a limit on the number of Jewish students in all educational institutions, tightened censorship. His slogan was the phrase: “Russia for Russians.” On the outskirts of the Empire, he proclaimed active Russification.
Alexander III did a lot for the metallurgical industry and the development of oil and gas production. Under him, a real boom began in improving the well-being of the people, and terrorist threats completely ceased. The autocrat did a lot for Orthodoxy. Under his reign, the number of dioceses increased, new monasteries and churches were built. In 1883, one of the most majestic buildings was erected - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Alexander III left a country with a strong economy as a legacy after his reign.
Foreign policy of Alexander III
Emperor Alexander III, with his wisdom in foreign policy actions and avoidance of wars, went down in history as the Tsar-Peacemaker. But at the same time, he did not forget to strengthen the power of the army. Under Alexander III, the Russian fleet became third after the flotillas of France and Great Britain.
The emperor managed to maintain calm relations with all his main rivals. He signed peace agreements with Germany, England, and also significantly strengthened Franco-Russian friendship on the world stage.
During his reign, the practice of open negotiations was established, and the rulers of the European powers began to trust the Russian Tsar as a wise arbiter in resolving all controversial issues between states.
Personal life
After the death of his heir Nicholas, he was left with a fiancée, the Danish princess Maria Dagmar. Unexpectedly, it turned out that young Alexander was also in love with her. And even despite the fact that for some time he courted his maid of honor, Princess Maria Meshcherskaya, Alexander, at the age of 21, proposes to Maria Sofia Frederica. Thus, in a short period of time, Alexander’s personal life changed, which he never regretted later.
After the wedding sacrament, which took place in the large church of the Winter Palace, the young couple moved to the Anichkov Palace, where they lived until Alexander ascended the throne.
In the family of Alexander Alexandrovich and his wife Maria Feodorovna, who, like all overseas princesses, converted to Orthodoxy before marriage, six children were born, five of whom lived to adulthood.
The elder Nicholas would become the last Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty. Of the younger children - Alexander, Georgy, Ksenia, Mikhail, Olga - only sisters will live to old age. Alexander will die at the age of one year, Georgy will die in his youth from tuberculosis, and Mikhail will share the fate of his brother - he will be shot by the Bolsheviks.
The emperor raised his children in strictness. Their clothing and food were very simple. The royal offspring were engaged physical exercise, and received a good education. Peace and harmony reigned in the family; spouses and children often traveled to Denmark to visit relatives.
Failed assassination attempt
On March 1, 1887, an unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of the emperor. Participants in the conspiracy were students Vasily Osipanov, Vasily Generalov, Pakhomiy Andreyushkin and Alexander Ulyanov. Despite months of preparation terrorist attack under the leadership of Pyotr Shevyrev, the young people failed to carry out their plans to the end. All four were captured by the police and two months after the trial, they were executed by hanging in the Shlisselburg fortress.
Several members of the revolutionary circle, who were also arrested after the terrorists, were sent into long-term exile.
Death
A year after the assassination attempt royal family An unpleasant event occurred: the train in which Alexander and his family were traveling crashed near Kharkov. Part of the train overturned, killing people. The mighty emperor held the roof of the carriage in which the royal persons were located for a long time with his own strength for 30 minutes. With this he saved everyone around him. But such overexertion undermined the king’s health. Alexander Alexandrovich developed kidney disease, which slowly progressed.
In the first winter months of 1894, the emperor caught a bad cold and six months later he felt very ill. A professor of medicine from Germany, Ernst Leiden, was called and diagnosed Alexander Alexandrovich with nephropathy. On the recommendation of a doctor, the emperor was sent to Greece, but on the way he became worse, and his family decided to stop in Livadia in Crimea.
Within a month, the king’s heroic physique faded away before everyone’s eyes and died on November 1, 1894 due to complete kidney failure. Over the past month, his confessor John (Yanyshev), as well as Archpriest John Sergiev, in the future John of Kronstadt, was constantly next to him.
An hour and a half after the death of Alexander III, his son Nicholas swore allegiance to the kingdom. The coffin with the emperor's body was delivered to St. Petersburg and solemnly buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The image of the emperor in art
Not as many books have been written about Alexander III as about other conquering emperors. This happened because of his peacefulness and non-conflict nature. His person is mentioned in some historical books dedicated to the Romanov family.
In documentaries, information about him is presented in several feeds of journalists and. Art films, in which the character of Alexander III was present, began to appear in 1925. A total of 5 films were published, including “The Shore of Life,” in which Lev Zolotukhin played the peacemaker emperor, as well as “The Barber of Siberia,” where he played this role.
The last film in which the hero of Alexander III appears was the 2017 film “Matilda”. He played the king in it.