Management of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century. Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary in the 19th century

The Russian Empire entered the new 19th century as a mighty power. The capitalist way of life was strengthened in the Russian economy, but the nobility, which was united during the reign of Catherine II, remained the determining factor in the economic life of the country. The nobility expanded its privileges, only this “noble” class owned all the land, and a significant part of the peasants who fell into serfdom were subordinated to it on humiliating conditions. According to the Letter of Complaint of 1785, the nobles received a corporate organization, which had a great influence on the local administrative apparatus. The authorities vigilantly followed public thought. They brought to trial the freethinker - the revolutionary A.N. Radishchev - the author of "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", and then imprisoned him in distant Yakutsk.

Successes in foreign policy gave a kind of brilliance to the Russian autocracy. The borders of the empire were pushed apart in the course of almost continuous military campaigns: in the west, it included Belarus, Right-bank Ukraine, Lithuania, the southern part of the Eastern Baltic states in the west, after two Russian-Turkish wars, the Crimea and almost the entire North Caucasus. Meanwhile, the internal situation of the country was precarious. Finances were under the threat of constant inflation. The issue of banknotes (since 1769) covered the reserves of silver and copper coins accumulated in credit institutions. The budget, although reduced without a deficit, was supported only by internal and external loans. One of the causes of financial difficulties was not so much fixed costs and the maintenance of an expanded administrative apparatus, but the growth of arrears in taxes from the peasants. Crop failure and famine were repeated in individual provinces every 3-4 years, and in the whole country every 5-6 years. Attempts by the government and individual nobles to increase the marketability of agricultural production by the best agricultural technology, which was taken care of by the Free Economics, created in 1765, often only increased the corvée oppression of the peasants, to which they responded with unrest and uprisings.

The class system that had previously existed in Russia gradually became obsolete, especially in cities. The merchant class no longer controlled all trade. Among the urban population, it was increasingly possible to single out the classes characteristic of capitalist society - the bourgeoisie and the workers. They were formed not on a legal, but on a purely economic basis, which is characteristic of a capitalist society. In the ranks of entrepreneurs were many nobles, merchants, wealthy petty bourgeois and peasants. The workers were dominated by peasants and philistines. In 1825 there were 415 cities and towns in Russia. Many small towns were agricultural. Gardening was developed in the Central Russian cities, wooden buildings prevailed. Due to frequent fires, it happened that entire cities were devastated.

The mining and metallurgical industry was located mainly in the Urals, Altai and Transbaikalia. St. Petersburg, Moscow and Vladimir provinces, and Tula became the main centers of metalworking and textile industry. By the end of the 1920s, Russia was importing coal, steel, chemical products, linen fabrics.

Some factories began to use steam engines. In 1815, in St. Petersburg, at the Berd machine-building plant, the first domestic motor ship "Elizaveta" was built. From the middle of the 19th century, an industrial revolution began in Russia.

The system of serfdom, brought to the limit of non-economic exploitation, turned into a real “powder magazine”, under the building of a powerful empire.

The beginning of the reign of Alexander I. The very beginning of the 19th century was marked by a sudden change of faces on the Russian throne. Emperor Paul I, a tyrant, despot and neurasthenic, on the night of March 11-12, 1801, was strangled by conspirators from the highest nobility. The murder of Paul was committed with the knowledge of his 23-year-old son Alexander, who ascended the throne on March 12, stepping over his father's corpse.

The event of March 11, 1801 was the last palace coup in Russia. It completed the history of Russian statehood in the 18th century.

Not the best was pinned on the name of the new tsar: the “lower classes” for the weakening of the landlord oppression, the “tops” for even greater attention to their interests.

The noble nobility, who put Alexander I on the throne, pursued the old tasks: to preserve and strengthen the autocratic-serf system in Russia. The social nature of the autocracy as a dictatorship of the nobility also remained unchanged. However, a number of threatening factors that had developed by that time forced the Aleksandrov government to look for new methods for solving old problems.

Most of all, the nobles were worried about the growing discontent of the “lower classes”. TO early XIX century, Russia was a power, boundlessly spread over 17 million square meters. km from the Baltic to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and from the White to the Black Sea.

About 40 million people lived in this space. Of these, Siberia accounted for 3.1 million people, the North Caucasus - about 1 million people.

The central provinces were most densely populated. In 1800, the population density here was about 8 people per 1 sq. km. verst. To the south, north and east of the center, population density has declined sharply. In the Samara Trans-Volga region, the lower reaches of the Volga and the Don, it was no more than 1 person per 1 sq. km. verst. Even less population density was in Siberia. Of the total population of Russia, there were 225,000 nobles, 215,000 clergy, 119,000 merchants, 15,000 generals and officers, and the same number of government officials. In the interests of these approximately 590 thousand people, the king ruled his empire.

The vast majority of the other 98.5% were disenfranchised serfs. Alexander I understood that although the slaves of his slaves would endure a lot, even their patience had a limit. Meanwhile, oppression and abuse then were boundless.

Suffice it to say that corvee in areas of intensive agriculture was 5-6, and sometimes all 7 days a week. The landowners ignored the decree of Paul I on a 3-day corvee and did not comply with it until the abolition of serfdom. Serfs then in Russia were not considered people, they were forced to work like draft animals, sold and bought, exchanged for dogs, lost at cards, put on a chain. This was unbearable. By 1801, 32 of the 42 provinces of the empire were covered by peasant unrest, the number of which exceeded 270.

Another factor that influenced the new government was pressure from noble circles, demanding that they return the privileges granted by Catherine II. The government was forced to take into account the spread of liberal European trends among the noble intelligentsia. The needs of economic development forced the government of Alexander I to reform. The dominance of serfdom, under which the manual labor of millions of peasants was free, hindered technical progress.

The industrial revolution - the transition from manual to machine production, which began in England in the 60s, and in France from the 80s of the XVIII century - in Russia became possible only from the 30s of the next century. Market links between different regions of the country were sluggish. More than 100 thousand villages and villages and 630 cities scattered across Russia did not know well how and how the country lives, and the government did not want to know about their needs. Russian communication routes were the longest and least well-maintained in the world. Until 1837, Russia did not have railways. The first steamboat appeared on the Neva in 1815, and the first steam locomotive only in 1834. The narrowness of the domestic market hindered the growth of foreign trade. Russia's share in world trade was only 3.7% by 1801. All this determined the nature, content and methods of the domestic policy of tsarism under Alexander I.

Domestic policy.

As a result of a palace coup on March 12, 1801, the eldest son of Paul I, Alexander I, ascended the Russian throne. Internally, Alexander I was no less a despot than Paul, but he was adorned with outward gloss and courtesy. The young king, unlike his parent, was distinguished by his beautiful appearance: tall, slender, with a bewitching smile on an angel-like face. In a manifesto published on the same day, he announced his commitment to the political course of Catherine II. He began by restoring the Charters of 1785 canceled by Paul to the nobility and cities, freeing the nobility and clergy from corporal punishment. Alexander I was faced with the task of improving the state system of Russia in a new historical situation. To conduct this course, Alexander I brought close to him the friends of his youth - European-educated representatives of the young generation of noble nobility. Together they formed a circle, which they called the "Secret Committee". In 1803, a decree on "free cultivators" was adopted. According to which the landowner, if desired, could free his peasants, endowing them with land and receiving a ransom from them. But the landowners were in no hurry to free their serfs. For the first time in the history of autocracy, Alexander discussed in the Unspoken Committee the question of the possibility of abolishing serfdom, but recognized it as not yet ripe for a final decision. More boldly than in the peasant question, there were reforms in the field of education. By the beginning of the 19th century administrative system the state was in decline. Alexander hoped to restore order and strengthen the state by introducing a ministerial system of central government based on the principle of one-man command. A triple need compelled tsarism to reform this area: it required trained officials for a renewed state apparatus, as well as qualified specialists for industry and trade. Also, for the spread of liberal ideological ideas throughout Russia, it was necessary to streamline public education. As a result, for 1802-1804. the government of Alexander I rebuilt the entire system of educational institutions, dividing them into four rows (from bottom to top: parish, district and provincial schools, universities), and opened four new universities at once: in Dorpat, Vilna, Kharkov and Kazan.

In 1802, instead of the previous 12 colleges, 8 ministries were created: military, naval, foreign affairs, internal affairs, commerce, finance, public education and justice. But even in the new ministries old vices settled. Alexander was aware of senators who took bribes. To expose them fought in him with the fear of dropping the prestige of the Governing Senate.

Essentially needed new approach to solving the problem. In 1804, a new censorship charter was adopted. He said that censorship serves "not to restrict the freedom to think and write, but only to take decent measures against its abuse." The Pavlovian ban on the import of literature from abroad was lifted, and for the first time in Russia, the publication of works translated into Russian by F. Voltaire, J.J. Rousseau, D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu, G. Reynal, who were read by the future Decembrists. This ended the first series of reforms of Alexander I, praised by Pushkin as "the days of Alexander, a wonderful beginning."

Alexander I managed to find a person who could rightfully claim the role of a reformer. Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky came from the family of a village priest. In 1807, Alexander I brought him closer to himself. Speransky was distinguished by the breadth of his outlook and strict systemic thinking. He did not tolerate chaos and confusion. In 1809, on the instructions of Alexander, he drew up a draft of fundamental state reforms. Speransky put the principle of separation of powers - legislative, executive and judicial - as the basis of the state structure. Each of them, starting from the lower levels, had to act within the strictly defined framework of the law.

Representative assemblies of several levels were created, headed by the State Duma - the All-Russian representative body. The Duma was supposed to give opinions on the bills submitted for its consideration, and hear the reports of the ministers.

All powers - legislative, executive and judicial - were united in the State Council, whose members were appointed by the king. The opinion of the State Council, approved by the king, became law. Not a single law could come into force without discussion in the State Duma and the State Council.

The real legislative power, according to Speransky's project, remained in the hands of the tsar and the highest bureaucracy. The actions of the authorities, in the center and in the field, he wanted to put under the control of public opinion. For the silence of the people opens the way to the irresponsibility of the authorities.

According to Speransky's project, all Russian citizens who own land or capital enjoyed voting rights. Artisans, domestic servants and serfs did not participate in the elections. But they enjoyed the most important state rights. The main one was: "No one can be punished without a court verdict."

The implementation of the project began in 1810, when the Council of State was created. But then things stopped: Alexander more and more entered into the taste of autocratic rule. The higher nobility, having heard about Speransky's plans to endow serfs with civil rights, openly expressed dissatisfaction. All conservatives united against the reformer, starting with N.M. Karamzin and ending with A.A. Arakcheev, having fallen in favor with the new emperor. In March 1812, Speransky was arrested and exiled to Nizhny Novgorod.

Foreign policy.

By the beginning of the 19th century, two main directions in Russia's foreign policy were defined: the Middle East - the desire to strengthen its positions in the Transcaucasus, the Black Sea and the Balkans, and the European - participation in the coalition wars of 1805-1807. against Napoleonic France.

Having become emperor, Alexander I restored relations with England. He canceled the preparations of Paul I for the war with England and returned from a campaign in India. The normalization of relations with England and France allowed Russia to intensify its policy in the region of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. The situation here escalated in the 90s, when Iran began active expansion into Georgia.

The Georgian king repeatedly turned to Russia with a request for patronage. On September 12, 1801, a manifesto was adopted on the annexation of Eastern Georgia to Russia. The reigning Georgian dynasty lost its throne, and control passed to the viceroy of the Russian tsar. For Russia, the annexation of Georgia meant the acquisition of a strategically important territory for strengthening its positions in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia.

Alexander came to power in an extremely difficult situation for Russia. Napoleonic France sought dominance in Europe and potentially threatened Russia. Meanwhile, Russia was conducting friendly negotiations with France and was at war with England - the main enemy of France. This position, inherited by Alexander from Paul, did not suit the Russian nobles at all.

First, Russia maintained longstanding and mutually beneficial economic ties with England. By 1801, England absorbed 37% of all Russian export. France, on the other hand, being incomparably less wealthy than England, has never provided Russia with such benefits. Secondly, England was a respectable legitimate monarchy, while France was a rebel country, thoroughly saturated with a revolutionary spirit, a country headed by an upstart, a rootless warrior. Thirdly, England was in good relations with other feudal monarchies of Europe: Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Spain. France, as a rebel country, opposed the united front of all other powers.

Thus, the primary foreign policy task of the government of Alexander I was to be the restoration of friendship with England. But tsarism was not going to fight with France either - the new government needed time to organize urgent internal affairs.

The coalition wars of 1805-1807 were fought over territorial claims and mainly over dominance in Europe, which was claimed by each of the five great powers: France, England, Russia, Austria, Prussia. In addition, the coalitionists aimed to restore in Europe, right down to France itself, the feudal regimes overthrown by the French Revolution and Napoleon. The coalitionists did not skimp on phrases about their intentions to free France "from the chains" of Napoleon.

Revolutionaries - Decembrists.

The war sharply accelerated the growth of the political consciousness of the noble intelligentsia. The main source of the revolutionary ideology of the Decembrists was the contradictions of Russian reality, that is, between the needs of national development and the feudal serf system, which hampered national progress. The most intolerant thing for the advanced Russian people was serfdom. It personified all the evils of feudalism - despotism and arbitrariness reigning everywhere, the civil lack of rights of the majority of the people, the economic backwardness of the country. From life itself, the future Decembrists drew impressions that pushed them to the conclusion: it was necessary to abolish serfdom, to transform Russia from an autocratic into a constitutional state. They began to think about this even before the war of 1812. The advanced nobles, including officers, even some generals and high-ranking officials, expected that Alexander, having defeated Napoleon, would give the peasants of Russia freedom, and the country - a constitution. As it turned out that the tsar would not concede to the country either one or the other, they became more and more disappointed in him: the halo of the reformer merk in their eyes, exposing his true face of a feudal lord and autocrat.

Since 1814, the Decembrist movement has taken its first steps. One after another, four associations are formed, which went down in history as pre-Decembrist ones. They had neither a charter, nor a program, nor a clear organization, nor even a definite composition, but were busy with political discussions on how to change the "evil of the existing order of things." They included very different people, who for the most part later became prominent Decembrists.

The "Order of Russian Knights" was headed by two offspring of the highest nobility - Count M.A. Dmitriev - Mamonov and Guards General M.F. Orlov. The "Orden" planned to establish a constitutional monarchy in Russia, but did not have an agreed plan of action, since there was no unanimity between the members of the "Order".

The "sacred artel" of the officers of the General Staff also had two leaders. They were the Muravyov brothers: Nikolai Nikolaevich and Alexander Nikolaevich - later the founder of the Union of Salvation. The “Holy artel” arranged its life in a republican way: one of the rooms of the officer barracks, where the members of the “artel” lived, was decorated with a “veche bell”, by the ringing of which all the “artel workers” gathered for conversations. They not only condemned serfdom, but also dreamed of a republic.

The Semyonov artel was the largest of the pre-Decembrist organizations. It consisted of 15-20 people, among whom stood out such leaders of mature Decembrism as S.B. Trubetskoy, S.I. Muravyov, I.D. Yakushkin. The artel lasted only a few months. In 1815, Alexander I found out about her and ordered "to stop gatherings of officers."

Historians consider the circle of the first Decembrist V.F. to be the fourth before the Decembrist organization. Raevsky in Ukraine. It arose around 1816 in the city of Kamenetsk - Podolsk.

All pre-Decembrist associations existed legally or semi-legally, and on February 9, 1816, a group of members of the Sacred and Semenov Artel, headed by A.N. Muravyov established a secret, first Decembrist organization - the Union of Salvation. Each of the members of the society had military campaigns of 1813-1814, dozens of battles, orders, medals, ranks, and their average age was 21 years old.

The Union of Salvation adopted a charter, the main author of which was Pestel. The objectives of the charter were as follows: to destroy serfdom and replace the autocracy with a constitutional monarchy. The question was: how to achieve this? The majority of the Union proposed to prepare such a public opinion in the country that in time would force the tsar to promulgate the constitution. A minority sought more drastic measures. Lunin proposed his plan for regicide, which consisted in having a detachment of daredevils in masks meet the tsar's carriage and finish him off with daggers. The divisions within the salvation intensified.

In September 1817, when the guards were escorting the royal family to Moscow, the members of the Union held a meeting known as the Moscow Conspiracy. Here he offered himself as the king of the killer I.D. Yakushkin. But Yakushkin's idea was supported only by a few, almost everyone "was horrified to even talk about it." As a result, the Union banned the attempt on the king "due to the scarcity of means to achieve the goal."

Disagreements led the Salvation Union to a dead end. The active members of the Union decided to liquidate their organization and create a new, more cohesive, broad and effective one. So in October 1817, the "Military Society" was created in Moscow - the second secret society of the Decembrists.

The "military society" played the role of a kind of control filter. The main cadres of the Salvation Union and the main cadres and new people who needed to be checked were passed through it. In January 1818, the "Military Society" was dissolved and the Welfare Union, the third secret society of the Decembrists, began to operate instead. This union had over 200 members. According to the charter, the Welfare Union was divided into councils. The main one was the Root Council in St. Petersburg. Business and side councils in the capital and in the regions - in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Poltava, Chisinau - were subordinate to her. All councils was 15.1820 can be considered a turning point in the development of Decembrism. Until that year, the Decembrists, although they approved of the results of the French Revolution of the 18th century, considered unacceptable its main means - the uprising of the people. Therefore, they doubted whether to accept the revolution in principle. Only the discovery of military revolution tactics finally made them revolutionaries.

The years 1824-1825 were marked by the intensification of the activities of the Decembrist societies. The task of preparing a military uprising was closely set.

It was supposed to start it in the capital - Petersburg, "like the center of all authorities and boards." On the periphery, members of the Southern Society must provide military support to the uprising in the capital. In the spring of 1824, as a result of negotiations between Pestel and the leaders of the Northern Society, an agreement was reached on unification and a joint action, which was scheduled for the summer of 1826.

During the summer camp in 1825, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and S.I. Muravyov-Apostol learned about the existence of the Society of United Slavs. At the same time, it was merged with the Southern Society.

The death of Emperor Alexander I in Taganrog on November 19, 1825, and the interregnum that arose created an environment that the Decembrists decided to take advantage of for an immediate action. Members of the Northern Society decided to start an uprising on December 14, 1825, the day on which the oath to Emperor Nicholas I was scheduled. The Decembrists were able to bring up to 3 thousand soldiers and sailors to Senate Square. The rebels were waiting for the leader, but S. P. Trubetskoy, who had been elected "dictator" of the uprising the day before, refused to appear on the square. Nicholas I pulled against them about 12 thousand troops loyal to him with artillery. With the onset of dusk, the formation of the rebels was dispersed by several volleys of buckshot. On the night of December 15, arrests of the Decembrists began. On December 29, 1825, in Ukraine, in the area of ​​the White Church, an uprising of the Chernigov regiment began. It was headed by S. I. Muravyov-Apostol. With 970 soldiers of this regiment, he made a raid for 6 days in the hope of joining other military units in which members of the secret society served. However, the military authorities blocked the region of the uprising with reliable units. On January 3, 1826, the insurgent regiment was met by a detachment of hussars with artillery and scattered with grapeshot. Wounded in the head S.I. Muraviev-Apostol was captured and sent to Petersburg. Until mid-April 1826, there were arrests of the Decembrists. 316 people were arrested. In total, more than 500 people were involved in the case of the Decembrists. 121 people appeared before the Supreme Criminal Court, in addition, there were trials of 40 members of secret societies in Mogilev, Bialystok and Warsaw. Placed “out of ranks” P.I. Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, S.I. Muraviev-Apostol and P.G. Kakhovsky were prepared for the "death penalty by quartering", replaced by hanging. The rest are divided into 11 categories; 31 people of the 1st category were sentenced "to death by cutting off the head", the rest to various terms of hard labor. More than 120 Decembrists suffered various punishments without trial: some were imprisoned in the fortress, others were placed under police supervision. In the early morning of July 13, 1826, the execution of the Decembrists sentenced to hanging took place, then their bodies were secretly buried.

Socio-political thought in the 20-50s of the XIX century.

The ideological life in Russia in the second quarter of the 19th century took place in a political situation, difficult for progressive people, of increased reaction after the suppression of the Decembrist uprising.

The defeat of the Decembrists gave rise to pessimism and despair among a certain part of society. A noticeable revival of the ideological life of Russian society takes place at the turn of the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. By this time, the currents of socio-political thought had already been clearly identified, as protective-conservative, liberal-opposition, and the foundation was laid for a revolutionary-democratic one.

The ideological expression of the protective-conservative direction was the theory of "official nationality". Its principles were formulated in 1832 by S.S. Uvarov as "Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality". The conservative-protective direction in the conditions of the awakening of the national self-consciousness of the Russian people also appealed to the "nationality". But "people" was interpreted by him as the adherence of the masses to the "original Russian principles" - autocracy and Orthodoxy. The social task of the "official nationality" was to prove the originality and legitimacy of the autocratic-feudal order in Russia. The main inspirer and conductor of the theory of "official nationality" was Nicholas I, and the Minister of Public Education, conservative professors and journalists acted as its zealous conductors. The theorists of the "official nationality" argued that Russia is dominated by best order things, agreeing with the requirements of the Orthodox religion and "political wisdom". alexander industrial empire political

"Official nationality" as an officially recognized ideology was supported by all the might of the government, preached through the church, royal manifestos, the official press, systemic public education. However, despite this, a huge mental work was going on, new ideas were born, which were united by the rejection of the Nikolaev political system. Among them, a significant place in the 30-40s was occupied by Slavophiles and Westernizers.

Slavophiles are representatives of the liberal-minded noble intelligentsia. The doctrine of the originality and national exclusivity of the Russian people, their rejection of the Western-European path of development, even the opposition of Russia to the West, the defense of autocracy, Orthodoxy.

Slavophilism is an opposition trend in Russian social thought, it had many points of contact with the opposing Westernism, rather than with the theorists of the "official nationality". The initial date for the formation of Slavophilism should be considered 1839. The founders of this trend were Alexei Khomyakov and Ivan Kireevsky. The main thesis of the Slavophiles is proof of the original way of development of Russia. They put forward the thesis: "The power of power is for the king, the power of opinion is for the people." This meant that the Russian people should not interfere in politics, leaving the monarch full power. The Slavophiles considered the Nikolaev political system with its German "bureaucracy" as a logical consequence of the negative aspects of the Petrine reforms.

Westernism arose at the turn of the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. Writers and publicists belonged to the Westerners - P.V. Annenkov, V.P. Botkin, V.G. Belinsky and others. They proved the similarity of the historical development of the West and Russia, argued that although Russia was late, it was following the same path as other countries, they advocated Europeanization. The Westerners advocated a constitutional-monarchical form of government of the Western European type. In contrast to the Slavophiles, the Westerners were rationalists, and they attached decisive importance to reason, and not to the primacy of faith. They asserted the very value of human life as a bearer of reason. The Westernizers used university departments and Moscow literary salons to propagate their views.

In the late 40s - early 50s of the XIX century, a democratic direction of Russian social thought was taking shape, representatives of this circle were: A.I. Herzen, V.G. Belinsky. This direction was based on social thought and philosophical and political doctrines that spread in the early 19th century in Western Europe.

In the 40s of the 19th century, various socialist theories began to spread in Russia, mainly those of C. Fourier, A. Saint-Simon and R. Owen. Petrashevists were active propagandists of these ideas. A young official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gifted and sociable, M.V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky, starting from the winter of 1845, began to gather on Fridays at his St. Petersburg apartment young people who were interested in literary, philosophical and political novelties. These were senior students, teachers, petty officials and novice writers. In March - April 1849, the most radical part of the circle began to form a secret political organization. Several revolutionary proclamations were written, and a printing press was purchased for their reproduction.

But at this point, the activities of the circle were interrupted by the police, who had been following the Petrashevites for about a year through an agent sent to them. On the night of April 23, 1849, 34 Petrashevites were arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress.

At the turn of the 40-50s of the 19th century, the theory of "Russian socialism" was taking shape. Its founder was A. I. Herzen. The defeat of the revolutions of 1848-1849 in Western European countries made a deep impression on him, gave rise to disbelief in European socialism. Herzen proceeded from the idea of ​​an "original" path of development for Russia, which, bypassing capitalism, would come to socialism through the peasant community.

Conclusion

For Russia, the beginning of the 19th century is the greatest turning point. The traces of this era are grandiose in the fate of the Russian empire. On the one hand, this is a life-long prison for most of its citizens, where the people were in poverty, and 80% of the population remained illiterate.

If you look from the other side, Russia at that time is the birthplace of the great, controversial, liberation movement from the Decembrists to the Social Democrats, which twice brought the country close to a democratic revolution. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia saved Europe from the destructive wars of Napoleon and saved the Balkan peoples from the Turkish yoke.

It was at this time that brilliant spiritual values ​​began to be created, which to this day remain unsurpassed (the works of A.S. Pushkin and L.N. Tolstoy, A.I. Herzen, N.G. Chernyshevsky, F.I. Chaliapin).

In a word, Russia looked extremely diverse in the 19th century, it knew both triumphs and humiliations. One of the Russian poets N.A. Nekrasov said prophetic words about her that are still true today:

You are poor

You are abundant

You are powerful

You are powerless

1. Socio-economic and political development of Russia under Alexander 1.

2. Domestic and foreign policy of Nicholas 1.

3. Reforms of Alexander 2 and their significance.

4. The main features of the country's development in the post-reform period.

By the early 19th century, Russia was the world's largest power, stretching from Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, from the Arctic to the Caucasus and the Black Sea. The population increased sharply and amounted to 43.5 million people. Approximately 1% of the population was the nobility, there were also a few Orthodox clergy, merchants, bourgeoisie, Cossacks. 90% of the population were state, landlord and specific (former palace) peasants. In the period under study, a new trend is more and more clearly manifested in the social structure of the country - the estate system is gradually becoming obsolete, the strict delimitation of estates is becoming a thing of the past. New features also appeared in the economic sphere - serfdom hinders the development of the landlord economy, the formation of a labor market, the growth of manufactories, trade, cities, which testified to the crisis of the feudal-serf system. Russia was in dire need of reforms.

Alexander 1, upon accession to the throne ((1801-1825), announced the revival of Catherine's traditions of government and restored the action of the Letters of Complaint to the nobility and cities canceled by his father, returned about 12 thousand repressed persons from disgrace from exile, opened the borders for the departure of nobles, allowed subscription to foreign publications, abolished the Secret Expedition, declared freedom of trade, announced the termination of grants from state-owned peasants to private hands.Back in the 90s under Alexander, a circle of young like-minded people formed, who immediately after his accession became part of the Unspoken Committee, which actually became the government of the country. In 1803, he signed a decree on “free cultivators,” according to which landlords could release their serfs into the wild with land for ransom by entire villages or individual families.Although the practical results of this reform were small (0.5% f.m.p.) , its main ideas formed the basis of the peasant reform of 1861. In 1804, the peasant reform was launched in the Baltic states: zd Here, the payments and the size of the duties of the peasants were clearly defined, the principle of inheritance of land by the peasants was introduced. The emperor paid special attention to the reform of the central government; in 1801 he created the Permanent Council, which was replaced in 1810 by the State Council. In 1802-1811. the college system was replaced by 8 ministries: military, maritime, justice, finance, foreign affairs, internal affairs, commerce and public education. The Senate under Alexander 1 acquired the status of the highest court and exercised control over local authorities. Of great importance were the reform projects put forward in 1809-1810. Secretary of State, Deputy Minister of Justice M.M. Speransky. Speransky's state reforms implied a clear separation of powers into legislative (State Duma), executive (ministries) and judicial (Senate), the introduction of the principle of the presumption of innocence, the recognition of voting rights for nobles, merchants and state peasants and the possibility of lower classes to move to higher ones. Speransky's economic reforms provided for a reduction in government spending, the introduction of a special tax on landowners and specific estates, the cessation of the issuance of bonds that were not backed by values, etc. The implementation of these reforms would have led to the restriction of autocracy, the abolition of serfdom. Therefore, the reforms aroused the discontent of the nobles and were criticized. Alexander 1 dismissed Speransky and exiled him first to Nizhny and then to Perm.

Alexander's foreign policy was unusually active and fruitful. Under him, Georgia was included in Russia (as a result of the active expansion of Turkey and Iran into Georgia, the latter turned to Russia for protection), Northern Azerbaijan (as a result Russian-Iranian war 1804-1813), Bessarabia (as a result of the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812), Finland (as a result of the Russian-Swedish war of 1809). The main direction of foreign policy in the early 19th century. was a struggle with Napoleonic France. By this time, a significant part of Europe had already been occupied by French troops, in 1807, after a series of defeats, Russia signed the Peace of Tilsit, which was humiliating for her. With the beginning of the Patriotic War in June 1812. The emperor was part of the active army. In the Patriotic War of 1812, several stages can be distinguished:

June 12 - August 4-5, 1812 - the French army crosses the Neman (220-160) and moves to Smolensk, where a bloody battle took place between the army of Napoleon and the united armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration. The French army lost 20 thousand soldiers and after a 2-day assault entered the destroyed and burned Smolensk.

1.13 August 5 - August 26 - Napoleon's attack on Moscow and the Battle of Borodino, after which Kutuzov leaves Moscow.

1.14 September - early October 1812 - Napoleon plunders and burns Moscow, Kutuzov's troops are replenished and rest in the Tarutino camp.

1.15 beginning of October 1812 - December 25, 1812 - by the efforts of Kutuzov's army (the battle of Maloyaroslavets on October 12) and the partisans, the movement of Napoleon's army to the south was stopped, he returns along the devastated Smolensk road; most of his army perishes, Napoleon himself secretly flees to Paris. On December 25, 1812, Alexander published a special manifesto about the expulsion of the enemy from Russia and the end of the Patriotic War.

However, the expulsion of Napoleon from Russia did not guarantee the security of the country, therefore, on January 1, 1813, the Russian army crossed the border and began pursuing the enemy; by spring, a significant part of Poland, Berlin, was liberated, and in October 1813. after the creation of an anti-Napoleonic coalition consisting of Russia, England, Prussia, Austria and Sweden, in the famous "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig, Napoleon's army was defeated. In March 1814, the allied troops (the Russian army, led by Alexander 1) entered Paris. at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. the territory of France was restored within the pre-revolutionary borders, and a significant part of Poland, together with Warsaw, became part of Russia. In addition, the Holy Alliance was created by Russia, Prussia and Austria to jointly fight the revolutionary movement in Europe.

Alexander's post-war policy changed significantly. Fearing the revolutionary impact on Russian society of the ideas of the FR, a more progressive political system established in the West, the emperor banned secret societies in Russia (1822), created military settlements 91812, secret police in the army (1821), and increased ideological pressure on the university community. However, during this period, he does not depart from the ideas of reforming Russia - he signs the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (1815), declares his intention to introduce a constitutional system throughout Russia. On his behalf, N.I. Novosiltsev developed the State charter, which contained the remaining elements of constitutionalism. With his knowledge, A.A. Arakcheev prepared special projects for the gradual emancipation of the serfs. However, all this did not change the general nature of the political course pursued by Alexander1. In September 1825, during a trip to the Crimea, he fell ill and died in Taganrog. With his death, a dynastic crisis arose, caused by the secret addition (during the life of Alexander 1) from his duties as heir to the throne, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. The Decembrists, a social movement that arose after the war of 1812, took advantage of this situation. and proclaimed the priority of the personality of a person, his freedoms over everything else as the main idea.

December 14, 1825, on the day of the oath to Nicholas 1, the Decembrists raised an uprising, which was brutally suppressed. This fact largely predetermined the essence of the policy of Nicholas 1, the main direction of which was the fight against free thought. It is no coincidence that the period of his reign - 1825-1855 - is called the apogee of autocracy. In 1826, the 3rd Department of His Imperial Majesty's own Chancellery was founded, which became the main instrument for controlling mindsets and fighting against dissidents. Under Nicholas, an official government ideological doctrine took shape - the "theory of official nationality", the essence of which its author Count Uvarov expressed in the formula - Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality. The reactionary policy of Nicholas 1 most of all manifested itself in the field of education and the press, which was most clearly manifested in the Charter of educational institutions of 1828, the University Charter of 1835, the censorship charter of 1826, and numerous bans on the publication of magazines. Among the most important events of the reign of Nicholas:

1. reform of the management of state peasants P.D. Kiselev, which consisted in the introduction of self-government, the founding of schools, hospitals, the allocation of the best land for "public plowing" in the villages of state peasants;

2. inventory reform - in 1844, committees were created in the western provinces to develop "inventories", i.e. descriptions of landowners' estates with precise fixation of peasant allotments and duties in favor of the landowner, which could no longer be changed;

3. codification of the laws of M.M. Speransky - in 1833 "PSZ RI" and "Code existing laws» in 15 volumes;

4. financial reform E.F. Kankrin, the main directions of which were the transformation of the silver ruble into the main means of payment, the issuance of credit notes freely exchanged for silver;

5. commissioning of the first railways in Russia.

Despite the tough government course of Nicholas 1, it was during the years of his reign that a broad social movement was formed in Russia, in which three main directions can be distinguished - conservative (led by Uvarov, Shevyrev, Pogodin, Grech, Bulgarin), revolutionary-democratic (Herzen, Ogarev, Petrashevsky), Westernizers and Slavophiles (Kavelin, Granovsky, the Aksakov brothers, Samarin, etc.).

In the field of foreign policy, Nicholas 1 considered the main tasks of his reign to be the expansion of Russia's influence on the state of affairs in Europe and the world, as well as the fight against the revolutionary movement. To this end, in 1833, together with the monarchs of Prussia and Austria, he formalized a political union (Holy), which for several years determined the balance of power in Europe in favor of Russia. In 1848 he broke off relations with revolutionary France, and in 1849 he ordered the Russian army to crush the Hungarian revolution. In addition, under Nicholas 1, a significant part of the budget (up to 40%) was spent on military needs. The main direction in Nicholas's foreign policy was the "Eastern Question", which led Russia to wars with Iran and Turkey (1826-1829) and international isolation in the early 50s, ending with the Crimean War (1853-1856). For Russia, the solution of the eastern question meant ensuring the security of the southern borders, establishing control over the Black Sea straits, and strengthening political influence in the Balkan and Middle Eastern regions. The reason for the war was a dispute between the Catholic (France) and Orthodox (Russia) clergy about "Palestinian shrines." In fact, it was about strengthening the positions of these camps in the Middle East. England and Austria, on whose support Russia counted in this war, went over to the side of France. On October 16, 1853, after the entry of Russian troops into Moldavia and Wallachia under the pretext of protecting the Orthodox population of the Olympic Games, the Turkish sultan declared war on Russia. England and France became allies of the Olympic Games. (November 18, 1853, the last major battle of the era of the sailing fleet - Sinop, October 54 - August 55 - siege of Sevastopol) Due to military-technical backwardness, mediocrity of the military command, Russia lost this war and in March 1856 a peace treaty was signed in Paris an agreement under which Russia lost the islands in the Danube Delta and South Bessarabia, returned Kars to Turkey, and in exchange received Sevastopol and Evpatoria, and was deprived of the right to have a navy, fortresses and arsenals on the Black Sea. The Crimean War showed the backwardness of serf Russia and significantly lowered the country's international prestige.

After the death of Nicholas in 1855. his eldest son Alexander 2 (1855-1881) came to the throne. He immediately granted amnesty to the Decembrists, Petrashevists, participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-31. and announced the beginning of an era of reform. In 1856, he personally headed the Special Secret Committee for the abolition of serfdom, later instructed the establishment of provincial committees to prepare local reform projects. On February 19, 1861, Alexander 2 signed the "Regulations on the Reform" and the "Manifesto on the Abolition of Serfdom." The main provisions of the reform:

1. serfs received personal freedom and independence from the landowner (they could not be donated, sold, bought, resettled, pledged, but their civil rights were incomplete - they continued to pay the poll tax, carried recruitment duty, corporal punishment;

2. elected peasant self-government was introduced;

3. the owner of the land in the estate remained the landowner; peasants received the established land allotment for redemption, which was equal to the annual amount of dues, increased by an average of 17 times. The state paid the landowner 80% of the amount, 20% was paid by the peasants. For 49 years, the peasants had to return the debt to the state with%. Until the redemption of the land, the peasants were considered temporarily liable to the landowner and carried the old duties. The owner of the land was the community, from which the peasant could not leave until the ransom was paid.

The abolition of serfdom made reforms in other areas of Russian society inevitable. Among them:

1. Zemstvo reform (1864) - the creation of classless elected bodies of local self-government - zemstvos. In the provinces and districts, administrative bodies - zemstvo assemblies and executive bodies - zemstvo councils were created. Elections to district zemstvo assemblies were held once every 3 years at 3 election congresses. Voters were divided into three curia: landowners, townspeople and elected from rural societies. Zemstvos solved local problems - they were in charge of opening schools, hospitals, building and repairing roads, providing assistance to the population in lean years, etc.

2. City reform (1870) - the creation of city dumas and city governments, solving the economic issues of cities. These institutions were headed by the mayor. The right to elect and be elected was limited by the property qualification.

3. Judicial reform (1864) - the class, secret court, dependent on the administration and the police, was replaced by a classless, public, competitive, independent court with the election of some judicial bodies. The guilt or innocence of the defendant was determined by 12 jurors selected from all classes. The measure of punishment was determined by a judge appointed by the government and 2 members of the court, and only the Senate or a military court could sentence to death. 2 systems of courts were established - world courts (created in counties and cities, small criminal and civil cases) and general - district courts, created within the provinces and judicial chambers, uniting several judicial districts. (political affairs, malfeasance)

4. Military reform (1861-1874) - recruiting was canceled and general military service was introduced (from the age of 20 - all men), the service life was reduced to 6 years in the infantry and 7 years in the navy and depended on the degree of education of the soldier. The system of military administration was also reformed: 15 military districts were introduced in Russia, the administration of which was subordinate only to the Minister of War. In addition, military educational institutions were reformed, rearmament was carried out, corporal punishment was abolished, etc. As a result, the Russian military forces turned into a mass army of a modern type.

In general, the liberal reforms A 2, for which he was nicknamed the Tsar-Liberator, were progressive in nature and were of great importance for Russia - they contributed to the development of market relations in the economy, an increase in the standard of living and education of the country's population, and an increase in the country's defense capability.

During the reign of A 2, a social movement reaches a large scale, in which 3 main directions can be distinguished:

1. conservative (Katkov), advocating political stability and reflecting the interests of the nobility;

2. liberal (Kavelin, Chicherin) with the demands of various freedoms (freedom from serfdom, freedom of conscience, public opinion, printing, teaching, publicity of the court). The weakness of the liberals was that they did not put forward the main liberal principle - the introduction of a constitution.

3. revolutionary (Herzen, Chernyshevsky), the main slogans of which were the introduction of a constitution, freedom of the press, the transfer of all land to the peasants and the call of the people to action. The revolutionaries in 1861 created a secret illegal organization "Land and Freedom", which in 1879 split into 2 organizations: the propaganda "Black Redistribution" and the terrorist "Narodnaya Volya". The ideas of Herzen and Chernyshevsky became the basis of populism (Lavrov, Bakunin, Tkachev), but the visits to the people organized by them (1874 and 1877) were unsuccessful.

Thus, a feature of the social movement of the 60-80s. there was a weakness of the liberal center and strong extreme groupings.

Foreign policy. As a result of the continuation of the Caucasian War (1817-1864) begun under Alexander 1, the Caucasus was annexed to Russia. In 1865-1881. Turkestan became part of Russia, the borders of Russia and China along the Amur were fixed. A 2 continued his father's attempts to solve the "Eastern question", in 1877-1878. waged war with Turkey. In matters of foreign policy, he was guided by Germany; in 1873 he concluded with Germany and Austria the "Union of the Three Emperors". March 1, 1881 A2. He was mortally wounded on the embankment of the Catherine Canal by a bomb from the People's Will I.I. Grinevitsky.

In the post-reform period, serious changes are taking place in the social structure of Russian society and the country's economy. The process of stratification of the peasantry is intensifying, the bourgeoisie, the working class are being formed, the number of intelligentsia is growing, i.e. class partitions are being erased and communities are being formed along economic, class lines. By the beginning of the 80s. in Russia, the industrial revolution is being completed - the creation of a powerful economic base has begun, the modernization of industry is being carried out, its organization on a capitalist basis.

A3 upon accession to the throne in 1881 (1881-1894) immediately announced the rejection of reformist ideas, however, his first measures continued the previous course: a mandatory redemption was introduced, redemption payments were destroyed, plans were developed for convening a Zemsky Sobor, a Peasant Bank was established, the poll tax was abolished (1882), benefits were granted to the Old Believers (1883). At the same time, A3 crushed Narodnaya Volya. With the coming to the leadership of the government of Tolstoy (1882), there was a change in the internal political course, which began to be based on "the revival of the inviolability of the autocracy." To this end, control over the press was strengthened, special rights were granted to the nobility in obtaining higher education, the Noble Bank was established, and measures were taken to preserve the peasant community. In 1892, with the appointment of S.Yu. Witte, whose program included a tough tax policy, protectionism, the widespread attraction of foreign capital, the introduction of the golden ruble, the introduction of a state monopoly on the production and sale of vodka, the "golden decade of Russian industry" begins.

Under A3, serious changes take place in the social movement: conservatism intensifies (Katkov, Pobedonostsev), after the defeat of the "people's will", reformist liberal populism began to play a significant role, Marxism spreads (Plekhanov, Ulyanov). In 1883, Russian Marxists created the Emancipation of Labor group in Geneva, in 1895 Ulyanov organized the Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class in St. Petersburg, and in 1898 the RSDLP was founded in Minsk.

Under A 3, Russia did not wage major wars (Peacemaker), but nevertheless significantly expanded its borders in Central Asia. In European politics, A 3 continued to focus on an alliance with Germany and Austria, and in 1891. signed an alliance with France.

Chapter 1. Russian Empire in late XIX- early 20th century

§ 1. Challenges of the industrial world

Features of the development of Russia in the late XIX - early XX century. Russia entered the path of modern industrial growth two generations later than France and Germany, a generation later than Italy, and about the same time as Japan. By the end of the XIX century. The most developed countries of Europe have already completed the transition from a traditional, basically agrarian society to an industrial one, the most important components of which are a market economy, a rule of law state and a multi-party system. The process of industrialization in the XIX century. can be considered a pan-European phenomenon, which had its leaders and its outsiders. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic regime created the conditions for rapid economic development in much of Europe. In England, which became the first industrial power in the world, an unprecedented acceleration of industrial progress began in the last decades of the 18th century. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain was already the undisputed world industrial leader, accounting for about a quarter of the total world industrial output. Thanks to its industrial leadership and status as a leading maritime power, it has also gained a position as a leader in world trade. The UK accounted for about a third of world trade, more than twice the share of its main rivals. Great Britain maintained its dominant position in both industry and trade throughout the 19th century. Although the model of industrialization in France differed from that in England, the result was equally impressive. French scientists and inventors held leadership in a number of industries, including hydropower (turbine construction and electricity generation), steel smelting (open blast furnace) and aluminum, automotive, and at the beginning of the 20th century. - aircraft construction. At the turn of the XX century. there are new leaders of industrial development - the United States, and then Germany. By the beginning of the XX century. the development of world civilization has accelerated sharply: the achievements of science and technology have changed the face of the advanced countries of Europe and North America and the quality of life of millions of inhabitants. Thanks to the continuous growth of output per capita, these countries have achieved an unprecedented level of prosperity. Positive demographic changes (decrease in the death rate and stabilization of the birth rate) free the industrial countries from the problems associated with overpopulation and the establishment of wages at a minimum level that ensures only existence. Feeded by completely new, democratic impulses, the contours of civil society appear, which receive public space in the subsequent 20th century. One of the most important features of capitalist development (which in science has another name - modern economic growth), which began in the first decades of the 19th century. in the most developed countries of Europe and America - the emergence of new technologies, the use of scientific achievements. This can explain the sustainable long-term nature of economic growth. So, between 1820 and 1913. the average rate of productivity growth in the leading European countries was 7 times higher than in the previous century. During the same period, their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) more than tripled, while the share of those employed in agriculture decreased by 2/3. Thanks to this leap to the beginning of the XX century. economic development acquires new distinctive features and new dynamics. The volume of world trade grew 30 times, the global economy and the global financial system began to take shape.

Despite the differences, the countries of the first echelon of modernization had many common features, and most importantly, a sharp reduction in the role of agriculture in an industrial society, which distinguished them from countries that had not yet made the transition to an industrial society. The growth of agricultural efficiency in the industrialized countries provided a real opportunity to feed the non-agricultural population. By the beginning of the XX century. a significant part of the population of industrialized countries was already employed in industry. Due to the development of large-scale production, the population is concentrated in large cities, urbanization is taking place. The use of machines and new sources of energy makes it possible to create new products that continuously enter the market. This is another difference between an industrial society and a traditional one: the emergence of a large number of people employed in the service sector.

No less important is the fact that in industrial societies the socio-political structure was based on the equality of all citizens before the law. The complexity of this type of society made it necessary for the general literacy of the population, the development of the media.

Huge Russian Empire by the middle of the XIX century. remained an agricultural country. The vast majority of the population (over 85%) lived in rural areas and was employed in agriculture. The country had one railway St. Petersburg - Moscow. Only 500 thousand people, or less than 2% of the able-bodied population, worked in factories and plants. Russia produced 850 times less coal than England, and 15–25 times less oil than the United States.

Russia's lag was due to both objective and subjective factors. Throughout the 19th century the territory of Russia expanded by about 40%, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Finland became part of the empire (although in 1867 Russia had to sell Alaska to the USA). Only the European territory of Russia was almost 5 times larger than the territory of France and more than 10 times larger than Germany. In terms of population, Russia was in one of the first places in Europe. In 1858, 74 million people lived within its new borders. By 1897, when the first All-Russian census took place, the population had grown to 125.7 million people (excluding Finland).

The vast territory of the state, the multinational, multi-confessional composition of the population gave rise to problems of effective manageability, which the states of Western Europe practically did not encounter. The development of the colonized lands required great efforts and funds. The harsh climate and the diversity of the natural environment also had a negative impact on the pace of the country's renewal. Not the last role in Russia's lagging behind European countries was played by the later transition to free ownership of land by peasants. Serfdom in Russia existed much longer than in other European countries. Due to the dominance of serfdom until 1861, most of the industry in Russia developed on the basis of the use of forced labor of serfs in large manufactories.

In the middle of the XIX century. signs of industrialization in Russia are becoming noticeable: the number of industrial workers increases from 100 thousand at the beginning of the century to more than 590 thousand people on the eve of the liberation of the peasants. The general inefficiency of management, and first of all the understanding by Alexander II (emperor in 1855–1881) that the country's military power directly depends on the development of the economy, forced the authorities to finally abolish serfdom. Its abolition in Russia took place about half a century after most European countries did it. According to experts, these 50-60 years is the minimum distance Russia lags behind Europe in economic development at the turn of the 20th century.

The conservation of feudal institutions made the country uncompetitive in the new historical conditions. Some influential politicians in the West saw Russia as a "threat to civilization" and were ready to help weaken its power and influence by all means.

"The beginning of the era of great reforms". The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) quite clearly showed the world not only the serious lag of the Russian Empire from Europe, but also revealed the exhaustion of the potential with which feudal-serf Russia entered the ranks of great powers. The Crimean War paved the way for a series of reforms, the most significant of which was the abolition of serfdom. Since February 1861, a period of transformations began in Russia, later called the era of the Great Reforms. Signed by Alexander II on February 19, 1861, the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom forever eliminated the legal affiliation of the peasants to the landowner. They were awarded the title of free rural inhabitants. Peasants received personal freedom without ransom; the right to freely dispose of their property; freedom of movement and could henceforth marry without the consent of the landowner; enter into various property and civil transactions on its own behalf; open commercial and industrial enterprises; move to other classes. Thus, the law opened up certain opportunities for peasant entrepreneurship, and contributed to the departure of peasants to work. The law on the abolition of serfdom was the result of a compromise between various forces, for this reason it did not fully satisfy any of the interested parties. The autocratic government, responding to the challenges of the time, undertook to lead the country to capitalism, which was deeply alien to it. Therefore, she chose the slowest path, made maximum concessions to the landowners, who were always considered the main support of the tsar and the autocratic bureaucracy.

The landlords retained the right to all the land that belonged to them, although they were obliged to provide the peasants with land near the peasant farmstead, as well as a field allotment, for permanent use. The peasants were given the right to buy out the estate (the land on which the yard stood) and, by agreement with the landowner, the field allotment. In fact, the peasants received allotments not for ownership, but for use until the land was completely redeemed from the landowner. For the use of the land received, the peasants had to either work off its value on the lands of the landowner (corvée), or pay dues (in money or products). For this reason, the right of peasants to choose their economic activity, proclaimed in the Manifesto, was practically impossible. Most of the peasants did not have the means to pay the landowner the entire amount due, so the state contributed money for them. This money was considered debt. The peasants had to pay off their land debts with small annual payments, called redemption payments. It was assumed that the final settlement of the peasants for the land would be completed within 49 years. Peasants who were not able to immediately redeem the land became temporarily liable. In practice, the payment of redemption payments was delayed for many years. By 1907, when redemption payments were finally completely abolished, the peasants paid over 1.5 billion rubles, which, as a result, far exceeded the average market price of allotments.

According to the law, the peasants were to receive from 3 to 12 acres of land (1 acre is equal to 1,096 hectares), depending on its location. The landlords, under any pretext, sought to cut off the surplus land from the peasant allotments; in the most fertile black earth provinces, the peasants lost up to 30-40% of the land in the form of “segments”.

Nevertheless, the abolition of serfdom was a huge step forward, contributing to the development of new capitalist relations in the country, but the path chosen by the authorities to eliminate serfdom turned out to be the most burdensome for the peasants - they did not receive real freedom. The landlords continued to hold in their hands the levers of financial influence on the peasants. For the Russian peasantry, the land was a source of livelihood, so the peasants were unhappy that they received the land for a ransom that had to be paid for many years. After the reform, the land was not their private property. It could not be sold, bequeathed or inherited. At the same time, the peasants did not have the right to refuse to buy land. The main thing is that after the reform, the peasants remained in the power of the agricultural community that existed in the village. The peasant did not have the right to freely, without agreement with the community, leave for the city, enter the factory. The community protected the peasants for centuries and determined their whole life, it was effective in the traditional, unchanging methods of farming. Mutual responsibility was maintained in the community: it carried liability for collecting taxes from each of its members, sent recruits to the army, built churches and schools. In the new historical conditions, the communal form of land use turned out to be a brake on the path of progress, holding back the process of property differentiation of the peasants, destroying the incentives for increasing the productivity of their labor.

Reforms of 1860-1870s and their consequences. The liquidation of serfdom radically changed the whole character of public life in Russia. In order to adapt the political system of Russia to the new capitalist relations in the economy, the authorities had first of all to create new, all-class management structures. In January 1864 Alexander II approved the Regulations on zemstvo institutions. The meaning of the establishment of the Zemstvos was to connect new layers of free people to the management. According to this provision, persons of all classes who owned land or other immovable property within the uyezds, as well as rural peasant societies, were granted the right to participate in the affairs of economic management through elected vowels (i.e., those with the right to vote), who were part of the uyezd and provincial zemstvos meetings convened several times a year. However, the number of vowels from each of the three categories (landowners, urban societies and rural societies) was not the same: the advantage was with the nobles. For everyday activities, district and provincial zemstvo councils were elected. Zemstvos took over the care of all local needs: the construction and maintenance of roads, the provision of food for the population, education, and medical care. Six years later, in 1870, the system of elective all-estate self-government was extended to cities. In accordance with the "City Regulations", a city duma elected for a period of 4 years according to the property qualification was introduced. The creation of a system of local self-government had a positive impact on the solution of many economic and other issues. The most important step along the path of renewal was the reform of the judiciary. In November 1864, the tsar approved a new Judicial Charter, according to which a unified system of judicial institutions was created in Russia, corresponding to the most modern world standards. Proceeding from the principle of equality of all subjects of the empire before the law, a classless public court was introduced with the participation of jurors and the institution of sworn attorneys (lawyers). TO 1870 new courts were created in almost all provinces of the country.

The growing economic and military power of the leading Western European countries forced the authorities to take a number of measures to reform the military sphere. the main objective The program outlined by Minister of War D. A. Milyutin was to create a mass army of the European type, which meant reducing the excessively high number of troops in peacetime and the ability to quickly mobilize in case of war. 1st of January 1874 signed a decree on the introduction of universal military service. Since 1874, all young people who have reached the age of 21 began to be called up to serve military service. At the same time, the service life was halved, depending on the level of education: in the army - up to 6 years, in the navy - 7 years, and some categories of the population, for example teachers, were not drafted into the army at all. In accordance with the objectives of the reform, cadet schools and military schools were opened in the country, and peasant recruits began to be taught not only military affairs, but also literacy.

In order to liberalize the spiritual sphere, Alexander II carried out an education reform. New higher educational institutions were opened, a network of elementary public schools was deployed. In 1863, the University Charter was approved, which again granted higher education institutions broad autonomy: the election of rectors and deans, the obligatory wearing of uniforms by students was abolished. In 1864, a new school charter was approved, according to which, along with classical gymnasiums, which gave the right to enter universities, real schools were introduced in the country, preparing students for admission to higher technical institutions. Censorship was limited and hundreds of new newspapers and magazines appeared in the country.

The “great reforms” carried out in Russia since the early 1860s did not solve all the tasks facing the authorities. In Russia, the educated representatives of the ruling elite became the bearers of new aspirations. For this reason, the reformation of the country went from above, which determined its features. The reforms undoubtedly accelerated the economic development of the country, liberated private initiative, removed some vestiges and eliminated deformations. Socio-political modernization carried out "from above" only limited the autocratic order, but did not lead to the creation of constitutional institutions. The autocratic power was not regulated by law. The great reforms did not touch upon the issues of either the rule of law or civil society; in their course, mechanisms for the civil consolidation of society were not developed, many class differences remained.

Post-reform Russia. The assassination of Emperor Alexander II on March 1, 1881 by radical members of the anti-autocratic organization Narodnaya Volya did not lead to the abolition of autocracy. On the same day, his son Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov became Emperor of Russia. Even as Tsarevich, Alexander III (emperor 1881-1894) believed that the liberal reforms carried out by his father weakened the autocratic power of the tsar. Fearing the escalation of the revolutionary movement, the son rejected the reformist course of his father. The economic situation of the country was difficult. The war with Turkey demanded huge expenses. In 1881, Russia's public debt exceeded 1.5 billion rubles with an annual income of 653 million rubles. Famine in the Volga region and inflation aggravated the situation.

Despite the fact that Russia retained many of the features of its cultural appearance and social structure inherent only to it, the second half of the 19th century. became a time of accelerated and noticeable cultural and civilizational transformation. From an agrarian country with low-productive agricultural production by the end of the 19th century. Russia began to turn into an agrarian-industrial country. The strongest impetus to this movement was given by the fundamental restructuring of the entire socio-economic system, which began with the abolition of serfdom in 1861.

Thanks to the reforms carried out in the country, an industrial revolution took place. The number of steam engines tripled, their total power quadrupled, and the number of merchant ships tenfold. New industries, large enterprises with thousands of workers - all this became a characteristic feature of post-reform Russia, as well as the formation of a wide layer of wage workers and a developing bourgeoisie. The social face of the country was changing. However, this process was slow. Wage workers were still firmly connected with the countryside, and the middle class was small and poorly organized.

And yet, since that time, a slow but steady process of transforming the economic and social organization of the life of the empire has been outlined. The rigid administrative class system gave way to more flexible forms of social relations. Private initiative was liberated, elected bodies of local self-government were introduced, legal proceedings were democratized, archaic restrictions and prohibitions were abolished in publishing, in the field of stage, music and fine arts. In desert places far from the center, during the lifetime of one generation, vast industrial zones arose, such as the Donbass and Baku. The successes of civilizational modernization most expressively acquired visible outlines in the guise of the capital of the empire - St. Petersburg.

At the same time, the government launched a railway construction program relying on foreign capital and technology, and also reorganized the banking system to introduce Western financial technologies. The fruits of this new policy became visible in the mid-1880s. and during the "big push" of industrial production in the 1890s, when industrial output increased by an average of 8% per year, which exceeded the highest growth rates ever achieved in the Western countries.

The most dynamically developing industry was cotton production, mainly in the Moscow region, the second most important was the production of beet sugar in Ukraine. At the end of the XIX century. large modern textile factories are being built in Russia, as well as a number of metallurgical and machine-building plants. In St. Petersburg and near St. Petersburg, the giants of the metallurgical industry are growing - the Putilov and Obukhov plants, the Nevsky shipbuilding and Izhora plants. Such enterprises are also being created in the Russian part of Poland.

A great merit in this breakthrough belonged to the railway construction program, especially the construction of the state Trans-Siberian Railway, begun in 1891. By 1905, the total length of the railway lines in Russia amounted to over 62 thousand km. The expansion of mining and the construction of new metallurgical enterprises was also given green light. The latter were often created by foreign entrepreneurs and with the help of foreign capital. In the 1880s French entrepreneurs obtained permission from the tsarist government to build a railway connecting the Donbass (coal deposits) and Krivoy Rog (iron ore deposits), and also built blast furnaces in both areas, thus creating the world's first metallurgical plant operating on the supply of raw materials from remote deposits. In 1899, there were already 17 factories operating in the south of Russia (until 1887 there were only two), equipped with the latest European technology. Coal and iron production skyrocketed (whereas in the 1870s domestic iron production met only 40% of demand, in the 1890s it served three-quarters of the vastly increased consumption).

By this time, Russia had accumulated significant economic and intellectual capital, which allowed the country to achieve some success. By the beginning of the XX century. Russia had a good gross economic performance: in terms of gross industrial production, it was in fifth place in the world after the United States, Germany, Great Britain and France. The country had a significant textile industry, especially cotton and linen, as well as a developed heavy industry - the production of coal, iron, and steel. Russia in the last few years of the XIX century. even ranked first in the world in oil production.

These indicators, however, cannot serve as an unambiguous assessment of Russia's economic power. Compared with the countries of Western Europe, the standard of living of the bulk of the population, especially peasants, was catastrophically low. The production of basic industrial products per capita lagged behind the level of the leading industrial countries by an order of magnitude: 20–50 times for coal, and 7–10 times for metal. Thus, the Russian Empire entered the 20th century without solving the problems associated with lagging behind the West.

§ 2. The beginning of modern economic growth

New goals and objectives of socio-economic development. Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was at an early stage of industrialization. The structure of exports was dominated by raw materials: timber, flax, furs, oil. Almost 50% of export operations were occupied by bread. At the turn of the XX century. Russia annually supplied abroad up to 500 million grains. Moreover, if for all the post-reform years the total volume of exports increased almost 3 times, then the export of bread - 5.5 times. Compared to the pre-reform era, the Russian economy developed rapidly, but a certain brake on the development of market relations was the underdevelopment of the market infrastructure (lack of commercial banks, difficulty in obtaining loans, dominance of state capital in the credit system, low standards of business ethics), as well as the presence of state institutions that did not compatible with a market economy. Favorable state orders tied Russian entrepreneurs to the autocracy, pushed them into an alliance with the landowners. The Russian economy remained multi-structural. Subsistence farming coexisted with the semi-feudal landlord, small-scale farming of the peasants, private capitalist farming and state (state) farming. At the same time, having embarked on the path of creating a market later than the leading European countries, Russia widely used their experience in organizing production. Foreign capital played an important role in the creation of the first Russian monopoly associations. The Nobel brothers and the Rothschild company created a cartel in the Russian oil industry.

A specific feature of the development of the market in Russia was a high degree of concentration of production and labor: the eight largest sugar refiners concentrated at the beginning of the 20th century. in their hands 30% of all sugar refineries in the country, the five largest oil companies - 17% of all oil production. As a result, the bulk of the workers began to concentrate on large enterprises with more than a thousand employees. In 1902, over 50% of all workers in Russia worked at such enterprises. Before the revolution of 1905–1907 there were more than 30 monopolies in the country, including such large syndicates as Prodamet, Gvozd, Prodvagon. The autocratic government contributed to the growth of the number of monopolies, pursuing a policy of protectionism, protecting Russian capital from foreign competition. At the end of the XIX century. duties on many imported goods were significantly increased, including for pig iron they were increased by 10 times, for rails - by 4.5 times. The policy of protectionism allowed the growing Russian industry to withstand competition from the developed countries of the West, but it led to increased economic dependence on foreign capital. Western entrepreneurs, deprived of the opportunity to import manufactured goods into Russia, sought to expand the export of capital. By 1900, foreign investments accounted for 45% of the total share capital in the country. Profitable state orders pushed Russian entrepreneurs into a direct alliance with the landowning class, doomed the Russian bourgeoisie to political impotence.

Entering a new century, the country had to solve in the shortest possible time a set of problems relating to all the main spheres of public life: in the political sphere - to use the achievements of democracy, on the basis of the constitution, laws to open access to the management of public affairs to all segments of the population, in the economic sphere - to implement industrialization of all industries, to turn the village into a source of capital, food and raw materials necessary for the industrialization and urbanization of the country, in the sphere of national relations - to prevent the split of the empire along national lines, satisfying the interests of peoples in the field of self-determination, contributing to the rise of national culture and self-consciousness, in the sphere of external economic relations - from a supplier of raw materials and food to become an equal partner in industrial production, in the sphere of religion and the church - to end the relationship of dependence between the autocratic state and the church, to enrich the philosophy, work ethic of Orthodoxy, taking into account the developments in the country of bourgeois relations, in the field of defense - to modernize the army, to ensure its combat capability through the use of advanced means and theories of warfare.

Little time was allotted for solving these priority tasks, because the world stood on the threshold of a war unprecedented in scope and consequences, the collapse of empires, the redivision of colonies; economic, scientific, technical and ideological expansion. In the conditions of fierce competition in the international arena, Russia, not gaining a foothold in the ranks of the great powers, could be thrown far back.

Land issue. Positive shifts in the economy have also affected the agricultural sector, although to a lesser extent. The feudal land ownership of the nobility was already weakened, but the private sector was not yet strong. Of the 395 million acres in the European part of Russia in 1905, communal allotments amounted to 138 million acres, treasury land - 154 million, and private - only 101 million (approximately 25.8%), of which half belonged to peasants, and the other - to landowners. characteristic feature private landownership was its latifundial character: in the hands of about 28 thousand owners, three-quarters of the entire owner's land was concentrated, an average of about 2.3 thousand dessiatins. for everyone. At the same time, 102 families owned estates of more than 50 thousand dessiatins. each. For this reason, their owners rented out lands and lands.

Formally, leaving the community was possible after 1861, but by the beginning of 1906 only 145,000 farms had left the community. Collections of basic food crops, as well as their yields, grew slowly. Per capita income was no more than half that of France and Germany. Due to the use of primitive technologies and lack of capital, labor productivity in Russian agriculture was extremely low.

One of the main factors behind the low level of productivity and income of the peasants was the egalitarian communal psychology. The average German peasant economy at that time had half as much crops, but 2.5 times more yield than in the more fertile Russian Chernozem region. Milk yields also differed greatly. Another reason for the low productivity of basic food crops is the dominance of backward crop farming systems in the Russian countryside, the use of primitive agricultural implements: wooden plows and harrows. Despite the fact that the import of agricultural machinery grew from 1892 to 1905 at least 4 times, more than 50% of the peasants of the agricultural regions of Russia did not have improved equipment. The landowners' farms were much better equipped.

Nevertheless, the rate of growth in the production of bread in Russia was higher than the rate of population growth. Compared with the post-reform period, the average annual yields of bread increased by the beginning of the century from 26.8 million tons to 43.9 million tons, and potatoes from 2.6 million tons to 12.6 million tons. Accordingly, over a quarter of a century, the mass of marketable bread increased more than twice, the volume of grain exports - 7.5 times. In terms of gross grain production, Russia by the beginning of the 20th century. was among the world leaders. True, Russia won the glory of the world grain exporter due to the malnutrition of its own population, as well as the relative smallness of the urban population. Russian peasants ate mainly plant foods (bread, potatoes, cereals), less often they consumed fish and dairy products, and even less often - meat. In general, the calorie content of food did not correspond to the energy expended by the peasants. In the event of frequent crop failures, the peasants had to starve. In the 1880s after the abolition of the poll tax and the reduction of redemption payments, the financial situation of the peasants improved, but the agricultural crisis in Europe also affected Russia, and bread prices fell. In 1891–1892 severe drought and crop failure swept 16 provinces of the Volga and Chernozem regions. About 375 thousand people died from starvation. Failures of various scales also occurred in 1896-1897, 1899, 1901, 1905-1906, 1908, 1911.

At the beginning of the XX century. in connection with the steady expansion of the domestic market, already more than half of the marketable grain went to domestic consumption.

Domestic agriculture covered a significant part of the needs of the manufacturing industry in raw materials. Only the textile and, to some extent, the woolen industries were in need of imported raw materials.

At the same time, the presence of many remnants of serfdom seriously hampered the development of the Russian countryside. Huge sums of redemption payments (by the end of 1905 the former landlord peasants paid more than 1.5 billion instead of the initial 900 million rubles; the peasants paid the same amount instead of the initial 650 million rubles for state lands) were pumped out of the village and did not go to development of its productive forces.

Already from the beginning of the 1880s. more and more clearly emerged signs of growing crisis phenomena, causing an increase in social tension in the countryside. The capitalist restructuring of the landowners' farms proceeded extremely slowly. Only a few landlord estates were centers of cultural influence on the village. Peasants were still a subordinate class. The basis of agricultural production was low-commodity family peasant farms, which at the beginning of the century produced 80% of grain, the vast majority of flax and potatoes. Only sugar beets were grown on relatively large landlord farms.

In the old-developed regions of Russia there was a significant agrarian overpopulation: about a third of the village was, in essence, "extra hands".

The growth in the size of the landowning population (up to 86 million by 1900), while maintaining the same size of land allotments, led to a decrease in the share of peasant land per capita. Compared to the norms Western countries the Russian peasant could not be called land-poor, as was commonly believed in Russia, however, under the existing system of land use, even having land wealth, the peasant was starving. One of the reasons for this is the low productivity of peasant fields. By 1900, it was only 39 pounds (5.9 centners per 1 ha).

The government was constantly involved in agricultural issues. In 1883–1886 the per capita tax was abolished, in 1882 the "Peasant Land Bank" was established, which issued loans to peasants for the purchase of land. But the effectiveness of the measures taken was insufficient. The peasantry constantly did not collect the taxes required of it, in 1894, 1896 and 1899. the government provided the peasants with benefits, fully or partially forgiving arrears. The sum of all direct fees (state, zemstvo, secular and insurance) from peasant allotment lands in 1899 amounted to 184 million rubles. However, the peasants did not pay these taxes, although they were not excessive. In 1900, the amount of arrears was 119 million rubles. Social tension in the countryside at the beginning of XX. turns into real peasant uprisings, which became the harbingers of the impending revolution.

New economic policy authorities. Reforms S. Yu. Witte. In the early 90s. 19th century In Russia, an unprecedented industrial boom began. Along with the favorable economic situation, it was caused by the new economic policy of the government.

The leader of the new government policy was the outstanding Russian reformer Count Sergei Yulievich Witte (1849–1915). For 11 years he held the key post of Minister of Finance. Witte was a supporter of the comprehensive modernization of the national economy of Russia and at the same time remained in conservative political positions. Many of the reform ideas that were put into practice in those years were conceived and developed long before Witte headed the Russian reform movement. By the beginning of the XX century. the positive potential of the reforms of 1861 was partially exhausted and partially emasculated by conservative circles after the assassination in 1881 of Alexander II. As a matter of urgency, the authorities had to solve a number of priority tasks: stabilize the ruble, develop communication routes, find new markets for domestic products.

A serious problem by the end of the XIX century. becomes scarce. Last but not least, it was connected with the population explosion that began in the country after the abolition of serfdom. The decrease in mortality while maintaining a high birth rate led to a rapid population growth, and this becomes by the beginning of the 20th century. a headache for the authorities, as a vicious circle of excess labor is formed. The low incomes of the majority of the population made the Russian market low-capacity and hindered the development of industry. Following the Minister of Finance, N. H. Bunge, Witte began to develop the idea of ​​​​continuing agrarian reform and eliminating the community. At that time, in the Russian countryside, the leveling and redistribution community prevailed, which carried out the redistribution of communal lands every 10–12 years. The threats of redistribution, as well as striping, deprived the peasants of incentives for the development of the economy. This is the most important reason why Witte turned from "a Slavophile supporter of the community into its staunch opponent." In the free peasant "I", the liberated private interest, Witte saw an inexhaustible source of development of the productive forces of the countryside. He managed to pass a law limiting the role of mutual responsibility in the community. In the future, Witte planned to gradually transfer the peasants from the communal to the household and farm economy.

The economic situation called for urgent action. The obligations assumed by the government for redemption payments to the landlords, abundant financing of industry and construction from the treasury, high costs of maintaining the army and navy led the Russian economy to a serious financial crisis. At the turn of the century, few serious politicians doubted the need for deep socio-economic and political transformations capable of relieving social tension and bringing Russia into the ranks of the most developed countries in the world. In the ongoing discussion about the ways of the country's development, the main issue is the question of priorities in economic policy.

The plan of S. Yu. Witte can be called industrialization plan. It provided for the accelerated industrial development of the country within two five years. The creation of one's own industry was, according to Witte, not only a fundamental economic but also a political task. Without the development of industry, it is impossible to improve agriculture in Russia. Therefore, no matter what efforts this may require, it is necessary to work out and unswervingly adhere to the course for the priority development of industry. The purpose of Witte's new course was to catch up with the industrialized countries, take a strong position in trade with the East, and ensure a surplus in foreign trade. Until the mid 1880s. Witte looked at the future of Russia through the eyes of a convinced Slavophile and opposed the breaking of the "originally Russian system." However, over time, in order to achieve his goals, he completely rebuilt the budget of the Russian Empire on new principles, carried out a credit reform, rightly counting on accelerating the pace of the country's industrial development.

Throughout the 19th century Russia experienced the greatest difficulties in circulation of money: the wars that led to the issuance paper money, deprived the Russian ruble of the necessary stability and caused serious damage to Russian credit in the international market. By the beginning of the 90s. the financial system of the Russian Empire was completely upset - the rate of paper money was constantly declining, gold and silver money was practically out of circulation.

The constant fluctuations in the value of the ruble came to an end with the introduction of the gold standard in 1897. The monetary reform as a whole was well conceived and carried out. The fact remains that with the introduction of the gold ruble, the country forgot about the existence of the recently “cursed” issue of the instability of Russian money. In terms of gold reserves, Russia bypassed France and England. All credit notes were freely exchanged for a gold coin. The State Bank issued them in quantities strictly limited by the actual needs of circulation. Confidence in the Russian ruble, extremely low throughout the 19th century, was fully restored in the years leading up to the outbreak of the World War. Witte's actions contributed to the rapid growth of Russian industry. To solve the problem of investments needed to create a modern industry, Witte attracted foreign capital in the amount of 3 billion gold rubles. At least 2 billion rubles were invested in railway construction alone. Railway network in short term was doubled. Railway construction contributed to the rapid growth of the domestic metallurgical and coal industries. Cast iron production increased almost 3.5 times, coal mining - 4.1 times, the sugar industry flourished. Having built the Siberian and East China railways, Witte opened vast expanses of Manchuria for colonization and economic development.

In his transformations, Witte often encountered passivity and even resistance from the tsar and his entourage, who considered him a "republican." Radicals and revolutionaries, on the contrary, hated him "for supporting the autocracy." The reformer did not find a common language with the liberals either. The reactionaries who hated Witte turned out to be right; all his activities inevitably led to the elimination of the autocracy. Thanks to "Witte's industrialization", new social forces are gaining strength in the country.

Having begun his state activity as a sincere and staunch supporter of unlimited autocracy, he ended it with the author of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which limited the monarchy in Russia.

§ 3. Russian society in the conditions of forced modernization

Factors of social instability. Due to accelerated modernization, the transition of Russian society from traditional to modern at the beginning of the 20th century. accompanied by extreme inconsistency and conflict of its development. New forms of relations in society did not fit well with the way of life of the overwhelming majority of the population of the empire. The industrialization of the country was carried out at the cost of multiplying "peasant poverty". The example of Western Europe and distant America undermines the previously unshakable authority of the absolutist monarchy in the eyes of the educated urban elite. The influence of socialist ideas on politically active youth is strong, the possibility of participation in legal public politics is limited.

Russia entered the 20th century with a very young population. According to the first All-Russian census in 1897, about half of the 129.1 million inhabitants of the country were under 20 years old. The accelerated growth of the population and the predominance of young people in its composition created a powerful reserve of workers, but at the same time, this circumstance, due to the propensity of young people to rebellion, is becoming one of the most important factors in the instability of Russian society. At the beginning of the century, due to the low purchasing power of the population, industry entered the stage of a crisis of overproduction. Entrepreneurs' incomes have fallen. They shifted their economic difficulties onto the shoulders of the workers, whose number has increased since the end of the 19th century. grew. The length of the working day, limited by the law of 1897 to 11.5 hours, reached 12-14 hours, real wages decreased as a result of rising prices; for the slightest fault, the administration mercilessly fined. Living conditions were extremely difficult. Discontent grew among the workers, the situation got out of control of the entrepreneurs. Mass political actions of workers in 1901–1902. took place in St. Petersburg, Kharkov and a number of other large cities of the empire. Under these conditions, the government showed a political initiative.

Another important factor of instability is the multinational composition of the Russian Empire. At the turn of the new century, about 200 large and small peoples lived in the country, different in language, religion, level of civilizational development. The Russian state failed, unlike other imperial powers, to reliably integrate ethnic minorities into the economic and political space of the empire. Formally, there were practically no legal restrictions on ethnicity in Russian legislation. The Russian people, which accounted for 44.3% of the population (55.7 million people), did not stand out much among the population of the empire in terms of their economic and cultural level. Moreover, individual non-Russian ethnic groups even enjoyed some advantages compared to Russians, especially in the field of taxation and conscription. Poland, Finland, Bessarabia, the Baltic States enjoyed a very wide autonomy. More than 40% of hereditary nobles were of non-Russian origin. The Russian big bourgeoisie was multinational in composition. However, responsible state posts could only be held by persons of the Orthodox faith. The Orthodox Church enjoyed the patronage of autocratic power. The heterogeneity of the religious environment created the ground for the ideologization and politicization of ethnic identity. In the Volga region, Jadidism acquires political overtones. Unrest among the Armenian population of the Caucasus in 1903 was provoked by a decree on the transfer of the property of the Armenian Gregorian Church to the authorities.

Nicholas II continued his father's tough policy on the national question. This policy found expression in the denationalization of the school, bans on the publication of newspapers, magazines and books in the native language, restrictions on access to higher and secondary educational institutions. Attempts to forcibly Christianize the peoples of the Volga region resumed, and discrimination against Jews continued. In 1899 a manifesto was issued limiting the rights of the Finnish Diet. Office work in Finnish was prohibited. Despite the fact that the requirements of a single legal and linguistic space were dictated by objective modernization processes, the tendency towards rough administrative centralization and Russification of ethnic minorities strengthens their desire for national equality, the free performance of their religious and folk customs, and participation in political life country. As a result, at the turn of the 20th century there is an increase in ethnic and interethnic conflicts, and national movements become an important catalyst for the maturing of a political crisis.

Urbanization and the labor question. At the end of the XIX century. about 15 million people lived in Russian cities. Small towns with a population of less than 50,000 people predominated. There were only 17 large cities in the country: two millionaire cities, St. Petersburg and Moscow, and five more that overstepped the 100,000 mark, and all in the European part. For the vast territory of the Russian Empire, this was extremely small. Only the largest cities, by virtue of their inherent qualities, are capable of being genuine engines of social progress.

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We continue to print the "Concept of a new educational and methodological complex for national history» from the Russian Historical Society. The fourth section - "The Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries" - is aimed at ninth grade students.

The nineteenth century was the time of social, legal, intellectual, institutional, economic restructuring of the entire European space. Corresponding changes were rapidly taking place in Russia. After the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, Russia finally became the leading player in the European arena.

Government policy was the most important factor in accelerating economic development. Gradually, the process of emancipation of the individual took place, class boundaries were “blurred”, including with the assistance of the authorities. However, for a full-scale political reform the current government was fundamentally unprepared. Preservation of the archaic class system and authoritarian model of governance hampered the socio-economic and military-technical development of the country, led to its lagging behind direct competitors, and eventually became the reason for the defeat in the Crimean War.

Unresolved problems led to the authorities realizing the need for large-scale reforms (the abolition of serfdom, zemstvo, city, judicial, military reform, education reform). They also provoked radical circles of the public to work out alternative ways of Russia's development, which involved the "dismantling" of the historically established system of relations in a revolutionary way.

It is important to avoid focusing exclusively on the activities of state power or on its opposition to “society”. The fate of the reforms largely depended on the daily interaction of the state with social forces. The Stolypin reforms became an example of such interaction and a consequence of the incompleteness of the previous transformations.

The main processes in the history of Russia unfolded against the background of the socio-political struggle, the activity of mass and national movements, which escalated during crises, including international ones (the Russo-Japanese War, the First Russian Revolution, the First World War), which partly caused the revolutionary upheavals of 1917.

In covering the history of Russia in the XIX-beginning of the XX centuries. special attention is supposed to be paid to a person, his daily practices, culture of work and consumption, legal and political culture. It is necessary to highlight new trends in the culture of various social strata, residents of the city and the countryside, the center and various regions of the country. By "culture" is meant not only "high" culture (science, literature and art), but also the sphere of everyday life, as well as "mass culture", the emergence of which was in Russia (as in other countries) one of the most important aspects of the modernization process.

In accordance with the general theoretical foundations of the Standard, it is important to show in a balanced way the national and confessional policy of the state, avoiding stereotypes (exploitation of the outskirts as colonies, on the one hand, and complete harmony of the interests of the center and the outskirts, on the other). Reality left room for both confrontation and cooperation between national elites.

World of the Russian Empire in the 19th century

The era of 1812

Projects of liberal reforms of Alexander I. External and internal factors. MM. Speransky. Patriotic War of 1812 - major event Russian and world history of the XIX century. Foreign campaigns of the Russian army. The growing role of Russia in the world after the victory over Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna. Liberal and protective tendencies. Salvation Union, Welfare Union, Northern and Southern Societies: Their Program and Tactics. The first experience of open public speech: the Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825. Reasons for defeat.

Political regime under Nicholas I: state conservatism

Formation of official ideology. Uvarovskaya triad. The problem of the correlation of "Russian" and European principles. State regulation of public life: police protection, administrative reforms, codification of laws. Formation of a professional bureaucracy. Enlightened bureaucracy: at the origins of liberal reformism. Russia and the Holy Alliance. Russian-Iranian and Russian-Turkish wars. Eastern question. The collapse of the Vienna system in Europe. Crimean War. Defense of Sevastopol. Paris Congress.

Transformations of Alexander II: liberal measures and strong power

The abolition of serfdom and the Great Reforms of the 1860-1870s: the beginning of the formation of civil society and its structures. Liberal-conservative politics and the experience of the West. The main trends of post-reform economic development. Railway construction: strengthening the unity of the empire. "The dictatorship of the heart": the politics of M.T. Loris-Melikova.

Multi-vector foreign policy of the empire. The main spheres and directions of geopolitical interests. Russian-Turkish war, liberation of Bulgaria. Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Consolidation of the status of a great power.

Autocracy of Alexander III

The ideology of the original development of Russia. Reforms and counter-reforms. The policy of conservative stabilization. Modernization and catch-up development. The accelerated development of industry. financial policy. Growing disproportions in economic development.

Local self-government and autocracy: interaction and confrontation. Independence of the judiciary and the tsarist administration.

Cultural space of the Russian Empire in the XIX century.

National roots of domestic culture and Western influences. The main styles in artistic culture: romanticism, classicism, realism. The Golden Age of Russian Literature. Formation of the Russian musical school. The rise of music and theatre. Painting: classicism, romanticism, realism. Wanderers. Architecture: Russian Empire, classicism. The growing role of art in public life. Place in the world culture of the XIX century.

Development of science and technology. Geographic expeditions (discovery of Antarctica). Schools and Universities. The rights of universities and the power of trustees. Formation of national scientific schools and their contribution to world scientific knowledge.

Literature and press. The role of the printed word in shaping public opinion. Press and censorship. structures of everyday life. Folk culture.

imperial society. Village and city

The rural world is the foundation of an empire

Traditions and innovations in the life of the village. The consequences of the peasant reform of 1861. Community land ownership. Peasant and landlord economy. The impoverishment of the "noble nests". Social types of peasants and landowners. Noble entrepreneurs.

City and its inhabitants: processes of urbanization

Moscow and Petersburg: a dispute between two capitals. Old and new cities. Industrial, trade and administrative (provincial and county) centers. The impact of urbanization on the traditional cultures of the peoples of the country. The peculiarity of the urban landscape. Typology of citizens. Estates and new social groups.

Man and society: the formation of civil legal consciousness

Class privileges and duties. Blurring class boundaries. Western Enlightenment and the Educated Minority: The Crisis of the Traditional Worldview. The evolution of noble opposition. Formation of a generation of enlightened people: from freedom for the few to freedom for all.

The main currents of social thought

Westernism and Slavophilism. "Lords of Thoughts" and "New People": Formation of the Ideology and Ethics of Left Radicalism. Narodniks and Social Democrats. "Reaction" and conservatism: attempts at disengagement. reform liberalism. Zemstvo "Fronde", underground, emigration: forms of political opposition. Intelligentsia and its characteristics. Public movement, civic initiatives and the formation of public policy.

The ethno-cultural image of the empire

Empire space. Peoples of Russia

Expansion of state borders in the XIX century. Features of administrative management in the regions. Accession of Finland. Creation of the Kingdom of Poland. Polish uprisings (1830-1831, 1863). Accession of Georgia and Transcaucasia. Caucasian war. Annexation of Central Asia. The main regions of the country (the European North, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East, the Caucasus, Central Asia). The role of national regions in the life of the empire. Interaction of national cultures and peoples.

National-religious features

The Russian Empire is a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state. Orthodox Church and major confessions (Islam, Judaism, Buddhism). National policy and the fate of the peoples of Russia.

The crisis of the empire at the beginning of the twentieth century

Dynamics and contradictions of national development

The economic growth. The new geography of the economy. Urbanization and the appearance of cities. Domestic and foreign capital, its role in the industrialization of the country. Russia is a world exporter of bread. agricultural question.

Demography, social stratification. Decomposition of class structures. Formation of new social strata. Bourgeoisie. Workers: social characteristic and the fight for rights. middle urban strata. Intelligentsia. Types of rural land tenure and economy. landowners and peasants. Shifts in peasant consciousness and psychology.

Imperial center and national regions. Ethnic elites and national-cultural movements. National parties and factions in the State Duma. The Orthodox Church and traditional religions of Russia in a changing society.

Russia in the system of international relations. Politics in the Far East. Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905.

The first Russian revolution. The beginning of parliamentarism

The struggle of professional revolutionaries with state structures. political terrorism. Forms of social protests in Russia in the late 19th-early 20th centuries.

Beginning of the First Russian revolution. "Bloody Sunday" Performances by workers, peasants, middle urban strata, soldiers and sailors. "Bulygin Constitution". All-Russian October political strike. Manifesto October 17, 1905.

Formation multi-party system. Political parties and mass movements. Right-wing monarchist parties in the struggle against the revolution. liberal parties. Left parties and organizations. national parties. Councils and trade unions. December armed uprising.

Electoral law December 11, 1905. Election campaign for the First State Duma. Fundamental State Laws April 23, 1906. Activities I and II State Duma: results and lessons.

Society and power after the revolution

Lessons of the Revolution: Political Stabilization and Social Transformation. P.A. Stolypin: program of systemic reforms, scope and results. Nicholas II and his entourage. The incompleteness of transformations and the growth of social contradictions. III and IV State Duma. Ideological and political spectrum. Public and social uplift.

"Silver Age" of Russian culture

New phenomena in fiction and art. Worldview values ​​and lifestyle. Poetry of the beginning of the XX century. Painting. "World of Art". Architecture. Sculpture. Drama theater: traditions and innovation. Music. "Russian Seasons" in Paris. The origin of Russian cinema.

Discoveries of Russian scientists. Achievements of the Humanities. Formation of the Russian philosophical school. Russia's contribution at the beginning of the 20th century. into world culture.

Education and science. Enlightenment and enlightenment: an attempt to bridge the gap between an educated society and the masses.

Concepts and terms:

Modernization, industrialization, urbanization, autocracy, bureaucracy, Slavophilism, Westernism, the theory of official nationality, populism, nihilism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism, radicalism, anarchism, Marxism, nationalism, nation, multi-party system, constitutionalism, parliamentarism, revolution, classicism, Empire, romanticism, symbolism.

Persons:

Emperors: Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III, Nicholas II.

State and military figures: M.M.Speransky, A.A.Arakcheev, M.I.Kutuzov, M.B.Barclay de Tolly, P.I.Bagration, S.S.Uvarov, A.Kh.Benkendorf, P.D. Kiselev, V.A. Kornilov, P.S. Nakhimov, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, N.A. Milyutin, D.A. Milyutin, M.T. Loris-Melikov, P.A. Valuev, M.D. Skobelev, K.P. Pobedonostsev, S.Yu. Witte, V.K. Pleve, P.A. Stolypin, S.O. Makarov.

Public figures: P.I. Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, N.M. Muravyov, P.Ya. Chaadaev, A.S. Khomyakov, I.S. Aksakov, K.S. Aksakov, I.V. Ya. Danilevsky, A.I. Herzen, P.L. Lavrov, P.N. Tkachev, M.A. Bakunin, S.L. Perovskaya, B.N. Chicherin, K.D. Katkov, K.N. Leontiev, G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Zasulich, G.A. Gapon, V.M. Purishkevich, V.V. Shulgin, P.N. A.I.Guchkov, M.V.Rodzianko, V.M.Chernov, B.V.Savinkov, Yu.O.Martov, V.I.Lenin.

Cultural figures: G.R. Derzhavin, V.A. Zhukovsky, I.A. Krylov, E.A. Boratynsky, A.S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, V. G. Belinsky, N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, I. A. Goncharov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.A. Nekrasov, F.I. Tyutchev, A.A. Fet, A.P. Chekhov, I.A. Bunin, D.S. Merezhkovsky, A.A. Blok, O.E. Mandelstam, M.I.Tsvetaeva, V.V.Mayakovsky, V.S.Soloviev, S.N.Bulgakov, N.A.Berdyaev, K.I.Rossi, A.N.Voronikhin, K.A.Ton, F. A. Shekhtel, K. P. Bryullov, I. N. Kramskoy, O. A. Kiprensky, V. A. Tropinin, V. G. Perov, I. E. Repin, V. M. Vasnetsov, V. A. Serov, M.A. Vrubel, M.I. Glinka, A.S. Dargomyzhsky, N.G. Rubinstein, P.I. Tchaikovsky, M.P. Musorsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S.V. Rachmaninov, A.N. Skryabin, F.I. Chaliapin, S.P. Diaghilev, M. Petipa, Seraphim of Sarov, Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), Ambrose of Optinsky.

Scientists: N.M. Karamzin, N.I. Lobachevsky, D.I. Mendeleev, N.N. Zinin, N.D. Zelinskiy, P.N. Yablochkov, A.N. Lodygin, A.S. Popov, N.I. Pirogov, I.I. Mechnikov, I.P. Pavlov, P.N. Lebedev, I.M. Sechenov, K.A. Timiryazev, M. M. Kovalevsky, T. N. Granovsky, M. P. Pogodin, S. M. Soloviev, V. O. Klyuchevsky, A. A. Shakhmatov, N.P. Pavlov-Silvansky, L.P. Karsavin.

Industrialists and patrons: P.M. and S.M. Tretyakovs, P.P. and V.P. Ryabushinsky, S.I. Mamontov, the Morozov dynasty, S.I. Shchukin, A.A. Bakhrushin.

Travelers: I.F. Kruzenshtern, F.F. Bellingshausen, Yu.F. Lisyansky, M.P. Lazarev, G.I. Nevelskoy, N.M. Przhevalsky.

Events/dates:

1801-1825- reign of Alexander I

1811- establishment of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

1812- Peace of Bucharest with the Ottoman Empire

1813-1814 years- Foreign campaigns of the Russian army

1815- Congress of Vienna

1817-1864- war in the North Caucasus

1821- formation of Northern and Southern societies

1824- opening of the Maly Theater in Moscow

1825- opening of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow

1825-1855 years- reign of Nicholas I

1826- discovery of non-Euclidean geometry by N.I. Lobachevsky

1828- Turkmenchay peace with Persia

1829- Peace of Adrianople with the Ottoman Empire

1837-1841- reform of the management of state peasants by P.D. Kiselev

1853-1856- Crimean War

1856- Treaty of Paris

February 19, 1861- publication of the Manifesto on the liberation of the peasants and the "Regulations on the peasants who emerged from serfdom"

1862- establishment of the St. Petersburg Conservatory

1863-1864- uprising in Poland

1864- judicial reform

1864- zemstvo reform

1866- establishment of the Moscow Conservatory

1869- discovery of the periodic law of chemical elements by D.I. Mendeleev

1870- the emergence of the "Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions"

1870- urban reform

1877-1878 years- Russian-Turkish war

1878- Congress of Berlin

1881-1894- reign of Alexander III

1881- publication of the “Regulations on Measures for the Protection of State Order and Public Peace”

1884- publication of a new university charter

1890- publication of a new Zemsky regulation

1891-1892- famine in Russia

1892- Creation of the Tretyakov Gallery

1894- an alliance with France

1894-1917- reign of Nicholas II

1897- introduction of the golden ruble

1898- formation of the Moscow Art Theater

1904-1905- Russo-Japanese War

August 6, 1905- Manifesto on the establishment of a legislative State Duma

October 17, 1905- The Supreme Manifesto on the granting of freedoms and the establishment of the State Duma

February 20 - June 3, 1907- activities of the II State Duma and the publication of the electoral law on June 3, 1907

1907- finalization of the Entente

1907-1912- work of the III State Duma

1912-1917- work of the IV State Duma

The formation of the Russian Empire happened on October 22, 1721, according to the old style, or on November 2. It was on this day that the last Russian tsar, Peter the Great, declared himself emperor of Russia. This happened as one of the consequences of the northern war, after which the Senate asked Peter 1 to accept the title of Emperor of the country. The state received the name "Russian Empire". Its capital was the city of St. Petersburg. For all the time, the capital was transferred to Moscow only for 2 years (from 1728 to 1730).

Territory of the Russian Empire

Considering the history of Russia of that era, it must be remembered that at the time of the formation of the empire, large territories were annexed to the country. This became possible thanks to the successful foreign policy of the country, which was led by Peter 1. He created a new history, a history that returned Russia to the ranks of world leaders and powers whose opinion should be reckoned with.

The territory of the Russian Empire was 21.8 million km2. It was the second largest country in the world. In the first place was the British Empire with its numerous colonies. Most of them have retained their status to this day. The first laws of the country divided its territory into 8 provinces, each of which was controlled by a governor. He had full local authority, including the judiciary. Later, Catherine 2 increased the number of provinces to 50. Of course, this was done not by annexing new lands, but by crushing them. This greatly increased the state apparatus and rather significantly reduced the effectiveness of local government in the country. We will talk about this in more detail in the corresponding article. It should be noted that at the time of the collapse of the Russian Empire, its territory consisted of 78 provinces. The largest cities in the country were:

1. Saint Petersburg.
2. Moscow.
3. Warsaw.
4. Odessa.
5. Lodz.
6. Riga.
7. Kiev.
8. Kharkov.
9. Tiflis.
10. Tashkent.

The history of the Russian Empire is full of both bright and negative moments. In this time period, which lasted less than two centuries, a huge number of fateful moments were invested in the fate of our country. It was during the period of the Russian Empire that the Patriotic War, campaigns in the Caucasus, campaigns in India, European campaigns took place. The country developed dynamically. The reforms affected absolutely all aspects of life. It was the history of the Russian Empire that gave our country great commanders, whose names are on the lips to this day not only in Russia, but throughout Europe - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov and Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. These illustrious generals forever inscribed their names in the history of our country and covered Russian weapons with eternal glory.

Map

We present a map of the Russian Empire, a brief history of which we are considering, which shows the European part of the country with all the changes that have occurred in terms of territories over the years of the existence of the state.

Population

By the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire was the largest country in the world in terms of area. Its scale was such that the messenger, who was sent to all corners of the country to report the death of Catherine 2, arrived in Kamchatka after 3 months! And this despite the fact that the messenger rode almost 200 km daily.

Russia was also the most populous country. In 1800, about 40 million people lived in the Russian Empire, most of them in the European part of the country. A little less than 3 million lived beyond the Urals. The national composition of the country was motley:

• East Slavs. Russians (Great Russians), Ukrainians (Little Russians), Belarusians. For a long time, almost until the very end of the Empire, it was considered a single people.
• Estonians, Latvians, Latvians and Germans lived in the Baltics.
• Finno-Ugric (Mordovians, Karelians, Udmurts, etc.), Altai (Kalmyks) and Turkic (Bashkirs, Tatars, etc.) peoples.
• The peoples of Siberia and the Far East (Yakuts, Evens, Buryats, Chukchi, etc.).

In the course of the formation of the country, part of the Kazakhs and Jews who lived on the territory of Poland, who, after its collapse, went to Russia, turned out to be its citizenship.

The main class in the country were peasants (about 90%). Other classes: philistinism (4%), merchants (1%), and the remaining 5% of the population were distributed among the Cossacks, the clergy and the nobility. This is the classic structure of an agrarian society. Indeed, the main occupation of the Russian Empire was agriculture. It is no coincidence that all the indicators that lovers of the tsarist regime are so proud of today are related to agriculture (we are talking about the import of grain and butter).

By the end of the 19th century, 128.9 million people lived in Russia, of which 16 million lived in cities, and the rest in villages.

Political system

The Russian Empire was autocratic in the form of its government, where all power was concentrated in the hands of one person - the emperor, who was often called, in the old manner, the king. Peter 1 laid down in the laws of Russia precisely the unlimited power of the monarch, which ensured the autocracy. Simultaneously with the state, the autocrat actually controlled the church.

An important point - after the reign of Paul 1, autocracy in Russia could no longer be called absolute. This happened due to the fact that Paul 1 issued a decree that canceled the system for the transfer of the throne, established by Peter 1. Peter Alekseevich Romanov, let me remind you, decided that the ruler himself determines his successor. Some historians today speak of the negative of this document, but this is precisely the essence of autocracy - the ruler makes all decisions, including about his successor. After Paul 1, the system returned, in which the son inherits the throne after his father.

Rulers of the country

Below is a list of all the rulers of the Russian Empire during the period of its existence (1721-1917).

Rulers of the Russian Empire

Emperor	Years of government
Peter 1	1721-1725
Catherine 1	1725-1727
Peter 2	1727-1730
Anna Ioannovna	1730-1740
Ivan 6	1740-1741
Elizabeth 1	1741-1762
Peter 3	1762
Catherine 2	1762-1796
Pavel 1	1796-1801
Alexander 1	1801-1825
Nicholas 1	1825-1855
Alexander 2	1855-1881
Alexander 3	1881-1894
Nicholas 2	1894-1917

All the rulers were from the Romanov dynasty, and after the overthrow of Nicholas 2 and the murder of himself and his family by the Bolsheviks, the dynasty was interrupted, and the Russian Empire ceased to exist, changing the form of statehood to the USSR.

Main dates

During its existence, and this is almost 200 years, the Russian Empire has experienced many important moments and events that have had an impact on the state and people.

• 1722 - Table of ranks
• 1799 - Suvorov's foreign campaigns in Italy and Switzerland
• 1809 - Accession of Finland
• 1812 - Patriotic War
• 1817-1864 - Caucasian War
• 1825 (December 14) - Decembrist uprising
• 1867 Sale of Alaska
• 1881 (March 1) the murder of Alexander 2
• 1905 (January 9) - Bloody Sunday
• 1914-1918 - World War I
• 1917 - February and October revolutions

End of the Empire

The history of the Russian Empire ended on September 1, 1917, according to the old style. It was on this day that the Republic was proclaimed. This was proclaimed by Kerensky, who by law did not have the right to do so, so declaring Russia a Republic can safely be called illegal. Only the Constituent Assembly had the authority to make such a declaration. The fall of the Russian Empire is closely connected with the history of its last emperor, Nicholas 2. This emperor possessed all the qualities of a worthy person, but had an indecisive character. It was because of this that the riots occurred in the country that cost Nicholas himself 2 lives, and the Russian Empire - existence. Nicholas 2 failed to severely suppress the revolutionary and terrorist activities of the Bolsheviks in the country. It was true that there were objective reasons. Chief among which, the First World War, in which the Russian Empire was involved and exhausted in it. The Russian Empire was replaced by a new type of state structure of the country - the USSR.