Alexander was the favorite grandson of his grandmother Catherine the Great. From the first days of his life, she single-handedly raised the boy, removing her parents from caring for her son. Thus, she went the beaten path indicated to her by her aunt Elizabeth, who did exactly the same with herself, separating her from worries about her son Paul.

And what has grown out of the boy Pavlik has grown. A person who is not only hostile to the mother, but also denies all her deeds.

Ekaterina was unable to establish contact with her son in her entire life and placed great hopes on her first-born grandson Alexander. He was good to everyone. Both in appearance and mind. In her letters, she did not skimp on enthusiastic epithets addressed to him. " I'm crazy about this little boy" "Divine baby" "My baby comes to me in the afternoon for as long as he wants and spends three or four hours a day in this way in my room" "He will be an inheritance that I will bequeath to Russia" "This is a miracle child "

The second grandson, Konstantin, could not be compared with the first and beloved. "I won't bet a dime on him"

Alexander I

The succession manifesto, written shortly after the boy's birth, was not made public, but its existence was known. Of course, depriving the direct heir of the right to the throne could have the most unexpected consequences.

Catherine, who clearly saw all the pitfalls of such a situation, was cautious and, at the very end of her reign, persuaded Paul to voluntarily sign the abdication, undertaking all sorts of detours. And with the help of his wife Maria Feodorovna and with the help of other levers, This did not strengthen trust either between mother and son, or between father and son Alexander. As you know, by the end of his life, Paul did not trust absolutely anyone. And to whom he trusted, he took advantage of this trust. That is, the scenario of the fate of this emperor was written long before the tragedy.

Alexander, on the other hand, certainly grew up two-faced and capable of a subtle diplomatic game. Maneuvering between grandmother and father brought the proper result. No wonder Napoleon was regularly enraged by his behavior. Without a shadow of embarrassment, he violated the agreements reached while maintaining a good-natured mine.

Alexander wrote about himself at the age of 13: “Egoist, if only I didn’t lack anything, I don’t care much about others. Vain, I would like to speak out and shine at the expense of my neighbor, because I don’t feel the necessary strength in myself to acquire true dignity.

At thirteen, I'm getting closer and closer to zero. what will become of me? Nothing, by the looks of it."

So, the grandmother planned a royal crown for her grandson, bypassing his father, and in a letter to Melchor Grimm said: “First we marry him, and then we crown him”

The choice of the bride was entrusted to the envoy at the small German courts, Count Rumyantsev.

He recommended for consideration the candidacies of the sisters of the princesses of Baden.
The family of Crown Prince Karl Ludwig was distinguished by its fertility. He had six daughters and one son. The older girls are twins, then daughter Louise, who at the time of the viewing has reached the age of 13, then Frederica -11 years old. these two were offered to the fourteen-year-old Prince Alexander as potential brides.

Rumyantsev gave the most brilliant characteristics to the family of applicants, their upbringing, the way of life of the Baden court, as well as the appearance and manners of the girls themselves.
Catherine was very interested in the candidates and ordered to send their portraits, but for some reason she suddenly began to rush things and sent Countess Shuvalova to Baden to negotiate the arrival of both girls in Russia in order to meet and subsequently marry one of them her boy.

At the same time, the parents were ordered to leave in their own house.
"Find a way to stop the crown prince from coming here with his wife, you'll do a good deed."

Count Rumyantsev was supposed to contribute to the fulfillment of the empress's plans.

"The princesses will remain incognito to the very Russian borders. Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, they will live in my palace, from which, I hope, one will never leave. Both will be kept at my expense"

And now two girls aged 13 and 11 say goodbye to their parental home, to their parents, get into a carriage and go to a little unfamiliar country. Louise sobbed. She even tried to jump out of the carriage, but Countess Shuvalova knew the matter strictly.

In the spring of 1793, Louise converted to Orthodoxy and was named after Elizabeth Alekseevna, and on September 28 the marriage took place. The young wife was 14, the young spouse 16.

Frederica left for her homeland, having spent time in Russia not without benefit to herself. King Gustav of Sweden, who was wooing Pavel's eldest daughter Alexandra, saw Frederica abruptly change his mind and refused to sign the marriage contract, citing the girl's unwillingness to change her religion as the reason.

In fact, Frederica took a place in his heart and later became his wife and Queen of Sweden. Although their marriage was not happy and fate did not smile for long.

But this is a different story, which had an echo of the hostility that Louise's mother-in-law Maria Fedorovna had for her daughter-in-law's family for many years. The grandmother of the crowned grandson had little time left to live, and the warmth with which she warmed the young left with her. And the cold hostility of the new emperor towards his son, who from birth was appointed as a competitor to his father, came to replace him.

Elizaveta Alekseevna gave birth to her first daughter on May 18, 1799. She was twenty years old. Alexander was happy. But in July 1800, the girl died from a severe attack of respiratory failure.

Alexander was helpful and attentive to the suffering of his wife.

Meanwhile, relations between emperor and heir became increasingly strained.

During this period, Alexander seriously considered renouncing his rights to the throne in favor of his brother Constantine. Together with Elizabeth, they began to dream of life in Europe as ordinary bourgeois.

But Pavel had already rebuilt his last Mikhailovsky castle, where he ordered the family of the heir to move.

In March 1801, Paul was killed by conspirators. Alexander fell into hysterics, and Elizabeth consoled everyone: both her husband and mother-in-law. Alexander was depressed, but mourning and coronation events were ahead. Elizabeth showed fortitude and supported her husband.

Alexander began to rule, and his wife began to travel. Entering into marriage at a very young age, Alexander very quickly lost interest in his wife. Although I did not miss a single skirt. “To love a woman, you have to despise her a little,” he said. And I have too much respect for my wife.

All his love affairs are recorded in police reports during the stay of the victorious king at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.
List of ladies. whom he honored with his attention, consists of dozens of names.
"The Emperor of Russia loves women" - Talleyrand wrote to his patron Louis XVIII

Starting from 1804, Emperor Alexander gave preference to one lady. Maria Naryshkina became his official favorite. She had a very indulgent husband, so the beautiful Polish woman led a free lifestyle.

Maria Naryshkina

According to rumors, the emperor played Naryshkina in a lottery with Platon Zubov.

In one of the meetings at the reception in winter palace Elizabeth asked Naryshkina a polite question about her health.
"Not very well," she replied, I think I'm pregnant.
And Elizabeth could only dream of a child...

The dream came true in the spring of 1806.
In early November, a daughter, Elizabeth, was born, who died at the age of one and a half years.
This was a terrible blow for the empress. For four days she held the body in her room in her arms...

In the same year, Princess Golitsina, the closest friend of Elizabeth, died of transient consumption. Elizabeth took care of her young daughter.

The royal couple had no other children in marriage.

In 1810, the youngest daughter of the emperor from Maria Naryshkina, Zinaida, died. Elizabeth is a wife, she comforts both parents: both her own husband and his beloved.
"I am a sinister bird. If I am close, then it is bad for him. For me to be close, he must be in illness, in misfortune, in danger," she writes in a letter.

Maria Fedorovna spoke about the family relations of her royal son and his wife:
"If they were married at twenty years old, they would be happy. But Elizabeth's excessive pride and lack of self-confidence prevented her from being happy in marriage"

Years passed. The emperor triumphantly entered Paris, became known as the victorious tsar, was loved by many women, sung by many poets.

March 1824 arrived. The daughter of the emperor and Maria Naryshkina, Sofia, was to marry Count Andrei Shuvalov. The emperor himself chose this groom for his only and dearly beloved eighteen-year-old daughter. The wedding was scheduled for Easter. A magnificent wedding dress was delivered from Paris. Sophia believed that she had two mothers. One is native, the other is Empress Elizabeth. Sophia wore a portrait of the Empress in a gold medallion on her chest without removing it.

Due to the illness of the girl, the wedding had to be postponed. Transient consumption did not give her the opportunity to become a wife. Upon learning of the death of his last child, the emperor said, "This is the punishment for all my delusions."

In 1826 the life of this man will end. Emperor Alexander will spend the last two years in seclusion with his seriously ill wife, leading a reclusive lifestyle.

According to many biographers, Alexander imitated his death, and he took the tonsure and went to the Siberian hermitage under the name of Fyodor Kuzmich. Elizaveta Alekseevna died five months later on the way from Taganrog, where, according to the official version, the emperor died.

sources
Valentina Grigoryan "The Romanov Princesses-Empresses"
Vallotton "Alexander the First"

Alexander I, the future Emperor of Russia and the winner of Napoleon, was born on December 12, 1777. The birth of the Tsarevich coincided with the terrible flood in St. Petersburg, which, however, remained unnoticed by members of the imperial family, who celebrated the appearance of the heir in the Winter Palace.

The godmother of the newborn was his grandmother, Catherine II, and the godfathers were the Austrian emperor Joseph II and the Prussian king Frederick the Great, who was worshiped by Alexander's father Pavel Petrovich.

Alexander, as well as his younger brother Konstantin, who was born two years later, Catherine II took to her place in Tsarskoye Selo to raise them away from their parents who lived in Pavlovsk and Gatchina. This was explained by the aggravated confrontation between mother and son, which in the 70s acquires, in connection with Paul's coming of age, already a political character. There is evidence that Paul was preparing to overthrow his mother, because he did not approve of her policy and did not forgive her for the coup and the assassination of Peter III, as a result of which she was on the throne.

Alexander's stay away from his father, under the influence of his grandmother, left an imprint on his future fate. He, of course, later accepted her worldview, which she herself sought to instill in her grandson, but he also adopted distrust and even fear towards his father. At first, Catherine independently taught the boy to count and write, and also sought to instill in him the skills of both physical labor and independence. Alexander, under the guidance of teachers, mastered agricultural work, chopping firewood, wallpapering walls, carpentry and the work of a groom.

Already at an early age, Alexander showed such character traits as pride, cunning and stubbornness. This can be explained primarily by the environment in which the Tsarevich was brought up. He witnessed a behind-the-scenes, and sometimes quite frank struggle between Catherine and the inhabitants of the Gatchina Palace. In addition, he understood that he was assigned a certain special role, and perhaps even then he knew about Catherine's plans to transfer the throne to him, bypassing Paul.

While Alexander was growing up, the ideas of universal Enlightenment, constitutionality, liberalism and humanism were gaining strength in Europe. And this also influenced the formation of the personality of the future monarch. He perfectly saw the backwardness of his own country, the slavery that remained in it and the weakness of the middle class that flourished in Europe.

The reigning empress herself personally compiled the “Instruction on the Preservation of the Health of the Royal Pets”, which should have been guided by the education of the Grand Dukes. In order to better understand the methods and principles on which Alexander's upbringing was based, we present here excerpts from it. In particular, Catherine prescribed to feed the child with the simplest food, and also indicated: “if they want to eat between lunch and dinner, give them a piece of bread”, “... so that they do not eat when they are full, and do not drink when they are not thirsty, and so that when they are full, they will not be tempted with food or drink; so that they do not drink cold when they are sweating or when they are hot, but when they are sweating they do not drink except after eating a piece of bread in advance. Further, in the chapter that speaks of the upbringing of kindness, we read “In all cases, try to instill in children philanthropy and even compassion for every creature ...”, “if they do injustice or deceit, then they should be deprived of what belongs to them, so that they feel what injustice". Children were forbidden to lie: “... if one of the pupils lies, then for the first time show surprise at how strange, unexpected and indecent an act is; if he lies again, then reprimand the guilty person and treat him coldly and with contempt, and if, more than hope, he does not calm down, then punish him as for stubbornness and disobedience. The main advantage in raising children, according to Catherine, was: “... in love for your neighbor (do not do to another what you do not want done to you), in general goodwill towards the human race, in goodwill towards all people, in affectionate and condescending treatment of all, in kindness, sincerity, in the removal of angry ardor, timidity and empty suspicion ... ". As you can see, the upbringing program was worthy and encouraged the development of the most beautiful features. Alexander I is a product of this program. Only his grandmother, he owes what he became.

A huge, if not decisive, influence on the personality of the young prince was exerted by his teacher, the Swiss La Harpe, who himself was a republican, a humanist and generally a wonderful person. He set as his goal to make enlightened people, true republicans out of his wards - Alexander and Konstantin. Strange as it may seem, Catherine II immediately approved the training program, which the young teacher presented to her for approval. And this despite the fact that at the court of La Harpe there were opponents who set the empress against. In fact, through the teachings of La Harpe, Alexander took part in the idea of ​​the French Enlightenment, which, as we know, resulted in the French Revolution. La Harpe spent 11 whole years near his august pupil, and during these years a real friendship was born between mentor and teacher. In the future, they maintained a constant correspondence, in which Alexander often asked for advice on how to act in a given situation.

Despite the fact that, in general, Alexander's childhood passed in a good environment and was devoid of serious upheavals and troubles, the situation that developed between his father and Catherine II still poisoned this sweet existence. In fact, at that time there were two courtyards that did not intersect with each other: one - in Tsarskoye Selo, where Catherine reigned supreme and where neither Pavel Petrovich nor the mother of the Grand Duke was allowed, the other - in Gatchina, with its own army, which occupied almost all the time Paul. The father demanded that the brothers participate in military service, at least in the exercises of the regiments, which he arranged with particular care. Four times a week, Alexander came to the Gatchina Palace, and during his stay here, his father tried his best to rescue his son from Catherine's influence. He did this with varying degrees of success. Drilling and reconnaissance quickly bored Alexander, but he began to be weary of the contemplative life that settled in Tsarskoye Selo.

When Alexander was 16 years old, Catherine immediately married him to Louise, a princess of Baden, only a year younger than him. At baptism, the wife of the Grand Duke received the name of Elizabeth Alekseevna. The newlyweds liked each other, but instead of love, more sympathy was established between them, their relationship was more like that of a brother and sister. All this further pushed the spouses onto the path of extramarital relations, which, however, in no way interfered with the tender feeling of affection that they carried through their entire life together and kept until their death.

Alexander was aware of his grandmother's plan to transfer the throne to him, bypassing Paul. Paul was also aware of this plan. Both father and son found themselves in an ambiguous position. Neither the Senate nor La Harpe, who was instructed to prepare his pupil for the perception of the throne, did not support this decision of the empress. Alexander himself flatly refused to rule bypassing his father. In the 1790s, Alexander's rapprochement with his father falls.

After the death of Catherine and the accession of Paul I, his relationship with his son changed. This was due to the fact that many documents were found in the archives of the late empress, indicating the intention to raise Alexander to the Russian throne, and Constantine to the Greek throne, as well as with the nature of Paul's accession itself. He had to take the throne practically by force. Immediately after the death of his mother, Pavel, together with the Gatchina troops, occupied the Winter Palace and audited the archive of the Empress, many documents from it were seized or destroyed. Alexander tried to show all his loyalty to his father and behaved passively, making no decisions regarding the struggle for his succession to the throne.

Alexander had every right to take the throne, and Paul was well aware of this. The law, adopted by Peter I, allowed the monarch to appoint a successor himself, regardless of the degree of primogeniture or origin. It was following this law that Catherine II, after the overthrow and imprisonment of her husband, declared herself empress, although according to the old laws, her young son Pavel was to become the monarch, and she would be regent until he came of age. Naturally, Paul, after accession, hastened to abolish this law, which nearly cost him the throne.

In general, the reign of Paul I can be characterized as progressive. He eliminated the liberties that his mother had granted to the Guard, in gratitude for the fact that she had placed her on the throne, and to the nobility. All the military had to return to the barracks, and the nobles were now exempt from all innate privileges. The charter to the nobility was also abolished. Everything suggests that Paul intended to solve the peasant problem as well. He understood perfectly well that the servile position of most of his subjects was not a normal phenomenon. It was Paul who forbade the sale of serfs without land (decree of 1797), the ownership of people was thus called into question.

Everyone who advanced under Catherine - her favorites and favorites were massively sent into exile or removed from their posts. Those who were in disgrace with her on the contrary returned to the court (Radishchev, Novikov).

In the army, Pavel introduced Prussian orders and military uniforms, a sharp turn took place in foreign policy - Russia began to rapprochement with France, where Napoleon Bonaparte was the first consul. In relations with Austria and England, on the contrary, cooling began.

Now Alexander lived at his father's court and was obliged to participate in all state affairs and, above all, to carry out military service, which means participating in reviews and exercises and being in the barracks all the time. From the letters that Alexander wrote to Arakcheev and La Harpe, it is clear that the future emperor was suffocating in this environment. In addition, the father suspected him of disloyalty to himself and tried his best to suppress his son.

Having made a sharp turn in domestic and foreign policy about how it was arranged under Catherine, Paul eventually set against himself the old guard, the noble oligarchy, which lived so sweetly under Catherine. Discontent was brewing in the circles of the nobility and military officers. The opposition received support from the enemies of Paul - the English and Austrian cabinets.

Even Paul's supporters at the end of his reign began to distance themselves from him. This was due to the harsh nature of the monarch, irascibility, sometimes reaching paranoia. He endlessly dismissed and appointed ministers, the features of despotism and tyranny became more and more manifest in him. He dismissed one of his most devoted supporters, Count Arkacheev, in 1801, and this was the second time. According to many researchers, the resignation of the iron count played a fatal role in the fate of Paul I. If he had not removed him from himself, then most likely Arakcheev would have revealed the conspiracy as a result of which Paul was killed. Despite the offense, Arakcheev would never change his oath, and if he knew anything about what was being prepared, he would immediately report to the emperor.

Discontent grew, the conspiracy, which spread to almost all classes, attracted more and more new members. Alexander systematically met with his friends N. Novosiltsev, P. Stroganov, A. Czartorysky. Their conversations about the structure of Russia were very reminiscent of the meetings of the Decembrists: all the same ideas of freedom, the liberalization of power, the abolition of serfdom. Alexander spoke out in favor of giving up power, that is, in fact, abolishing the monarchy and transferring all power to parliament, his friends insisted that gradual reforms should be carried out and that only the tsarist government could put everything planned into practice. Ultimately, the Grand Duke agreed that a radical transformation of Russia was necessary and that therefore power should not be relinquished. However, he believed that the reforms should not be late and that it was rather revolutionary to act. It should be noted that Alexander's wife was entirely on the side of her husband, she also suffered from the tyranny of her father-in-law and felt a brewing rebellion.

Another circle of conspirators is formed around the Zubov brothers, former favorites of Catherine II. The third circle rallies on the basis of the British embassy in Russia, Ambassador Whitworth, Olga Zherebtsova, Nikita Panin become its members. Later, the military governor of St. Petersburg, P. A. Palen, joined them.

Ultimately, all these secret societies merge into a strong opposition with Alexander at the head. Pavel fights back as best he can, because he knows about discontent in the highest echelons of power, he exiles, removes from office, he even orders La Harpe, the tutor of his son, to be brought to Russia, because he believes that it is the Swiss who are guilty of republican heresy.

Father's assassination and accession to the throne

It has been scientifically proven that back in 1800, Paul's opponents suggested that Alexander lead a conspiracy and force his father to renounce the crown by force. Alexander hesitated, his role was more passive, but over time he was more and more inclined towards a radical solution of the issue. By 1801, Alexander was at the head of the titled conspirators and supported the idea of ​​overthrowing the emperor. His only condition was the preservation of Pavel's life and G. Palen promised him this repeatedly, however, we believe that this was only a formality. Both of them understood that the living Paul, even if he signed the abdication, would be a dangerous opponent, given both his character and the love he won among the people.

The conspirators, however, wanted to get rid of not only Paul, but also the absolute monarchy in general. To do this, they prepared a draft constitution, and also sent N.P. Panin to Alexander, who was supposed to take an oath from him to introduce, if everything was resolved successfully, a constitutional order. Alexander promised them this, as the conspirators promised to spare his father's life. None of these promises were kept.

At the beginning of 1801, Paul changed greatly towards his family and surroundings. He expelled dozens of prominent nobles from the capital, harbored intentions to imprison his wife, Maria Feodorovna, in a monastery, and was going to hide both sons in prisons. He threatened Palen with a scaffold. It was clear to everyone that it was necessary to urgently take decisive action, otherwise there would simply be nothing left of the conspirators.

It is known that at the time of the seizure of power and the murder of Pavel, Alexander and his wife were in the same place - in the Winter Palace. Nine chances out of ten that he knew his father was being killed and he did nothing to stop the killers. It is known that later he repented of this, but if this happened again, we believe that he would not hesitate to do the same.

An interesting fact is that Alexander, in fact, removed from the throne not only his father, but also his mother - Empress Maria Feodorovna. Upon learning of her husband's death, she immediately hastened to take advantage of the situation and assume full power, but the conspirators prevented her from seeing her husband's body and turning to the soldiers who were drawn to the Winter Palace in order to support the coup. She did not want to recognize Alexander as emperor for anything, and in the future she was always in opposition to him.

The reign of the new Emperor Alexander I began with favors. Political prisoners were pardoned, and those who had been removed from office and expelled under the previous monarch were returned to the capital and reinstated. The troops sent by Paul to India were returned, the Secret Chancellery was abolished, censorship was relaxed, and many court cases were reviewed. Relations with foreign countries stabilized: restrictions on movement, on wearing specific clothing, and on trade were lifted. The City Regulations adopted under Catherine, the Charter to the cities and the Charter to the nobility were restored. The Russian uniform and Russian names of units and regiments returned to the army.

Starting his reign, Alexander sought to rely on existing laws, while focusing on the general humanization of the entire apparatus of power. He, we believe, firmly believed in the possibility of a constitutional order in Russia and tried to begin its implementation. Alexander intended to destroy the cruelest provisions of the Code of 1649 on the “deed and word of the sovereign”, when one word was enough, a hint of insulting the monarch, as this was followed by the death penalty. By the highest decree, all tortures, lovingly inscribed in the outline of criminal proceedings by the formidable Peter I, were canceled.

The decree of 12 December 1801 broke the nobles' monopoly on land. Now every free man could freely buy and sell land. Alexander understood that it was necessary to abolish serfdom and even hoped that this would happen during his reign, but he did not dare to abolish it. The conservative nobility, who rightly considered themselves responsible for placing Alexander on the throne, opposed the abolition of slavery with all their might.

In order to balance the influence of Palen and the Zubov brothers on their own person, who demanded constitutional changes, but in fact only wanted to be the king of the tsar, Alexander gathers around him the so-called Unspoken Committee, which consisted of close friends: Czartorysky, Novosiltsev, Kochubey. However, with the help of this circle alone it was impossible to resist the opposition, nor to develop any serious plans for the transformation of Russia. From the memoirs of the committee members, we learn that the main idea and hope of the emperor was the introduction of human rights throughout the empire, and above all the right to freedom and property. However, the effect could not be balanced. Leaving the walls of the circle, Alexander fell into the real world, in which the Senate and cabinets of ministers ruled, and the emperor alone could not resist them.

Despite the fact that the young emperor did not have the strength to carry out further liberalization, he still found them to fight the opposition. In June 1801, he removed from office the military governor of St. Petersburg Palen (who, by the way, concentrated truly unimaginable power and influence in his hands) and appointed M. I. Kutuzov instead of him, then N. P. Panin's resignation followed, at the beginning In 1802, one of the prominent conspirators P. A. Zubov left Russia. Instead of them, new faces appear on the stage - M. M. Speransky, Alexander's former teacher - Laharpe and Count Arakcheev.

On the advice of Speransky, Alexander creates State Council who was assigned the role legislature. However, in reality, power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of one emperor. Despite the fact that the State Council held some meetings and issued resolutions, in fact its power was fictitious.

As we can see, having taken the throne, Alexander is increasingly moving away from his youthful liberal views and is increasingly turning towards absolutism, albeit with a human face.

The discontent of the progressive nobility grew in the country. He did not like the creation of a cabinet of ministers, as opposed to the outdated colleges. In addition, the half-hearted and sluggish reform of the state apparatus only strengthened the bureaucracy and the treasury. N. M. Karamzin denounced the reforms in his “Note on Ancient and New Russia”, in which he criticizes the subordination of ministers directly to the emperor, as well as the system of parochialism and bribery that has grown wildly. Karamzin also mentions educational reforms (new universities were created), however, he also says that the reorganization is carried out poorly and unpreparedly. He also condemns the war with France (1805-1807), which, according to the historian, is useless for Russia. Public opinion also condemned the shameful Peace of Tilsit.

The opposition represented by the reactionary nobility also attacked Alexander. Under her pressure, he was forced to dismiss Speransky, and also to postpone the solution of the peasant question. Of course, his merit is that he canceled the distribution of state serfs to private ownership, but that's all. We believe that Alexander did not have a clear program of action on the peasant question, all this was superimposed by the pressure of the reactionaries and the indecisive nature of the emperor. As is known, under him the liberation of the serfs, which he so dreamed of in his youth, did not take place.

It is interesting that in other countries subject to him, in particular in Finland and Poland, Alexander did carry out a peasant reform! And here and there, the serfs received the will, and the people the constitution. Seeing all this, the Russian opposition trembled, because they were afraid that all this would soon happen in Russia, however, apparently, they underestimated their strength and influence on the emperor. But the Emperor hesitated. In this tangle of contradictions passes all his reign.

It seems that the introduction of the constitution and the abolition of slavery did not happen due to the fact that everyone - both the opposition, and progressive circles, and Alexander himself believed that the country was not ready for such changes. There is simply no other conclusion, how else to explain the postponement of the decision of such important issues?

Arakcheev and Alexander I

In Soviet historiography, the personality of A. A. Arkacheev was sharply criticized. This trend (in a negative assessment) was borrowed from pre-revolutionary historical literature, which was based on biographies and memoirs of figures early XIX V. Arakcheev was accused of being extremely reactionary, which had no basis. Arakcheev is an exceptionally unique figure in the entire Russian history. Neither Paul I, nor Alexander, nor his successor Nicholas knew a more devoted person.

Aleksey Andreevich Arakcheev came from a family of small estate nobles and achieved everything in his life himself. Neither his poor origin, nor poverty, from which the family practically did not crawl out, did not prevent him from reaching dizzying heights. Only strict order, self-discipline, diligence and mobilization of all forces made him what he became. He also had another wonderful quality for which everyone loved him - devotion. Loyalty to superiors and duty.

Arakcheev played a big role in restoring order in the Russian army, which led to a brilliant victory over Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812 and put our army among the best armies in Europe.

By the end of the reign of Catherine II, the army was in a state of decay, the guard existed only nominally, the nobles refused to serve, paid off the service, or sent recruits instead of themselves. Pavel tried to somehow correct the broken order and, as indicated above, returned the officers to the barracks. Alexander, having ascended the throne, proclaimed that everything would be like "at the grandmother", and was forced to return liberties to the nobility. As a result of such upheavals, there was great discord and abuse in the army. Arakcheev did not want to put up with such an order, so he began to impose discipline in the units with an iron fist. He checked the military fortresses and fortifications, the weapons of the regiments, listened to all complaints against officers and stopped arbitrariness and corporal punishment. Of course, the officers groaned, but ordinary soldiers were finally brought out of the bestial state into which Catherine's freemen had driven them.

The point of view became generally accepted that Alexander I was a wise and cunning ruler. In his activities, he relied on two completely opposite people in character and occupation, on the one hand, on the liberal Speransky, on the other, on the conservative Arakcheev. Such an impossible union, however, bore fruit, since the emperor thus received support from both the liberal and conservative strata of the population.

Arakcheev spent 5 years (1803-1808) as an artillery inspector, where he was appointed by Alexander. As a result, modern artillery personnel appeared in Russia, and the entire structure of army artillery life was reorganized.

In 1808, Alexander appointed Arakcheev Minister of War. Now the army is completely in his power, now he can deal with the eradication of theft, corruption, abuse of power and abuse of recruits. He brilliantly coped with this role.

Count Arakcheev distinguished himself during the Russian-Swedish war. We can say that it was only thanks to his decisiveness that the attack on Swedish territory took place, and the Russian army reached Stockholm. As a result of the war, Russia received Finland, and Arakcheev acquired a friend in the person of Commander Bagration. Alexander granted him the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called for success in the Russian-Swedish war, however, Arakcheev refused it, citing the fact that he himself did not personally participate in hostilities, therefore he does not see anything heroic in this.

The merit of Arakcheev is that he was able to prepare the Russian army for the impending war with Napoleon. He improved the army organization by introducing divisions of a new formation, reorganized the artillery. The Iron Count was also in charge of supply issues, only thanks to him the Russian army continued throughout Patriotic War had no interruptions in ammunition, ammunition and cavalry.

After the end of the war of 1812-1814. Alexander, in gratitude for the zeal shown during the military suffering, appointed Arakcheev field marshal. Once again, the count refused mercy, citing the fact that he did not personally participate in hostilities.

In February 1818, Arakcheev submitted to the emperor a draft peasant reform. A truly stunning document. It proposes to free the serfs from dependence and give everyone (both landlord peasants and courtyards) two tithes of land for each, up to babies! If we compare this project with the program of the Decembrists for the liberation of the peasants, then it is the latter that will turn out to be reactionary. Many provisions from Arakcheev's project formed the basis of the peasant reform of 1861!

The only negative point in the biography of Arakcheev was the military settlements, which caused a heated controversy during their creation, which, however, has not stopped to this day. We believe that the topic of military settlements requires a fairly detailed study and in-depth analysis, which is not possible within the framework of this work. We only note that the military settlements themselves cannot be assessed only from a positive or negative side. It is necessary to consider their problem comprehensively.

Alexander I and the Emperor of the French

Immediately after accession to the throne, Alexander tried to regulate the foreign policy of Russia. He establishes relations with England and the Austrian Empire, keeps warm in relation to France, however, over time, dissatisfaction with the policy pursued by Napoleon grows in him. Alexander enthusiastically welcomed the Great French Revolution, however, he sharply condemned the Jacobin terror that followed it and the seizure of power by the first consul. Napoleon begins expansion, Alexander strongly protests. The Russian emperor declared that he did not intend to interfere in the internal affairs of foreign states, however, this was a completely different matter. France behaved aggressively towards its neighbors, and this could no longer remain only its internal affair.

Russia resolutely protested Napoleon's actions in Hanover and the Kingdom of Naples. The rapprochement between Russia and Prussia begins. For objective reasons, the war by France was unprofitable for Russia, but the foreign policy interests of both countries entered into a conflict, which escalated into a war.

Alexander refused to negotiate with Napoleon, which the latter always sought. On the contrary, the Russian emperor put forward ultimatum conditions, which, he knew, France would never satisfy. In addition, he considered Napoleon a personal enemy, since he inflicted personal insults on him, in particular, he executed the Duke of Enghien, for whom Alexander was busy, and refused Alexander’s personal request to award the Order of the Legion of Honor to General Bennigsen, and also allowed the publication in a Parisian newspaper of a provocative article alluding to Alexander's participation in the assassination of Paul I.

On December 2, 1805, the Russian army, together with the Allied army, suffered a crushing defeat near Austerlitz. Alexander only narrowly escaped captivity. After that, according to contemporaries, the emperor changed a lot. He suddenly realized that Napoleon was his most sworn enemy and that every effort should be made to destroy him. The character of Alexander also changed - he became suspicious, strict and intolerant of a different opinion.

During the negotiations in Tilsit and the signing of the peace treaty, Alexander showed miracles of diplomacy. He showed affection and friendliness to Napoleon in every possible way, and the French emperor believed him and was imbued with confidence. The two monarchs even agreed on joint action regarding the blockade of England. Russia also received freedom of action in relation to Turkey and Sweden and could deal with the annexation of the Danubian principalities. In fact, the terms of the Tilsit peace were very favorable for Russia. A little later, in a conversation with Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia, Alexander opened the cards, saying that it was all just a game and that in fact he was a good friend and ally of the Prussian king.

Hood. Bergeret. Napoleon and Alexander I in Tilsit

In the spring of 1812, Russian-French relations heated up to the limit. Napoleon invaded Russia and, meeting little resistance, began to move inland. After the fall of Moscow, all the highest army and civilian officials were in favor of signing peace with Napoleon. Arakcheev, Rumyantsev, and even Alexander's brother, Grand Duke Konstantin, persuaded the emperor to conclude a peace agreement. Alexander fiercely resisted, arguing that he would retreat if necessary, as far as Kamchatka, but would give up not an inch of Russian land.

On the anniversary of the victory at Poltava, Alexander I delivered a fiery speech to the troops, urging them to devote all their strength to the fight against the invaders. He also refused to develop a plan for a general battle, believing that by retreat and delicacy he could save the army.

In July, Napoleon offers negotiations to Alexander. He evades them. In August, a new proposal follows, and again the Russian emperor leaves it unanswered.

In December 1812, the Russian army manages to turn the tide in its favor and drive the French out of Russia. It would seem that this is the end of the Patriotic War, the country is saved, you can lay down your arms. On December 12, 1812, Alexander leaves for the army and addresses the generals: “You saved more than one Russia, you saved Europe”: the emperor intends to continue the war with Napoleon, he wants his complete destruction. Britain and France, who are interested in the Russian army moving further to the West, strongly support this decision. Russian commanders, in particular Kutuzov, strongly criticized such a proposal. The death of Kutuzov to some extent untied Alexander's hands, his crusade against Napoleon continued.

After the battle of Leipzig, Napoleon begged Alexander to negotiate with him, he wrote that he was ready to make all those concessions that he refused to make in Tilsit and Erfurt. Alexander did not dignify him with an answer. After the Russian army, together with the allies, entered Paris, the heads of the allied states declared that they would not deal with any of the Bonapartes, and even more so with Napoleon himself. April 6 was followed by the abdication of the emperor of the French and his exile to the Elbe. Alexander won!

Sunset

During the war with Napoleonic France, the character of Alexander was tempered. He became inflexible, intolerant, domineering. It would seem that this is the right moment for the implementation of liberal reforms, conceived in his youth. However, the projects of peasant, state and administrative reforms were shelved, so as not to appear from there again. The foreign policy situation remained unstable: the former allies sought to push back Russia and diligently chose from her hands those threads of political power and influence that still remained. In the European arena, power was concentrated in the hands of England and Austria, where the all-powerful Metternich personally made important decisions about the structure of post-war Europe.

Domestic politics also left much to be desired. Despite the fact that the peasant reform was only on paper, rumors about it leaked out, and now the nobles are violently protesting against the liberation of the peasants. Alexander is afraid of a repetition of the March night of 1801. Secret societies begin to emerge throughout Russia, the brainchild of Alexander - military settlements cause only indignation in society, unrest begins in the army.

In fear for his life and crown, Alexander adopts a series of reactionary decrees that enslave the peasantry. Again, the nobles had the opportunity to exile serfs to Siberia, and the peasants themselves were forbidden to complain about the landowners. At the same time, censorship and persecution of the press intensified, and those press organs that tried to propagate the constitutional projects of Alexander I himself were persecuted. Runich and Magnitsky committed atrocities in the St. Petersburg and Kazan educational districts.

In the 20s of the XIX century. Alexander devotes more and more time to religion and mysticism. According to contemporaries, the fire of Moscow and the invasion of the French army into Russia greatly shocked the emperor, he often said that this was God's punishment for parricide committed with his knowledge. He never recovered from this shock.

Alexander again has ideas about abdicating the throne, from resigning his state duties, he increasingly leaves the palace and travels to the provinces or abroad, it seems that he is trying to escape from himself. In 1819, in Warsaw, he directly tells his brother Konstantin that he wants to abdicate. Since Constantine could no longer be considered the heir to the Russian throne, tk. he married not a person of the royal family, the youngest son of Paul, Nikolai, was supposed to inherit the crown. In 1823, Alexander officially confirmed that Nikolai would be his heir.

In the 1920s, Alexander repeatedly mentioned in conversations that he would like to lay down the burden of power. By 1825, this desire to escape from power takes on the character of an obsession with him. This then served to supporters of the theory of the imaginary death of the emperor to say that Alexander in reality is Fyodor Kuzmich, a hermit from Tomsk. This theory is also supported by the character of the emperor's preparations for his departure to Taganrog.

Before the trip, Alexander visited his mother, who was in Pavlovsk, and then the graves of his daughters, who died at an early age and rested in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. While in the Crimea, the emperor repeatedly spoke about resigning from his duties as ruler and about leaving for private life. Being near death and taking communion, the emperor did not give any orders regarding the heir. The latter, however, is not surprising, since only the younger brother Nikolai could be the heir, since Constantine had already signed the abdication. Alexander I died in Taganrog on December 1, 1825. His wife, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, who was always a devoted friend, soon followed her husband. She died May 4, 1826.

Alexander I

Blessed

Battles and victories

Russian emperor, the winner of Napoleon. Alexander I gracefully declined the official command of the Russian troops: “All people are ambitious; I confess frankly that I am no less ambitious ... But when I think about how little I am experienced in the art of war ... despite my ambition, I am ready to willingly sacrifice my glory for the good of the army. And after the victory over Bonaparte, he summed up: "God sent me power and victory so that I could bring peace and tranquility to the universe."

Not as a commander, but as the initiator of a steady, inexorable struggle and the organizer of the victory over the greatest commander of the era - this is how Alexander I sought to go down in history.

The eldest son of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich (later Emperor Paul I) and his second wife Maria Feodorovna, who went down in history as Alexander I Pavlovich the Blessed, was born on December 12 (23), 1777. He was brought up in the traditions of the European Enlightenment, which instilled in him faith in the theory of the social contract, in the initially good human nature, in the perniciousness of autocracy, the natural equality of all people and the beneficence of public freedoms ... All these signs of an enlightened humanist coexisted perfectly in the emperor with a jealous, painfully proud attitude towards autocratic power and himself as its bearer.

The future emperor received a fairly versatile education, studied history and literature, geography, mathematics, botany, physics, state and political science, knew foreign languages ​​- French, German, English, even Latin. However, significant gaps remained in Alexander's knowledge; in particular, in the field of military sciences, he, like many of his predecessors and successors on the Russian throne, was to a large extent fascinated by the purely external side of military affairs.

Catherine II named one of her grandsons Konstantin in honor of Constantine the Great, the other - Alexander in honor of Alexander Nevsky. This choice of names expressed the hope that Constantine would liberate Constantinople from the Turks, and the newly-minted Alexander the Great would become the sovereign of a new empire that encompassed Europe and Asia.

He grew up at the intellectual court of Catherine the Great. His tutor Swiss F. Laharpe introduced him to the principles of humanity of Rousseau, military teacher Count N.I. Saltykov - with the traditions of the Russian aristocracy, his father passed on to him his passion for the military parade. Catherine II considered her son Paul incapable of taking the throne and planned to raise his grandson Alexander to him.

Alexander owed many traits of his character to his grandmother, who took his son away from his mother and assigned him to live in Tsarskoye Selo, near her, away from his parents, who lived in their palaces (in Pavlovsk and Gatchina) and rarely appeared at the “big court”. However, the child, as can be seen from all the reviews about him, was an affectionate and gentle boy, so it was a great pleasure for the royal grandmother to mess with him.

For some time he did military service in the Gatchina troops, formed by his father; here he developed deafness in his left ear "from the strong roar of the cannons."

Immediately after the accession of Emperor Paul, Alexander Pavlovich was promoted on November 7, 1796 to the colonel of the guard. In 1797, Alexander was appointed military governor of St. Petersburg, chief of the Semyonovsky Guards Regiment, commander of the capital's garrison, chairman of the commission for food supplies, and performed a number of other duties. Since 1798, he, in addition, presided over the military department, and starting from next year- sat in the Senate.

On March 12 (24), 1801, after the assassination of his father, Paul I, he became the next Emperor of All Russia. The solemn coronation ceremony took place on September 15 (September 27), 1801 in Moscow. Alexander I also became the first Tsar of Poland (since 1815) and the first Grand Duke of Finland (since 1809).

Alexander I with his wife
Elizaveta Alekseevna

September 17 (28), 1793 Vel. Book. Alexander Pavlovich married Princess Louise of Baden, who adopted the name of Elizaveta Alekseevna (1779 - 1826) in Orthodoxy, from whom he had two daughters who died in early childhood. Having no hope for his own legitimate offspring, he will eventually transfer the right to inherit the throne to his brother Nikolai Pavlovich.

In a manifesto dated March 12, 1801, the new emperor assumed the obligation to govern the people "according to the laws and according to the heart of the reposed august grandmother of our empress Catherine the Great in Bose." In decrees, as well as in private conversations, the emperor expressed the basic rule that he would be guided by: in place of personal arbitrariness, actively establish strict legality. The emperor repeatedly pointed out the main shortcoming that the Russian state order suffered from. He called this shortcoming "the arbitrariness of our government." To eliminate it, it was necessary to develop fundamental laws, which were almost non-existent in Russia. It was in this direction that the transformative experiments of the first years were conducted.

Within a month, Alexander returned to the service all those previously dismissed by Pavel, lifted the ban on the import of various goods and products to Russia (including books and music), announced an amnesty for fugitives, restored noble elections, etc. On April 2, 1801, they were letters of grant to the nobility and cities were restored, the sinister Secret Chancellery, the organ of political investigation, was liquidated.

The military activities of Alexander I are connected primarily with the European direction of Russian foreign policy, but during his reign the empire waged victorious wars in several directions.

At first, Alexander I maneuvered between Great Britain and France in foreign policy. In 1805 - 1807. participated in anti-French coalitions. In 1807 - 1812. in Russian foreign policy there was a temporary rapprochement with Napoleonic France.

Successful wars with Iran (1804 - 1813), Turkey (1804 - 1812), Sweden (1808 - 1809), which increased the territory of the empire, are associated with the name and reign of Alexander I. Eastern Georgia (1801), Finland (1809), Bessarabia (1812), part of former Poland (the so-called Duchy of Warsaw, 1815) were annexed to Russia. The main foreign policy events of his reign were, of course, the unsuccessful participation for Russia in the 3rd (1805 - 1806) and 4th (1807) anti-French coalitions, and then - the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813 - 1814, ending with the defeat of Napoleon and the destruction of Napoleonic France. Alexander I led the anti-French coalition of European powers (1813-1814). He was one of the leaders of the Congress of Vienna (1814 - 1815), initiators and organizers of the Holy Alliance (1815 - 1854). In addition, it was Alexander who initiated the creation and strengthening of the system of military settlements, which have become a previously unknown innovation in the training and management of military personnel.

All people are ambitious; I confess frankly that I am no less ambitious ... But when I think how little experience I have in the art of war, in comparison with my enemy, and that despite my good will, I can make a mistake, from which the precious blood of my children, then, despite my ambition, I am ready to willingly sacrifice my glory for the good of the army. Let those who are more worthy of them reap the laurels.

Alexander I

War Ministry and General Staff

At the beginning of his reign, Alexander I carried out moderately liberal reforms, developed by a small circle of his associates - the Private Committee - and a prominent statesman M.M. Speransky.

On February 8, 1802, the ministerial reform was launched by the Manifesto “On the Establishment of Ministries”, 8 ministries were established, replacing the Petrine Collegiums, liquidated by Catherine II and restored by Paul I. Based on the manifesto of Emperor Alexander I, on September 8, 1802, the Ministry of the Military Ground Forces was formed, the Military Collegium that existed until that time became part of it without changes. In 1815, the ministry was renamed the "Ministry of War", which was the body of the central military administration in the Russian Empire in 1802-1917.

The ministry consisted of the artillery, engineering, inspection, provisions, commissariat, medical and audit departments, the office and "special institutions": the military scientific committee, the military topographic depot and the military printing house.

Alexander Column on Palace Square
in St. Petersburg

The Ministry of War was in charge of all branches of military administration, except for military educational institutions. It was headed by the Minister of War (until 1808 - Minister of the Army), whose power consisted in the fact that he "could compel all places and persons subordinate to him to comply with laws and institutions." Cases that required a new institution or important changes in existing ones, as well as economic matters, were considered by the ministerial council, which consisted of directors of departments and members from the generals.

In 1815, the Regulations on the administration of the military department were issued, which formed the General Staff of E. I. V., subordinate to the head of this headquarters. It included the Minister of War and inspectors of the artillery and engineering corps. All parts of the military administration were concentrated in the headquarters. The Minister of War, being subordinate to the chief of the main staff, had only the economic part in his charge; the commissariat, food and medical departments were subordinate to him, and the artillery and engineering departments - only for the use of sums. Inspectors of artillery and engineers, managing the departments, presented economic affairs to the Minister of War, and about the rest - to the Chief of the General Staff.

The minister had a deputy (comrade minister) and an office. The ministries were subdivided into departments headed by directors; departments - into departments headed by heads of departments; departments - on tables headed by head clerks. A Committee of Ministers was established to discuss matters together.

On July 12, 1810, prepared by M.M. Speransky manifesto “On the division of state affairs into special departments”, June 25, 1811 - “General establishment of ministries”, dividing all state affairs “in executive order” into five main parts, of which the organization of external security was entrusted to the military and naval ministries.

Austerlitz and Tilsit

The foreign policy activities of the new emperor at first were distinguished by extreme caution. On June 5, 1801, a Russian-English convention was signed in St. Petersburg, which ended the interstate crisis, on May 10, 1801, the Russian mission in Vienna was restored, and on September 29, 1801, a peace treaty was signed with France, with which a secret convention on the affairs of Europe, which officially ended Russia's participation in the wars of the Second Anti-French Coalition.

Alexander I, who was wary of Napoleon's actions, was inclined to England's proposals for an alliance against France in order to put a limit to its expansion in Europe. In 1804 there was a break in Franco-Russian diplomatic relations, and then Russia joined the third anti-French coalition.

In 1805, by concluding a series of treatises, a new, third anti-French coalition was actually formed, and on September 9 of the same year, Alexander left for the army. Although the commander was General M.I. Kutuzov, in fact, Alexander began to play the main role in decision-making. The main result of the tsarist intervention was the battle of Austerlitz on November 20 (December 2), 1805 - the decisive battle of the Napoleonic army against the armies of the third anti-Napoleonic coalition. It went down in history as the “battle of the three emperors”, since the armies of the emperors of Austrian Franz II and Russian Alexander I fought against the army of Emperor Napoleon I. The allied army numbered 85,400 people (60,000 Russian, 25,000 Austrian armies) and general command of General M.I. Kutuzov. Napoleon's army consisted of 73,200 men and 139 guns.

From Olmutz (now Olomouc), Kutuzov proposed to withdraw the army to the Russian border, so that after the approach of Russian reinforcements and the Austrian army from Northern Italy, go on the counteroffensive. Contrary to the opinion of Kutuzov and at the insistence of Alexander I and Franz II, encouraged by a small numerical superiority over the French, the allied armies went on the offensive. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Russians and Austrians. Kutuzov himself was wounded by a shrapnel in the cheek, and also lost his son-in-law, Count Tizenhausen. Emperor Alexander, realizing his guilt, publicly did not blame Kutuzov and awarded him in February 1806 with the Order of St. Vladimir 1st class, but did not forgive him for his defeat. In a letter to his sister dated September 18, 1812, Alexander I expressed his true attitude towards the commander: "according to the recollection of what happened at Austerlitz due to the deceitful nature of Kutuzov."

Allied losses amounted to 27,000 killed, wounded and captured (21 thousand Russians), 180 guns and 45 banners were lost. Although Alexander I bears the main responsibility for the defeat of the Russian-Austrian army at Austerlitz, serious measures were taken against a number of generals, the Novgorod Musketeer Regiment was deprived of distinction. Nevertheless, the loyal cavalry duma presented the Order of St. George, 4th class, to the Russian emperor for participation in the battle of Austerlitz.

The Battle of Austerlitz is an outstanding example of military art: the achievement of complete victory through a single simple maneuver, carried out at an unmistakably chosen moment ... And no less - the mediocrity of the command of the allied army. The result of the battle was the exit from the war of Austria and the collapse of the Third Anti-French Coalition of European Powers. Russia continued the war with France as part of the Fourth Coalition.

On November 22 (December 4), 1805, a truce was concluded, according to which Russian troops were to leave Austrian territory. On June 8 (20), 1806, a Russian-French peace treaty was signed in Paris.

In September 1806, Prussia started the war against France, and on November 16 (28), 1806, Alexander announced the entry into the war of the Russian Empire. On March 16, 1807, Alexander left for the army through Riga and Mitava, and on April 5 he arrived at General L.L. Bennigsen.

This time, Alexander interfered less than in the previous campaign in the affairs of the commander, which led to victory in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau (East Prussia, January 26-27 (February 7-8), 1807. Napoleon stood on the battlefield for 10 days Then he began a hasty retreat in the opposite direction.The Cossacks, rushing in pursuit, beat off and captured 2,000 French wounded.

On the eve of the Peace of Tilsit

Then the forces of the Russian army were diverted by the outbreak of war with the Ottoman Empire, and Napoleon received a huge numerical superiority. By the beginning of the spring campaign of 1808, he had 190,000 soldiers against 100,000 Russians. Under Heilsberg, Bennigsen successfully repelled the attack of the French army, but near Friedland, the numerical superiority of the Great Army played a decisive role. Napoleon, with 85,000 soldiers, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Russian army of 60,000. The Russian army suffered a crushing defeat, losing 15,000 men and 80 guns. The main result of Napoleon's victory in this battle was the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit. After the defeat of the Russian army in the war, Alexander I was forced to negotiate peace with Napoleon.

On June 25 (July 7), 1807, Russia concluded the Treaty of Tilsit with France, under which it recognized territorial changes in Europe, undertook to conclude a truce with Turkey and withdraw troops from Moldavia and Wallachia, join the continental blockade (severance of trade relations with England), provide Napoleon with troops for the war in Europe, as well as mediate between France and Great Britain. On October 25 (November 6), 1807, Alexander announced the severance of trade ties with England.

Victory over Sweden

In 1808 - 1809. Russian troops successfully carried out the Russian-Swedish war, annexing Finland to the Russian Empire. The reason for the war was the refusal of the King of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf to the offer of Russia to join the anti-English coalition. On February 9, 1808, Russian troops crossed the border and invaded Finland. A formal declaration of war on the Russian side followed only on March 16, 1808. Even earlier, on February 18, Russian troops entered Helsingfors; after this, Tavastgus was occupied. On March 5, 1808, the fortress of Svartholm surrendered; almost at the same time, the fortified Cape Gangut and the Aland Islands were occupied, and on April 26 Sveaborg surrendered to the Russians; the winners got 7.5 thousand prisoners, more than 2 thousand guns, huge stocks of all kinds and 110 warships.

Due to the onset of autumn, lack of food and the need to rest the troops, the Russian command accepted the Swedes' proposal for a truce, which was concluded on September 17th. But Alexander did not approve it, and the offensive resumed from the Russian side went on almost unhindered. The Swedes again began negotiations, the result of which was their retreat to Torneo, and the occupation of all of Finland in November 1808 by Russian troops.

Emperor Alexander ordered that the theater of war be immediately and resolutely moved to the Swedish coast, taking advantage of the opportunity (the rarest in the history of the usually non-freezing bay) to cross there over the ice. The northern detachment was to move to Torneo, take possession of the local stores (military depots) and follow the city of Umea to join another detachment, which was ordered to go there from Vase on the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia near the Kvarken Islands. Finally, the third detachment was to attack the Aland Islands. Then all three detachments were to move towards Stockholm. Extremely dissatisfied with the inaction of the Russian command, Alexander I sent the Minister of War Count A.A. to Finland. Arakcheev, who, arriving on February 20 in Abo, insisted on the speedy implementation of the highest will.

The northern detachment of Russian troops under the command of Count P.A. Shuvalov achieved significant success. The Grippenberg detachment that stood against him lost the city of Tornio without a fight, and then, on March 13, bypassed by Russian troops near the village of Kalix, laid down their arms. Then Count Shuvalov stopped, having received news of the truce concluded in Aland. On March 19, 1809, Emperor Alexander arrived in Abo and ordered to break the truce. In early April, Barclay de Tolly was appointed to replace Knorring. Hostilities resumed and from the Russian side were carried out mainly by the northern detachment, which on May 20 occupied the city of Umeå. The Swedish troops were partly overturned, partly retreated hastily. On September 5 (17), 1809, a peace treaty was signed in Friedrichsham; Sweden pledged to terminate the alliance with England and make peace with Russia and its allies France and Denmark, join the continental blockade, in particular, close Swedish harbors for English ships; to cede to Russia the whole of Finland, the Åland Islands and the eastern part of Vestro-Botnia up to the Torneo and Muonio rivers. From now on, the All-Russian Emperor also became the Grand Duke of Finland.

On September 15 (27), 1808, Alexander I met with Napoleon in Erfurt, and on September 30 (October 12), 1808, he signed a secret convention in which, in exchange for Moldavia and Wallachia, he undertook to act jointly with France against Great Britain. During the Franco-Austrian war of 1809, Russia, as an official ally of France, advanced to the Austrian borders the corps of General Prince. S.F. Golitsyn, however, he did not conduct any active hostilities and limited himself to meaningless demonstrations. The union was broken in 1809.

Victories over Turkey and Persia

The reason for the Russian-Turkish war of 1806 - 1812. served as the resignation in August 1803 of the rulers of Moldova - Alexander Muruzi, and Wallachia - Constantine Ypsilanti. According to Russian-Turkish treaties, the appointment and removal of the rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia were to take place with the consent of Russia.

In the principalities in 1806, the Russian troops of General I.I. Michelson numbering up to 40,000 people, which did not contradict Article 16 of the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhinsky peace (1774). On November 11, Russian troops began to cross the Dniester. The commandants of the fortresses Khotyn, Bendery, Akerman and Kiliya lost them without a fight. In the course of active hostilities on the Danube and in the Caucasus, which began in the spring of 1807, Khotyn, Bendery, Akkerman, Bucharest were occupied by Russian troops and Izmail was besieged. On March 12, 1809, when the Sultan's firman was delivered to St. Petersburg with a declaration of war, hostilities resumed and were successful for Russia.

On July 9, 1810, the Russian main forces approached Ruschuk, and on June 10 they laid siege to the Shumla fortress. The attempt of the Turks to lift the siege of Ruschuk ended on August 26 with an unfortunate battle for them at Batin, after which the Russian detachments occupied Sistov, Bela, Tyrnov and Orsova. On September 15, 1810, the Turkish fortresses Ruschuk and Zhurzha surrendered. After the fall of Ruschuk, the Russian army moved up the Danube on October 9 to capture the Ottoman fortresses up to the Serbian border. Nikopol and Turno surrendered without resistance, at the same time, a detachment of Major General Count Vorontsov captured Plevna, Lovcha, Selvi and destroyed their fortifications.

By the beginning of 1811, relations between Russia and France had become so aggravated that they foreshadowed an imminent war. To strengthen the Russian forces on the western border, Alexander I ordered Count Kamensky to separate 5 divisions from his army, send them across the Dniester, and with the rest of the troops limit themselves to the defense of the occupied fortresses. At the same time, he was ordered to hasten the conclusion of peace, but with an indispensable condition for recognizing the border along the Danube River and fulfilling the previous demands of Russia. Napoleon used every effort to prevent the conclusion of peace by Turkey.

In March 1811, the Danube Army was entrusted to General of Infantry M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov. The forces of the army he led were reduced by almost half (after the transfer of 5 divisions to the western border, about 45,000 people remained), while the Ottoman army increased to 70,000 by the spring of 1811. In view of this, Kutuzov recognized the need to act with particular caution and as he put it, "keep a modest demeanor".

At the same time, on September 1, 1811, he himself laid siege to the fortified Ottoman camp, setting up a line of redoubts that flanked the Danube. Kutuzov had a daring plan: he decided to send part of his troops to the right bank, push back the part of the Ottoman army that remained there, and thus cut off his messages from the vizier. On October 1, a Russian detachment of 5 thousand infantry, 2.5 thousand cavalry and 38 guns crossed to the right bank of the Danube. On October 2, at dawn, the Russians suddenly attacked the Ottoman troops remaining there, who, succumbing to panic fear, fled partly to Ruschuk, partly to Razgrad. The detachment, placing their batteries on the right bank, began to smash the vizier's camp. The vizier immediately turned to Kutuzov with a request for a truce, but, without waiting for an answer, he sailed by boat to Ruschuk at night. On October 3, the Russian Danube flotilla finally interrupted communications with the right bank, and the remnants of the Ottoman army, due to the depletion of all supplies, were placed in a desperate situation. On October 10 and 11, 1811, Turtukai and Silistria were occupied by units of the 15th division. At the same time, the actions against the other Turkish army were successful and ended with its retreat to Sofia.

As a result of skillful diplomatic actions, M.I. Kutuzov, the Ottoman government inclined to sign a peace treaty, which was concluded on May 16, 1812 in Bucharest. passed to Russia East End Moldavian Principality - the territory of the Prut-Dniester interfluve, which later received the status of the Bessarabia region. The border in Europe was transferred from the Dniester River to the Prut before its connection with the Danube, and the freedom of Russian merchant navigation along this river was ensured. The Danube principalities were returned to Turkey, but their autonomy was confirmed, granted on the basis of the Kyuchuk-Kaynarji (1774) and Yassky (1791) peace treaties. Serbia was granted internal autonomy and the right for Serbian officials to collect taxes in favor of the Sultan. In Transcaucasia, Türkiye recognized the expansion of Russian possessions, but the fortress of Anapa was returned to it.

In 1804 - 1813 Russia also waged war with Persia, the reason for which was the accession of Eastern Georgia to Russia, adopted by Paul I. On September 12, 1801, Alexander I signed the "Manifesto on the establishment of a new government in Georgia", according to which the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was part of Russia and became the Georgian province of the empire. Then the Baku, Cuban, Dagestan and other khanates voluntarily joined. In 1803 Mengrelia and the Kingdom of Imereti joined the empire. On January 3, 1804, the Russian troops launched a victorious assault on Ganja, as a result of which the Ganja Khanate was liquidated and included in the Russian Empire.

In connection with the significant strengthening of Russian positions in the Caucasus, the Persian Shah Feth-Ali, who entered into an alliance with Great Britain, on June 10, 1804 declared war on Russia.

On May 14, 1805, the Kurekchay Treaty was signed between Russia and the Karabakh Khanate, under the terms of which the Khan, his heirs and the entire population of the Khanate passed under the rule of Russia. Following this, on May 21, 1805, a similar agreement was signed with the ruler of the Sheki Khanate, Selim Khan, who expressed a desire to enter Russian citizenship.

In the summer of 1806, Russian troops defeated the Persians at Karakapet (Karabakh), and conquered the Derbent, Baku (Baku) and Cuban khanates (Cuba). The Russian-Turkish war that began in November 1806 forced the Russian command to conclude in the winter of 1806-1807. Uzun-Kilis truce with the Persians. But in May 1807, Shah Feth-Ali entered into an anti-Russian alliance with Napoleonic France, and in 1808 hostilities resumed. The Russians took Etchmiadzin, in October 1808 they defeated the Persians at Karababe (south of Lake Sevan) and occupied Nakhichevan.

Persia broke the treaty with France and restored the alliance with Great Britain, which initiated the conclusion of the Persian-Turkish agreement on joint operations on the Caucasian front. In May 1810, the Persian army invaded Karabakh, but a small Russian detachment defeated it at the Migri fortress (June) and on the Araks River (July), in September the Persians were defeated near Akhalkalaki, and thus the Russian troops prevented the Persians from connecting with the Turks . At the end of 1810, after fruitless negotiations with the Persians, hostilities in Transcaucasia resumed and, in general, were favorable, and after the defeat of the enemy near Akhalkalaki, the Persians again began negotiations for peace.

In January 1812, after the end of the Russian-Turkish war, Persia also began to lean towards reconciliation with Russia. But the news of Napoleon I's entry into Moscow strengthened the military party at the Shah's court, prompting the Persian army to invade the Karabakh Khanate. Russian troops under the command of P.S. Kotlyarevsky, crossing the Araks, on October 19 - 20 (October 31 - November 1), 1812, they defeated the many times superior forces of the Persians at the Aslanduz ford, and on January 1 (13), 1813, after a five-day siege and shelling, during a fierce assault took the Lankaran fortress, despite the numerical superiority of the Persian garrison. The Shah had to enter into peace negotiations.

The Russian-Persian war ended with the signing of the Gulistan Peace Treaty on October 12 (24), 1813, according to which Persia recognized the entry into the Russian Empire of Eastern Georgia and Northern Azerbaijan, Imeretia, Guria, Mengrelia and Abkhazia; Russia also received the exclusive right to maintain a navy in the Caspian Sea.

1812 victory

But the central event of the reign of Alexander I was, of course, the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army that followed it.

The impending irreconcilable and fierce struggle with the newly-minted conqueror of the world was well realized by the tsar many years before the fatal crossing over the Neman. Long before the invasion of the Great Army into Russia, Alexander I inspires his sister with a veil. book. Maria Pavlovna: “There is no place in Europe for both of us. Sooner or later, one of us has to leave." Another sister led. book. In 1808, Alexander I wrote to Catherine Pavlovna from Erfurt: “Bonaparte imagines that I am nothing but a fool. He laughs who laughs last."

In the run-up to Napoleon's invasion, Russia conducted active diplomatic and intelligence preparations for war.

In January 1812, Napoleon occupied Swedish Pomerania, pushing Sweden towards an alliance with Russia, and in April of the same year a Russian-Swedish alliance treaty was concluded. In the spring of 1812, as a result of secret negotiations between Russian diplomats and the Austrians, they made it clear that they would not be zealous for the good of Napoleon, and their army would not go far from the Austro-Russian border.

1991

After the French attack on July 18, 1812, Russia and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Örebrus, which ended the sluggish Anglo-Russian war that began after Russia joined the continental blockade. The Peace of Erebrus restored friendly and trade relations on the basis of the principle of "most favored nation", provided for mutual assistance in the event of an attack by a third power. The English army was involved in fighting the French in Spain. Spain, having connected 200-300 thousand French soldiers with partisan resistance, indirectly provided assistance to Russia. On July 8 (20), 1812, in Velikiye Luki, a plenipotentiary representative of the Russian government signed an alliance treaty with a representative of the Spanish Supreme Junta. However, Russia's allies did not participate in the war on Russian territory.

Incomparably more significant were the forces of Napoleonic France, its allies and satellites. The major European powers, Austria and Prussia, acted as allied states to Napoleon; followed by Switzerland. The vassals of Napoleonic France were the Duchy of Warsaw, Spain, Italy, the principalities of the Rhine Union captured by the French. After midnight on June 12 (24), 1812, the crossing of the French troops across the border Neman began along the four bridges built above Kovno, and already at 6 o’clock in the morning of this date, the vanguard of the French troops entered the Russian fortress of Kovno. On the evening of the day when the Great Army launched an invasion of Russia, Emperor Alexander I was at a ball at the Zakret estate of General Bennigsen near Vilna, where he was informed about the start of the war.

On June 13 (25), the emperor gave an order to the army:

From a long time ago, WE noticed the hostile actions of the French Emperor against Russia, but we always hoped to reject them in meek and peaceful ways. Finally, seeing the incessant renewal of obvious insults, with all OUR desire to maintain silence, WE were forced to take up arms and gather OUR troops; but even then, still caressing reconciliation, they remained within the boundaries of OUR Empire, not violating the peace, but being only ready for defense. All these measures of meekness and peacefulness could not keep the tranquility we desired. The French Emperor, by attacking OUR troops at Kovne, opened the first war. And so, seeing him by no means adamant to the world, there remains for us nothing else than calling for the help of the Witness and Defender of the truth, the Almighty Creator of heaven, to put OUR forces against the forces of the enemy. I do not need to remind OUR leaders, generals and warriors of their duty and courage. Since ancient times, the loud victories of the blood of the Slavs have been flowing in them. Warriors! You defend faith, Fatherland, freedom. I'm with you. For a beginner God.

Alexander also issued a manifesto on the outbreak of war with France, which ended with the words: "I will not lay down my arms until not a single enemy warrior remains in my kingdom." To the French colonel Michaud, sent to him by Napoleon at the beginning of the war, he said: "Napoleon or I, I or he, but together we cannot reign."

Then Alexander sent A.D. to Napoleon. Balashov with a proposal to start negotiations on the condition that the French troops leave the empire. On June 13 (25) the tsar departed for Sventsiany.

By 1811, the French empire with its vassal states totaled 71 million people. population of 172 million who inhabited Europe. At the initial stage, Napoleon was able to gather in a campaign against Russia, according to various sources, from 400 to 450 thousand soldiers, of which the French themselves made up half. Representatives of 16 different nationalities took part in the campaign against Russia, the most numerous were Germans and Poles. On the basis of allied agreements with France, Austria and Prussia allocated 30 and 20 thousand troops, respectively. After the invasion, units of up to 20 thousand were added to the Great Army, formed from the inhabitants of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Napoleon had reserves: from 130 to 220 thousand soldiers in the garrisons of Central Europe (of which 70 thousand in the 9th (Victor) and 11th (Augereau) reserve corps in Prussia) and 100 thousand of the National Guard of France, which legally could not fight outside the country. In anticipation of a military clash, the French command along the Vistula River from Warsaw to Danzig created large artillery and food depots. Danzig became the largest center for supplying troops, in which by January 1812 there was a supply of food for 50 days for 400 thousand people. and 50 thousand horses.

Napoleon concentrated the main forces in three groups, which, according to the plan, were to surround and destroy the armies of Barclay and Bagration in parts. The left (218 thousand people) was headed by Napoleon himself, the central (82 thousand people) - by his stepson, Viceroy of Italy Eugene Beauharnais, the right (78 thousand people) - by the younger brother in the Bonaparte family, King of Westphalia Jerome Bonaparte . In addition to the main forces, against Wittgenstein, on the left flank, the corps of Jacques Macdonald was located in 32.5 thousand people, and in the south - on the right flank - the allied corps of Karl Schwarzenberg, numbering 34 thousand people.

The goals of the Russian campaign for Napoleon were:

• first of all - the tightening of the continental blockade of England;
• the revival of the Polish independent state in opposition to the Russian Empire with the inclusion of the territories of Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine (initially Napoleon even defined the war as the "Second Polish campaign");
• the conclusion of a military alliance with Russia for a possible joint campaign in India.

Believing that Alexander would be the first to attack the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Napoleon planned to quickly end the war by defeating the Russian army in a general battle on the Polish-Lithuanian territory in the Vilna or Warsaw region, hoping that the defeat of the Russian army in one or two battles would force Alexander I to accept him. conditions. The retreat of the Russian army deep into Russia caught him by surprise, forcing him to hesitate in Vilna for 18 days: Napoleon had never allowed such hesitation before.

Back in May 1811, Emperor Alexander I explained his attitude to the upcoming battle to the French ambassador to Russia, Armand Caulaincourt:

If Emperor Napoleon starts a war against me, then it is possible and even likely that he will beat us if we accept the battle, but this will not give him peace yet ... We have an immense space for us, and we will preserve a well-organized army ... If the lot of weapons decides the matter against me, then I would rather retreat to Kamchatka than give up my provinces and sign treaties in my capital, which are only a respite. The Frenchman is brave, but long hardships and a bad climate tire and discourage him. Our climate and our winter will fight for us.

The population of Russia in 1811 was more than 40 million people. The blow of Napoleon's army was taken over by the troops stationed on the western border: the 1st Army of Barclay de Tolly and the 2nd Army of Bagration, a total of 153 thousand soldiers and 758 guns. Even further south in Volhynia (north-west of present-day Ukraine), the 3rd Army of Tormasov (up to 45 thousand, 168 guns) was located, which served as a barrier from Austria. In Moldova, the Danube army of Admiral Chichagov (55 thousand, 202 guns) stood against Turkey. In Finland, the corps of the Russian general Steingel (19 thousand, 102 guns) stood against Sweden. In the Riga region there was a separate Essen corps (up to 18 thousand), up to 4 reserve corps were located further from the border. According to the lists, irregular Cossack troops numbered 117 thousand light cavalry, but in reality 20-25 thousand Cossacks took part in the war.

Of the defensive plans presented to the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the plan of General K. Pfuel was chosen. According to Pfuel's plan, it was supposed to lead fighting three armies, one of the armies was to hold the enemy from the front, while the others were to act from the flank and rear. If the French launch an offensive against the 1st Army, it must retreat and defend itself from the Dris fortified camp, while the 2nd Army must strike at the flank and rear of the advancing French. The active defensive actions of both armies on the lines of communication of the French were supposed to force the enemy to retreat, since, according to the author of the plan, he could not for a long time stay in the devastated area. The 3rd Army, according to this plan, covered the flanks of the 2nd Army and the Kiev direction. Subsequently, the Pfuel plan was rejected as impossible in the conditions of modern mobile warfare.

Other proposals were put forward regarding the strategy of warfare. In particular, the commander of the 2nd Western Army, General Bagration, proposed an offensive plan against Napoleon, which provided for the advancement of Russian troops in the spring of 1812 to the Vistula line with the capture of Warsaw. The tsar did not approve of this plan, since by that time Napoleon had already concentrated 220 thousand soldiers in fortifications along the Russian border.

Alexander forbade peace negotiations until at least one enemy soldier remained on Russian soil.

Although, upon arrival at the active army, the emperor did not announce M.B. Barclay de Tolly as commander-in-chief, thereby taking command over himself, however, on the night of July 7 (19), he left the army and left for Moscow. When the Russian army retreated in an organized manner from Vilna in a northeasterly direction, Alexander, who was in the retreating troops, was ready for such a development of events. He learned well the lessons of two serious military defeats - Austerlitz and Friedland, learned a lot since then, becoming a truly major politician.

Leaving the army, the emperor did not bother to appoint a common commander-in-chief. Relations between Bagration and Barclay de Tolly, after the retreat from Smolensk, became more tense every day. The lack of unity of command could lead to catastrophic consequences. To resolve the issue of reorganizing the management of the Russian army, an Extraordinary Committee was established, and on August 17, at its meeting, General of Infantry Count M.I. was unanimously approved as commander-in-chief. Kutuzov. On August 17 (29) Kutuzov received the army in Tsarevo-Zaimishche. On this day, the French entered Vyazma. Kutuzov formed his headquarters using the headquarters of the Western armies. General of the cavalry Bennigsen was appointed to the post of chief of the main headquarters of Kutuzov, M.S. became the quartermaster general of all armies. Vistitsky 2nd, his assistant - K.F. Roofing felt, general on duty - Colonel P.S. Kaisarov.

The great superiority of the enemy in forces and the lack of reserves forced Kutuzov to retreat inland, following the strategy of his predecessor Barclay de Tolly. Further withdrawal meant the surrender of Moscow without a fight, which was unacceptable both politically and morally. Having received insignificant reinforcements, Kutuzov decided to give Napoleon a general battle, the first and only one in the Patriotic War of 1812.

The Battle of Borodino, one of the largest battles of the era of the Napoleonic Wars, took place on August 26 (September 7). During the day of the battle, the Russian army inflicted heavy losses on the French troops, but according to preliminary estimates, by the night of the same day, it had lost almost half of the personnel of the regular troops. The Russian army showed itself heroically under Borodino, for which Kutuzov was promoted to field marshal on August 30 (September 11), 1812. After a bloody 12-hour battle, the French, at the cost of 30-34 thousand killed and wounded, pressed the left flank and center of the Russian positions, but could not develop the offensive. The Russian army also suffered heavy losses (40-45 thousand killed and wounded). There were almost no prisoners on either side. On August 27 (September 8), Kutuzov ordered a retreat to Mozhaisk with the firm intention of preserving the army.

On September 1 (13), the Russian army encamped in front of Moscow: the right flank of the army was near the village of Fili, the center between the villages of Troitsky and Volynsky, the left flank in front of the village of Vorobyov. The rearguard of the army was located on the Setun River. Having examined this position from Poklonnaya Gora, the commander-in-chief and other military leaders recognized it as unacceptable for battle. At 5 o'clock on the same day, the Military Council gathered in the house of the Filevsky peasant A. Frolov, during which Kutuzov interrupted the meeting and ordered to retreat through Moscow along the Ryazan road.

After leaving Moscow, Kutuzov secretly made the famous flank Tarutinsky maneuver, leading the army to the village of Tarutino by the beginning of October. Once to the south and west of Napoleon, Kutuzov blocked his path of movement to the southern regions of the country.

Having failed in his attempts to make peace with Russia, on October 7 (19) Napoleon began to withdraw from Moscow. He tried to lead the army to Smolensk by the southern route through Kaluga, where there were food and fodder supplies, but on October 12 (24) in the battle for Maloyaroslavets he was stopped by Kutuzov and retreated along the devastated Smolensk road. The Russian troops launched a counteroffensive, which Kutuzov organized so that Napoleon's army was under flank attacks by regular and partisan detachments, and Kutuzov avoided frontal battle with large masses of troops.

The advance of the French army deep into Russia, the growth of violence against the population, the fires in Smolensk and Moscow, the fall of discipline in Napoleon's army and the transformation of a significant part of it into a gang of marauders and robbers led to growing resistance from the Russian population, guerrilla warfare and the organization of the militia.

Thanks to Kutuzov's strategy, the huge Napoleonic army was almost completely destroyed. It should be especially noted that the victory was achieved at the cost of moderate losses in the Russian army. For the defeat of Napoleon in Russia, Kutuzov was awarded the Order of St. George of the 1st degree, becoming the first full Knight of St. George in the history of the order.

On November 25, with a series of skillful maneuvers, Napoleon managed to divert the attention of the Russian military leaders; the French built 2 bridges north of Borisov, along which on November 26-27, 1812, Napoleon crossed to the right (western) bank of the river. Berezina, rejecting the weak outposts of the Russians. Without waiting for the crossing of the entire huge crowd of French stragglers, consisting of the wounded, frostbitten, who had lost their weapons, on the morning of November 29, Napoleon ordered the bridges to be burned. As a result of the battle on the Berezina, he avoided complete defeat in the face of a significant superiority of Russian forces. Having lost 21 thousand people at the crossing, Napoleon, with 9 thousand soldiers remaining under arms, moved to Vilna, joining French divisions along the way, operating in other directions. The army was accompanied by a large crowd of unfit people, mainly soldiers from the allied states who had lost their weapons. On December 6, Napoleon left the army for Ney and Murat and went to Paris to recruit new soldiers to replace those who died in Russia.

The Russian troops continued their pursuit. The vanguard of Kutuzov's troops under the command of Ataman Platov approached Vilna the day after the French entered there. Unable to defend the city and having lost about 20 thousand people in Vilna, Ney and Murat continued their retreat to the Neman River, which separated Russia from Prussia and the Duchy of Warsaw.

On December 14, in Kovno, the pitiful remnants of the Great Army in the amount of 1,600 people crossed the Neman River to the Duchy of Warsaw, and then to Prussia. Later they were joined by the remnants of troops from other directions. The Patriotic War of 1812 ended with the almost complete annihilation of the invading Great Army.

On December 31, 1812 (January 12, 1813), the emperor issued a manifesto, which stated:

The spectacle of the death of his troops is incredible! Who could do this?.. Let us recognize God's providence in this great work.

The first words of Alexander I upon arrival in Vilna in December 1812, addressed to the generals gathered in the palace, were:

You saved more than one Russia, you saved Europe.

Foreign campaign of the Russian army

After the destruction of Napoleon's Great Army in Russia during the Russian campaign of 1812, the Sixth Anti-French Coalition of European Powers was formed. The War of the Sixth Coalition is also known as the Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army of 1813 - 1814, because. at the beginning of 1813, only Russia waged war in central Europe against Napoleon. In March 1813, Prussia entered into a coalition with Russia, in the summer - England, Austria and Sweden; after the defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig in October 1813, the German states of Württemberg and Bavaria joined the coalition. Regardless of the northern, central and of Eastern Europe Spain, Portugal and England fought with Napoleon in the Iberian Peninsula.

On January 1 (13), 1813, the main Russian army of Field Marshal Kutuzov crossed the Neman (the border of the Russian Empire) in three columns in the Merech region in the direction of the Polish city of Plock (north of Warsaw), and reached the Oder by the end of February. The foreign campaign of the Russian army began, culminating in the overthrow of Napoleon in April 1814.

At the beginning of 1813, Prussia maintained allied relations with Napoleon. The entry of Russian troops into East Prussia created the prerequisites for a revision of the foreign policy of the Prussian king. On February 28, an allied Russian-Prussian treaty was signed in Kalisz, and on March 27, 1813, the Prussian king declared war on France. By this time, the entire territory of Prussia (excluding several blockaded fortresses on the Vistula and Oder) up to the Elbe had been liberated from French troops. By April 1813, Russian troops reached the Elbe. Beyond the Elbe and to the south of it began the lands of the German principalities of the Confederation of the Rhine, which remained loyal to Napoleon.

On April 5, Commander-in-Chief M.I. Kutuzov caught a cold and, after a short illness, died in the small Silesian town of Bunzlau (Prussia, now the territory of Poland) on April 16 (28), 1813. According to legend, Alexander I arrived to say goodbye to a very weakened field marshal. The last dialogue between the emperor and Kutuzov was as follows: “Forgive me, Mikhail Illarionovich!” “I forgive you, sir, but Russia will never forgive you for this.”

During the hostilities of the anti-French coalition in August - December 1813, the rest of Germany was liberated. Bavaria, a vassal of Napoleon and the largest state of the Confederation of the Rhine, entered into separate negotiations with Austria.

On October 16 - 19, 1813, one of the largest battles of the 19th century took place, known as the Battle of the Nations or the Battle of Leipzig. Due to the dispersion of armies, the vast front of the battle and the length of time, the estimate of forces opposing sides varies greatly, but on average, historians agree that Napoleon had 180 - 200 thousand soldiers near Leipzig. The allied forces by the end of the battle were one and a half times the number of French troops.

During October - November 1813, the German princes (the kings of Bavaria, Württemberg, the Grand Dukes of Hesse-Darmstadt, Baden, etc.) joined the anti-French coalition. King Friedrich-August of Saxony became a prisoner of the allies. The campaign of 1813 ended for Napoleon with the collapse of the Confederation of the Rhine and the loss of Europe.

Alexander actively participated in the development of the campaign plan of 1813 - 1814. He was at the headquarters of the Main Army and was present at the main battles of 1813-1814, leading the anti-French coalition. Tsar Alexander I advocated an invasion of France without delay. A week before the surrender of Paris, he told the quartermaster general, adjutant general Count Toll: "This is not about the Bourbons, but about the overthrow of Napoleon." However, the allies adopted a more cautious plan of action: “He did not even want to stop for a long time on the Rhine, but go straight to Paris in the winter, but our allies seemed to be timid at the sight of the borders of France, probably from their unsuccessful attempts in previous wars.” On January 1 (12), 1814, the Russian guards, led by the tsar, entered France from Switzerland, in the Basel region, other allied corps crossed the Rhine earlier, on the 20th of December 1813.

On March 24, the Allies agreed on a plan for further action in the campaign, deciding after disputes to resume the attack on Paris. On March 29, the allied armies (about 100 thousand soldiers, of which 63 thousand were Russians) came close to the front line of defense of Paris.

On March 30, Russian and Prussian corps attacked and, after fierce fighting, captured the suburbs of Paris. The battle for Paris was one of the most bloody for the allies: in one day of fighting, they lost more than 8 thousand soldiers (of which more than 6 thousand were Russians). Wanting to save the city of many thousands from bombardment (artillery fire) and street fighting, the commander of the right flank of the French defense, Marshal Marmont, sent a truce to the Russian emperor by 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

Alexander I gave the following answer:

I will order the battle to be stopped if Paris is surrendered: otherwise, by the evening they will not know the place where the capital was.

On March 31, at 2 o'clock in the morning, the surrender of Paris was signed. By 7 o'clock in the morning, according to the agreement, the French regular army was to leave Paris. At noon on March 31, 1814, the Russian and Prussian guards, led by Emperor Alexander I, triumphantly entered the capital of France. Alexander I told the book. A.N. Golitsyn: “Everything was in a hurry to hug my knees, everything was in a hurry to touch me; people rushed to kiss my hands and feet, grabbed even the stirrups, filled the air with joyful cries and congratulations. On the day of his entry into Paris, the All-Russian Emperor, turning to Yermolov, said: “Well, Alexei Petrovich, will they say now in St. Petersburg? Indeed, there was a time when we, praising Napoleon, considered me a simpleton.

In early April, the French Senate issued a decree deposing Napoleon and established a provisional government. On April 6, the Senate proclaimed Louis XVIII king, and on May 30, 1814, peace was signed, returning France to the borders of 1792 and restoring the monarchy there.

On April 8, 1815, Alexander received a paper from Bonaparte, who fled from Elba and occupied Paris. He discovered on the table of the French King Louis XVIII, who had left the Tuileries Palace, a secret treaty concluded on January 3, 1815 by Austria, France and England against Russia, which had just played a decisive role in the defeat of the Napoleonic empire. But the Russian emperor, having called to himself the Prussian representative Baron Stein, and then the Austrian Chancellor Metternich, declared: “Metternich, as long as we are both alive, there should never be a conversation between us about this subject. Now we have other things to do. Napoleon has returned, and therefore our alliance must be stronger than ever." After that, Alexander threw the paper into the burning fireplace.

Upon entering Paris, he canceled the humiliating ceremony of presenting the city keys, saved the Louvre from plunder, and the Vendome Column and other monuments to Napoleon from the fury of the royalists who tried to erase the memory of the usurper and the revolution that brought him to power. In 1815, during the second occupation of Paris, after the notorious "hundred days", Alexander I, having overtaken the army by several crossings, arrived in Paris and prevented the explosion of the Jena bridge across the Seine, which was a monument to Bonaparte's victory over Prussia in 1806. Moreover, he forbade the bombardment of Paris, suggesting that the French capital capitulate.

At the head of Europe: the Holy Alliance and military settlements

The defeat of Napoleon in Russia allowed the international coalition, in which Russia played the main role, to crush the French Empire. The victory raised the international prestige of Russia as never before, which played a decisive role at the Congress of Vienna and in the following decades exerted a decisive influence on the affairs of Europe.

Alexander I became one of the leaders of the Vienna Congress, which established a new European order. The Bourbon dynasty, overthrown by the revolution, returned to the French throne in the person of Louis XVIII, brother of the executed King Louis XVI. The long period of almost continuous bloody European wars has ended.

The Congress determined the new alignment of forces in Europe that had developed by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, designating for a long time the leading role of the victorious countries - Russia, Prussia, Austria and Great Britain - in international relations. As a result, the Vienna system of international relations was formed and, on the initiative and under the auspices of Emperor Alexander I, the Holy Alliance of European States was created, which had the goal of ensuring the inviolability of European monarchies. The victory over Napoleonic France led to the restoration of the former monarchical-conservative regimes in Europe, the abolition of many democratic initiatives in social life in which feudal imperial Russia played a key role. The Holy Alliance began to actively suppress any manifestations of national independence, civil and religious freedom in European states.

Holy Union Source: Runivers.ru

To maintain the dominant positions in Europe won by the Russian army, numerous, mobile, well-trained and armed troops were required. To this end, on the initiative of Alexander I, military settlements were created in various areas of the Russian Empire - a special system of organizing troops that combined military service with productive labor, primarily agricultural.

At the end of 1815, Alexander I began to discuss the project of military settlements, the first experience of introducing which was carried out in 1810-1812. in the reserve battalion of the Yelets Musketeer Regiment, stationed in the Bobylevsky starostvo of the Klimovsky district of the Mogilev province.

Alexander I hoped that military settlements would replace civilian volunteer paramilitary formations in Russia - Landwehr and Landsturm - and would make it possible, if necessary, to increase the number of troops several times. At the same time, the emperor, in establishing military settlements, thought to improve the financial situation of the lower ranks, to give them the opportunity during their service to remain among their families and continue their agricultural activities, and to provide them with shelter and a piece of bread in old age. To the objections of his entourage, pointing out the high cost of the settlements for the treasury and the unreliable provision of their staffing for the army, the sovereign replied that military settlements would be arranged, even if they had to lay the road from St. Petersburg to Chudov with corpses.

The main goal of the project was the creation of a new military-agricultural estate, which, on its own, could maintain and recruit a standing army without burdening the country's budget, as well as freeing the population of Russia from the need to maintain this army. The government hoped, in addition, to maintain the size of the army at the wartime level, and to cover the western border area with the help of military settlers.

Residents of those counties in which military settlements were established were exempted in peacetime from recruiting sets. Economic volosts and coachmen were exempted from recruitment duty free of charge, and free cultivators and peasants of the appanage department and landlord estates were obliged to contribute 1,000 rubles to the treasury for each recruit due from them. The petty bourgeois were subject to recruitment duty on the same grounds, and only in the cities assigned to the department of military settlements, natural recruitment duty was replaced by a collection of money. In wartime, all the settlers of these counties were still to give recruits to complete the army in the field. The military settlers were exempted from all state taxes and zemstvo duties, in return for which they had to complete the regiment in whose district they were with all people capable of service; the government took care of the maintenance and preparation for the service of the children of military settlers. The military settlers were dressed in uniforms, they were given guns and ammunition. As a result, by the end of the reign of Alexander I, the capital of military settlements reached 32 million rubles. Up to 26 million rubles were spent on the construction of military settlements under Alexander I.

In 1816, new rules for the organization of military settlements were introduced. In August 1816, preparations began for the transfer of troops and residents to the category of military settlers. In 1817, settlements were introduced in the Novgorod, Kherson and Sloboda-Ukrainian provinces. Until the end of the reign of Alexander I, the number of districts of military settlements continued to grow, gradually surrounding the border of the empire from the Baltic to the Black Sea. By 1825, there were 169,828 regular army soldiers and 374,000 state peasants and Cossacks in military settlements. Infantry units were dispersed mainly on state lands in St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces, and cavalry units were located in Kherson, Sloboda-Ukrainian and other provinces. By 1857, when the military settlements were abolished, there were already 800,000 people in them.

The introduction of military settlements met with stubborn resistance from the peasants and Cossacks, who were converted to military settlers. In the summer of 1819, an uprising broke out in Chuguev near Kharkov. In 1820, the peasants were agitated on the Don: 2556 villages were in revolt.

On October 16, 1820, the head company of the Semyonovsky regiment filed a request to cancel the introduced strict procedures and change the regimental commander. The company was deceived into the arena, arrested and sent to the casemates of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The whole regiment stood up for her. The regiment was surrounded by the military garrison of the capital, and then sent in full force to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The first battalion was handed over to a military court, which sentenced the instigators to be driven through the ranks, and the rest of the soldiers to exile in distant garrisons. Other battalions were dispersed among various army regiments.

Under the influence of the Semyonovsky regiment, fermentation began in other parts of the capital's garrison: proclamations were distributed. In 1821, a secret police was introduced into the army. In 1822, a decree was issued to ban secret organizations and Masonic lodges, which were especially active in the armed forces. And this despite the fact that in the first half of the reign of Alexander I, Freemasonry became almost a state organization! The tsar himself, before his passion for Orthodoxy, patronized the Masons. At that time, the largest Masonic lodge of the Russian Empire, "Pont Euxinus", was located in Odessa, which the emperor visited in 1820.

The growth of the empire and the results of the reign

During the reign of Alexander, the territory of the Russian Empire expanded significantly: Eastern and Western Georgia, Mingrelia, Imeretia, Guria, Finland, Bessarabia, most of Poland (which formed the Kingdom of Poland) passed into Russian citizenship.

The entry of Finland into Russia, in fact, was an act of creating a national state, which the Finns did not have before. At the Diet of Borgo on March 28, 1809, Alexander I promised to keep unchanged the fundamental law of the country, the “constitution,” as he called it, adopted back in 1772. On March 16, the Russian emperor personally opened the Diet, signing a manifesto on state structure Finland. At the opening of the Diet, Alexander I, sitting on a special throne, delivered a speech in French, in which, among other things, he said: “I promised to preserve your constitution, your fundamental laws; your assembly here witnesses the fulfillment of my promises.” The next day, members of the Sejm took an oath that they “recognize as their Sovereign Alexander I the Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, the Grand Duke of Finland, and will preserve the fundamental laws and constitutions (French lois fondamentales et constitutions) of the region in the form they are currently time exists." This Diet entrusted the Emperor of Russia with the functions that had previously been performed by the Swedish king, who had been removed from power the day before.

When the emperor announced guarantees of autonomy, the estates of the Grand Duchy swore allegiance to the sovereign. The taking of the oath was facilitated by the excommunication of Gustav IV Adolf from the Swedish crown. Nevertheless, the continuity of government was preserved, since Alexander I approved the “Form of Government” of 1773, the “Act of Unity and Security” of 1789, as well as the emperor’s letter of guarantee on the autonomy of the principality as constitutional laws of Finland.

The special autonomous position of the Principality of Finland was emphasized by the appointment at the imperial court of its own confidant for Finnish affairs and the minister-secretary of state, the creation of its own governing bodies with its own officials, as well as the conduct of affairs of the principality within its own budget. The decision of the sovereign to immediately take directly into his own hands the conduct of all the affairs of Finland marked the birth of the Grand Duchy of Finland, for the management of which the Russian ministers had no authority. Thus, the emperor became the guarantor of the special position of Finland.

Another major acquisition in the reign of Alexander I was the territory of Poland.

The western borders of the empire were finally established.

The unusual character of Alexander I is especially interesting because he is one of the most important characters in the history of the 19th century. All his policies were quite clear and thoughtful. An aristocrat and a liberal, at the same time mysterious and famous, he seemed to his contemporaries a mystery that everyone solves according to his own idea. Napoleon considered him an "inventive Byzantine", northern Talma, an actor who is capable of playing any prominent role. It is even known that Alexander I at court was called the "Mysterious Sphinx".

Another element of the character of Alexander I was formed on March 23, 1801, when he ascended the throne after the assassination of his father: a mysterious melancholy, ready at any moment to turn into extravagant behavior. At the beginning, this character trait did not manifest itself in any way - young, emotional, impressionable, at the same time benevolent and selfish, Alexander from the very beginning decided to play a great role on the world stage and, with youthful zeal, set about realizing his political ideals. Temporarily leaving the old ministers in office, who overthrew Emperor Paul I, one of his first decrees appointed the so-called. a secret committee with the ironic name "Comité du salut public" (referring to the French revolutionary "Committee of Public Salvation"), consisting of young and enthusiastic friends: Viktor Kochubey, Nikolai Novosiltsev, Pavel Stroganov and Adam Czartoryski. This committee was to develop an internal reform scheme. It is important to note that the liberal Mikhail Speransky became one of the tsar's closest advisers and drafted many reform projects. Their aims, based on their admiration for English institutions, far exceeded the possibilities of the time, and even after they were elevated to the ranks of ministers, only a small fraction of their programs were realized. Russia was not ready for freedom, and Alexander, a follower of the revolutionary La Harpe, considered himself a "happy accident" on the throne of the kings. He spoke with regret about "the state of barbarism in which the country was due to the serfdom", and in his views he was more republican than the radical liberals of Western Europe.

Alexander claimed that under Paul “three thousand peasants were distributed like a sack of diamonds. If civilization were more advanced, I would end serfdom, even if it cost me my head." Solving the issue of total corruption, he was left without people loyal to him, and the filling of government positions with Germans and other foreigners only led to greater resistance to his reforms from the "old Russians". So the reign of Alexander, begun with a great opportunity for improvement, ended with the weighting of the chains around the necks of the Russian people.

This happened to a lesser extent because of the corruption and conservatism of Russian life, and more because of the personal qualities of the tsar. His love of freedom, despite its cordiality, was not based on reality. He flattered himself by presenting himself to the world as a benefactor, but his theoretical liberalism was associated with an aristocratic waywardness that brooked no objection. “You always want to teach me! - he objected to Derzhavin, the Minister of Justice, - but I am the emperor, and I want this and nothing else! At the same time, this patronizing temperament was combined with the habit of weak characters to seize every opportunity to delay the application of the principles that he publicly supported.

He was ready to agree, wrote Prince Czartoryski, that everyone could be free if they freely did what he wanted.

In the last years of the reign of Alexander I, Count A.A. gained special influence in the country. Arakcheev.

On August 16, 1823, Alexander signed a manifesto in which he announced the abdication of his brother Konstantin from the throne and proclaimed the legitimate heir to his younger brother, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich.

Emperor Alexander died unexpectedly on November 19, 1825 in Taganrog, at the age of 47, as it is believed, from typhoid fever. After the death of the emperor, the mansion in which the tsar lived for several months before his death was bought by Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, and it was ordered to be called "the palace of His Imperial Majesty Alexander I." Subsequently, in the Taganrog "palace" was organized the first in Russia memorial museum named after him, which lasted until 1925.

The sudden death of the king somewhere on the outskirts of the empire gave rise to a lot of rumors among the people. The most absurd of them claimed that the tsar did not die, but, having skillfully staged his death far away from the center of the country, he began a wandering, hermit life and, under the guise of "old man Fyodor Kuzmich", lived in Siberia for a long time.

KURKOV K.N., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Moscow State University M.A. Sholokhov

Literature

Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). St. Petersburg, 1890-1907

Alexander I the Blessed. Publication established by the Highest Command of the Minister public education, Permanent Commission of People's Readings. SPb., 1873

Bogdanovich M.I. History of the reign of Emperor Alexander I and Russia in his time: In 6 vols. St. Petersburg, 1869-1871

Walishevsky K. Alexander I. History of the reign. In 3 volumes. SPb., 2011

Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich. Emperor Alexander I: Experience of historical research. Pgr., 1915

Nikolsky V.P. The state of the Russian army by the end of the reign of Alexander I. - In the book: History of the Russian army, 1812-1864. SPb., 2003

Schilder N.K. Emperor Alexander the First. His life and reign. In 4 vols.: v.1: Before the accession to the throne; Vol.2: 1801-1810; Vol.3: 1810-1816. Vol.4: 1816-1825. SPb., 1897

Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky A.I. Emperor Alexander I and his associates in 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815: In 6 vols. St. Petersburg, 1845-1849

Ulyanov N. Alexander I - emperor, actor, person. Motherland: Russian historical journal. 1992, no. 6-7

Internet

Uvarov Fedor Petrovich

At the age of 27 he was promoted to general. Participated in the campaigns of 1805-1807 and in the battles on the Danube in 1810. In 1812 he commanded the 1st artillery corps in the army of Barclay de Tolly, and later - the entire cavalry of the combined armies.

Baklanov Yakov Petrovich

The Cossack general, the "thunderstorm of the Caucasus", Yakov Petrovich Baklanov, one of the most colorful heroes of the endless Caucasian war of the century before last, fits perfectly into the image of Russia familiar to the West. A gloomy two-meter hero, a tireless persecutor of mountaineers and Poles, an enemy of political correctness and democracy in all their manifestations. But it was precisely such people who obtained the most difficult victory for the empire in a long-term confrontation with the inhabitants of the North Caucasus and the unkind local nature.

Makarov Stepan Osipovich

Russian oceanographer, polar explorer, shipbuilder, vice admiral. Developed the Russian semaphore alphabet. A worthy person, on the list of worthy ones!

Rurikovich (Grozny) Ivan Vasilyevich

In the variety of perceptions of Ivan the Terrible, they often forget about his unconditional talent and achievements as a commander. He personally led the capture of Kazan and organized military reform, leading a country that simultaneously waged 2-3 wars on different fronts.

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (November 4 (November 16), 1874, St. Petersburg - February 7, 1920, Irkutsk) - Russian oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late XIX - early XX centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (1906), admiral (1918), leader of the White movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Member of the Russo-Japanese War, Defense of Port Arthur. During the First World War, he commanded the mine division of the Baltic Fleet (1915-1916), the Black Sea Fleet (1916-1917). Georgievsky Cavalier.
The leader of the White movement both on a national scale and directly in the East of Russia. As the Supreme Ruler of Russia (1918-1920), he was recognized by all the leaders of the White movement, "de jure" - by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "de facto" - by the Entente states.
Supreme Commander of the Russian Army.

Rokhlin Lev Yakovlevich

He headed the 8th Guards Army Corps in Chechnya. Under his leadership, a number of districts of Grozny were taken, including the presidential palace. For participation in the Chechen campaign, he was presented with the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, but refused to accept it, saying that “he has no moral right to receive this award for military operations on the territory of his own countries".

Maximov Evgeny Yakovlevich

Russian hero of the Transvaal War. He was a volunteer in fraternal Serbia, participating in the Russian-Turkish war. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British began to wage war against a small people, the Boers. Japanese war. In addition to his military career, he distinguished himself in the literary field.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

The great Russian commander, who did not suffer a single defeat in his military career (more than 60 battles), one of the founders of Russian military art.
Prince of Italy (1799), Count of Rymnik (1789), Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Generalissimo of the Russian land and sea forces, Field Marshal of the Austrian and Sardinian troops, grandee of the Sardinian kingdom and prince of royal blood (with the title "king's cousin"), knight of all Russian orders of their time, awarded to men, as well as many foreign military orders.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

In front of the Kazan Cathedral there are two statues of the saviors of the fatherland. Saving the army, exhausting the enemy, the battle of Smolensk - this is more than enough.

Batitsky

I served in the air defense and therefore I know this surname - Batitsky. Do you know? By the way, the father of air defense!

Karyagin Pavel Mikhailovich

Colonel, Chief of the 17th Jaeger Regiment. He showed himself most clearly in the Persian Company of 1805; when, with a detachment of 500 people, surrounded by a 20,000-strong Persian army, he resisted it for three weeks, not only repelling Persian attacks with honor, but taking fortresses himself, and finally, with a detachment of 100 people, made his way to Tsitsianov, who was going to help him.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Bennigsen Leonty Leontievich

Surprisingly, a Russian general who did not speak Russian, who made up the glory of Russian weapons at the beginning of the 19th century.

He made a significant contribution to the suppression of the Polish uprising.

Commander-in-Chief in the Battle of Tarutino.

He made a significant contribution to the campaign of 1813 (Dresden and Leipzig).

Slashchev-Krymsky Yakov Alexandrovich

Defense of the Crimea in 1919-20 “The Reds are my enemies, but they did the main thing - my business: they revived great Russia!” (General Slashchev-Krymsky).

Paskevich Ivan Fyodorovich

The armies under his command defeated Persia in the war of 1826-1828 and completely defeated the Turkish troops in Transcaucasia in the war of 1828-1829.

Awarded all 4 degrees of the Order of St. George and the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called with diamonds.

Ushakov Fedor Fedorovich

A man whose faith, courage, and patriotism defended our state

Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich

Commander-in-Chief during the Patriotic War of 1812. One of the most famous and beloved by the people of military heroes!

Svyatoslav Igorevich

I want to propose "candidates" for Svyatoslav and his father, Igor, as the greatest generals and political leaders of their time, I think that it makes no sense to list their services to the fatherland to historians, I was unpleasantly surprised not to meet their names in this list. Sincerely.

Stessel Anatoly Mikhailovich

Commandant of Port Arthur during his heroic defense. The unprecedented ratio of losses of Russian and Japanese troops before the surrender of the fortress is 1:10.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

Well, who else if not him - the only Russian commander who did not lose, who did not lose more than one battle !!!

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Stalin during the Patriotic War led all the armed forces of our country and coordinated their combat operations. It is impossible not to note his merits in the competent planning and organization of military operations, in the skillful selection of military leaders and their assistants. Joseph Stalin proved himself not only as an outstanding commander who competently led all fronts, but also as an excellent organizer who did a great job of increasing the country's defense capability both in the pre-war and war years.

A short list of military awards I.V. Stalin received during the Second World War:
Order of Suvorov, 1st class
Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
Order "Victory"
Medal "Gold Star" Hero of the Soviet Union
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
Medal "For the Victory over Japan"

Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich

Grachev Pavel Sergeevich

Hero of the Soviet Union. May 5, 1988 "for the performance of combat missions with minimal casualties and for the professional command of a controlled formation and the successful actions of the 103rd Airborne Division, in particular, to occupy the strategically important pass Satukandav (Khost province) during the military operation" Highway " "Received the Gold Star medal No. 11573. Commander of the Airborne Forces of the USSR. In total, during his military service, he made 647 parachute jumps, some of them while testing new equipment.
He was shell-shocked 8 times, received several wounds. Suppressed the armed coup in Moscow and thereby saved the system of democracy. As Minister of Defense, he made great efforts to preserve the remnants of the army - a task that few people had in the history of Russia. Only because of the collapse of the army and a decrease in the number of military equipment in the Armed Forces, he could not end the Chechen war victoriously.

Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich

Commander of the 62nd Army in Stalingrad.

Rurikovich Svyatoslav Igorevich

He defeated the Khazar Khaganate, expanded the boundaries of Russian lands, successfully fought with the Byzantine Empire.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

A commander who has not lost a single battle in his career. He took the impregnable fortress of Ishmael, the first time.

Udatny Mstislav Mstislavovich

A real knight, recognized as a fair commander in Europe

Golovanov Alexander Evgenievich

He is the creator of the Soviet long-range aviation (ADD).
Units under the command of Golovanov bombed Berlin, Koenigsberg, Danzig and other cities in Germany, attacked important strategic targets behind enemy lines.

Yaroslav the Wise

Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich

He defeated the Swedish detachment on July 15, 1240 on the Neva and the Teutonic Order, the Danes in the Battle of the Ice on April 5, 1242. All his life he "won, but was invincible." He played an exceptional role in Russian history in that dramatic period when Russia was hit from three sides - the Catholic West, Lithuania and the Golden Horde. He defended Orthodoxy from Catholic expansion. He is revered as a holy saint. http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/39091.htm

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

The commander-in-chief of the Red Army, which repelled the attack of Nazi Germany, liberated Evroppa, the author of many operations, including "Ten Stalinist strikes" (1944)

Rurikovich Yaroslav Wise Vladimirovich

He devoted his life to defending the Fatherland. Defeated the Pechenegs. He established the Russian state as one of the greatest states of his time.

Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich

General Kotlyarevsky, son of a priest in the village of Olkhovatka, Kharkov province. He went from private to general in the tsarist army. He can be called the great-grandfather of the Russian special forces. He carried out truly unique operations ... His name is worthy of being included in the list of the greatest commanders of Russia

Miloradovich

Bagration, Miloradovich, Davydov - some very special breed of people. Now they don't do that. The heroes of 1812 were distinguished by complete recklessness, complete contempt for death. And after all, it was General Miloradovich, who went through all the wars for Russia without a single scratch, who became the first victim of individual terror. After Kakhovsky's shot on Senate Square This is the way the Russian revolution proceeded, all the way to the basement of the Ipatiev House. Removing the best.

Ridiger Fedor Vasilievich

Adjutant general, cavalry general, adjutant general... He had three Golden sabers with the inscription: "For courage"... In 1849, Ridiger participated in a campaign in Hungary to suppress the unrest that arose there, being appointed head of the right column. On May 9, Russian troops entered the borders of the Austrian Empire. He pursued the rebel army until August 1, forcing them to lay down their arms in front of the Russian troops near Vilyaghosh. On August 5, the troops entrusted to him occupied the fortress of Arad. During the trip of Field Marshal Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich to Warsaw, Count Ridiger commanded the troops stationed in Hungary and Transylvania ... On February 21, 1854, during the absence of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich in the Kingdom of Poland, Count Ridiger commanded all the troops located in the area of ​​​​the active army - as a commander separate corps and at the same time served as head of the Kingdom of Poland. After the return of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich to Warsaw, from August 3, 1854, he served as the Warsaw military governor.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

For the highest art of military leadership and boundless love for the Russian soldier

Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich

After Zhukov, who took Berlin, the brilliant strategist Kutuzov, who drove the French out of Russia, should be second.

Katukov Mikhail Efimovich

Perhaps the only bright spot against the background of the Soviet commanders of the armored forces. A tanker who went through the entire war, starting from the border. The commander, whose tanks always showed their superiority to the enemy. His tank brigades were the only (!) in the first period of the war that were not defeated by the Germans and even inflicted significant damage on them.
His first guards tank army remained combat-ready, although it defended from the very first days of the fighting on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge, while exactly the same Rotmistrov's 5th guards tank army was practically destroyed on the very first day when it entered the battle (June 12)
This is one of the few of our commanders who took care of his troops and fought not by numbers, but by skill.

Suvorov Mikhail Vasilievich

The only one who can be called GENERALLISIMUS ... Bagration, Kutuzov are his students ...

Svyatoslav Igorevich

Grand Duke of Novgorod, from 945 Kiev. Son of Grand Duke Igor Rurikovich and Princess Olga. Svyatoslav became famous as a great commander, whom N.M. Karamzin called "Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history."

After the military campaigns of Svyatoslav Igorevich (965-972), the territory of the Russian land increased from the Volga region to the Caspian Sea, from the North Caucasus to the Black Sea, from the Balkan Mountains to Byzantium. Defeated Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria, weakened and frightened Byzantine Empire, opened the way for trade of Rus' with eastern countries

Dovator Lev Mikhailovich

Soviet military leader, major general, Hero of the Soviet Union. Known for successful operations to destroy German troops during the Great Patriotic War. The German command appointed a large reward for the head of Dovator.
Together with the 8th Guards Division named after Major General I.V. Panfilov, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of General M.E. Katukov and other troops of the 16th Army, his corps defended the approaches to Moscow in the Volokolamsk direction.

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Makhno Nestor Ivanovich

Over the mountains, over the valleys
waiting for your blues for a long time
wise father, glorious father,
our kind father - Makhno ...

(peasant song of the times civil war)

He was able to create an army, led successful military operations against the Austro-Germans, against Denikin.

And for * carts * even if he was not awarded the Order of the Red Banner, then this should be done now

Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich

Hero of the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 At one time they called the Caucasian Suvorov. On October 19, 1812, at the Aslanduz ford across the Araks, at the head of a detachment of 2221 people with 6 guns, Pyotr Stepanovich defeated the Persian army of 30,000 people with 12 guns. In other battles, he also acted not by number, but by skill.

Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich

To a person to whom this name does not say anything - there is no need to explain and it is useless. To the one to whom it says something - and so everything is clear.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front. The youngest front commander. Counts,. that of the army general - but before his death (February 18, 1945) he received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
He liberated three of the six capitals of the Union Republics captured by the Nazis: Kyiv, Minsk. Vilnius. Decided the fate of Keniksberg.
One of the few who pushed back the Germans on June 23, 1941.
He held the front in Valdai. In many ways, he determined the fate of repelling the German offensive on Leningrad. He kept Voronezh. Freed Kursk.
He successfully advanced until the summer of 1943. Having formed the top of the Kursk Bulge with his army. Liberated the Left Bank of Ukraine. Take Kyiv. Repelled Manstein's counterattack. Liberated Western Ukraine.
Carried out the operation Bagration. Surrounded and captured by his offensive in the summer of 1944, the Germans then humiliatedly marched through the streets of Moscow. Belarus. Lithuania. Neman. East Prussia.

Grand Duke of Russia Mikhail Nikolaevich

Feldzeugmeister General (Commander-in-Chief of the Artillery of the Russian Army), the youngest son of Emperor Nicholas I, Viceroy in the Caucasus since 1864. Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in the Caucasus in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 Under his command, the fortresses of Kars, Ardagan, and Bayazet were taken.

Khvorostinin Dmitry Ivanovich

The commander who did not have defeats ...

Izylmetiev Ivan Nikolaevich

Commanded the frigate "Aurora". He made the transition from St. Petersburg to Kamchatka in a record time for those times in 66 days. In the bay, Callao eluded the Anglo-French squadron. Arriving in Petropavlovsk, together with the governor of the Kamchatka Territory, Zavoyko V. organized defense of the city during which the sailors from the Aurora, together with the locals, threw into the sea an overwhelming Anglo-French landing force. Then he took the Aurora to the Amur Estuary, hiding it there. After these events, the English public demanded a trial of the admirals who lost the Russian frigate.

Stalin (Dzhugashvili) Joseph Vissarionovich

Comrade Stalin, apart from nuclear and missile projects, together with General of the Army Alexei Innokentevich Antonov, participated in the development and implementation of almost all significant operations of the Soviet troops in the Second World War, brilliantly organized the work of the rear, even in the first difficult years of the war.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Under his leadership, the Red Army crushed fascism.

Platov Matvei Ivanovich

Ataman of the Great Don Army (since 1801), cavalry general (1809), who took part in all the wars of the Russian Empire in the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
In 1771 he distinguished himself in the attack and capture of the Perekop line and Kinburn. From 1772 he began to command a Cossack regiment. 2nd Turkish war distinguished himself during the assault on Ochakov and Ishmael. Participated in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, he first commanded all the Cossack regiments on the border, and then, covering the retreat of the army, he defeated the enemy near the town of Mir and Romanovo. In the battle near the village of Semlevo, Platov's army defeated the French and captured a colonel from the army of Marshal Murat. During the retreat of the French army, Platov, pursuing her, defeated her at Gorodnya, the Kolotsk Monastery, Gzhatsk, Tsarevo-Zaimishcha, near Dukhovshchina and while crossing the Vop River. For merit he was elevated to the dignity of a count. In November, Platov occupied Smolensk from battle and defeated the troops of Marshal Ney near Dubrovna. At the beginning of January 1813 he entered the borders of Prussia and overlaid Danzig; in September, he received command of a special corps, with which he participated in the battle of Leipzig and, pursuing the enemy, captured about 15 thousand people. In 1814 he fought at the head of his regiments in the capture of Nemur, at Arcy-sur-Aube, Cezanne, Villeneuve. He was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

Full Knight of the Order of St. George. In the history of military art, according to Western authors (for example: J. Witter), he entered as an architect of the strategy and tactics of "scorched earth" - cutting off the main enemy troops from the rear, depriving them of supplies and organizing a guerrilla war in their rear. M.V. Kutuzov, after taking command of the Russian army, in fact, continued the tactics developed by Barclay de Tolly and defeated Napoleon's army.

Rurikovich Svyatoslav Igorevich

The great commander of the ancient Russian period. The first known to us Kyiv prince having a Slavic name. The last pagan ruler of the Old Russian state. He glorified Rus' as a great military power in the campaigns of 965-971. Karamzin called him "Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history." The prince freed the Slavic tribes from vassalage from the Khazars, defeating the Khazar Khaganate in 965. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, in 970, during the Russian-Byzantine war, Svyatoslav managed to win the battle of Arcadiopol, having 10,000 soldiers under his command, against 100,000 Greeks. But at the same time, Svyatoslav led the life of a simple warrior: “On campaigns, he didn’t carry carts or cauldrons behind him, he didn’t cook meat, but, thinly slicing horse meat, or beast, or beef and roasting it on coals, he ate like that; he didn’t have a tent , but slept, spreading a sweatshirt with a saddle in their heads - the same were all the rest of his warriors... And sent to other lands [envoys, as a rule, before declaring war] with the words: "I'm going to you!" (According to PVL)

Romanov Mikhail Timofeevich

The heroic defense of Mogilev, for the first time all-round anti-tank defense of the city.

Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich

Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945).
From 1942 to 1946, the commander of the 62nd Army (8th Guards Army), which distinguished itself in the Battle of Stalingrad. Took part in defensive battles on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. From September 12, 1942 he commanded the 62nd Army. IN AND. Chuikov received the task of defending Stalingrad at any cost. The front command believed that Lieutenant General Chuikov was characterized by such positive qualities as decisiveness and firmness, courage and a broad operational outlook, a high sense of responsibility and consciousness of his duty. The army, under the command of V.I. Chuikov, became famous for the heroic six-month defense of Stalingrad in street battles in a completely destroyed city, fighting on isolated bridgeheads, on the banks of the wide Volga.

For unparalleled mass heroism and steadfastness of personnel, in April 1943, the 62nd Army received the guards honorary title of Guards and became known as the 8th Guards Army.

Bagration, Denis Davydov...

The war of 1812, the glorious names of Bagration, Barclay, Davydov, Platov. An example of honor and courage.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

October 3, 2013 marks the 80th anniversary of the death in the French city of Cannes of a Russian military figure, commander of the Caucasian Front, hero of Mukden, Sarykamysh, Van, Erzurum (due to the complete defeat of the 90,000th Turkish army of Russia, Constantinople and the Bosphorus with the Dardanelles retreated), the savior of the Armenian people from the complete Turkish genocide, holder of three orders of George and the highest order of France, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, General Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich.

John 4 Vasilyevich

Senyavin Dmitry Nikolaevich

Dmitry Nikolaevich Senyavin (August 6 (17), 1763 - April 5 (17), 1831) - Russian naval commander, admiral.
for courage and outstanding diplomatic work shown during the blockade of the Russian fleet in Lisbon

Rumyantsev Petr Alexandrovich

Russian military and statesman, during the entire reign of Catherine II (1761-96) who ruled Little Russia. During the Seven Years' War he commanded the capture of Kolberg. For the victories over the Turks at Larga, Kagul and others, which led to the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, he was awarded the title of "Transdanubian". In 1770 he received the rank of Field Marshal. Cavalier of the orders of the Russian St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. George 1st class and St. Vladimir I degree, the Prussian Black Eagle and St. Anna I degree

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

Finnish war.
Strategic retreat in the first half of 1812
European campaign of 1812

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

Russian admiral who gave his life for the liberation of the Fatherland.
Scientist-oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, leader of the White Movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Spiridov Grigory Andreevich

Became a sailor under Peter I, participated in the Russian-Turkish war (1735-1739) as an officer, finished the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) as rear admiral. The peak of his naval and diplomatic talent reached during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. In 1769, he led the first transition of the Russian fleet from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the difficulties of the transition (among those who died from diseases was the son of the admiral - his grave was recently found on the island of Menorca), he quickly established control over the Greek archipelago. The Chesme battle in June 1770 remained unsurpassed in terms of loss ratio: 11 Russians - 11 thousand Turks! On the island of Paros, the Aouz naval base was equipped with coastal batteries and its own Admiralty.
The Russian fleet left mediterranean sea after the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainarji peace in July 1774, the Greek islands and the lands of the Levant, including Beirut, were returned to Turkey in exchange for territories in the Black Sea region. Nevertheless, the activities of the Russian fleet in the Archipelago were not in vain and played a significant role in world naval history. Russia, having made a strategic maneuver with the forces of the fleet from one theater to another and having achieved a number of high-profile victories over the enemy, for the first time forced to talk about itself as a strong maritime power and an important player in European politics.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

He personally took part in the planning and implementation of ALL offensive and defensive operations of the Red Army in the period 1941-1945.

Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky Pyotr Alexandrovich

Rurik Svyatoslav Igorevich

Year of birth 942 date of death 972 Expansion of the borders of the state. 965 the conquest of the Khazars, 963 the campaign to the south to the Kuban region the capture of Tmutarakan, 969 the conquest of the Volga Bulgars, 971 the conquest of the Bulgarian kingdom, 968 the foundation of Pereyaslavets on the Danube (the new capital of Rus'), 969 the defeat of the Pechenegs in the defense of Kiev.

Paskevich Ivan Fyodorovich

Hero of Borodin, Leipzig, Paris (division commander)
As commander in chief, he won 4 companies (Russian-Persian 1826-1828, Russian-Turkish 1828-1829, Polish 1830-1831, Hungarian 1849).
Knight of the Order of St. George 1st class - for the capture of Warsaw (according to the statute, the order was awarded either for saving the fatherland or for taking the enemy capital).
Field Marshal.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

If someone has not heard, write to no avail

Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich

In the conditions of the decomposition of the Russian state during the Time of Troubles, with minimal material and human resources, he created an army that defeated the Polish-Lithuanian interventionists and liberated most of the Russian state.

Romodanovsky Grigory Grigorievich

There are no outstanding military figures of the period from the Troubles to the Northern War on the project, although there were such. An example of this is G.G. Romodanovsky.
Descended from the family of Starodub princes.
Member of the sovereign's campaign against Smolensk in 1654. In September 1655, together with the Ukrainian Cossacks, he defeated the Poles near Gorodok (not far from Lvov), in November of the same year he fought in the battle of Ozernaya. In 1656 he received the rank of roundabout and headed the Belgorod category. In 1658 and 1659 participated in hostilities against the betrayed hetman Vyhovsky and Crimean Tatars, besieged Varva and fought near Konotop (Romodanovsky's troops withstood a heavy battle at the crossing over the Kukolka River). In 1664, he played a decisive role in repelling the invasion of 70 thousand army of the Polish king on the Left-Bank Ukraine, inflicted a number of sensitive blows on it. In 1665 he was granted a boyar. In 1670, he acted against the Razintsy - he defeated the detachment of the ataman's brother, Frol. Crown military activities Romodanovsky - the war with the Ottoman Empire. In 1677 and 1678 troops under his leadership inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottomans. An interesting moment: both main defendants in the battle of Vienna in 1683 were defeated by G.G. Romodanovsky: Sobessky with his king in 1664 and Kara Mustafa in 1678
The prince died on May 15, 1682 during the Streltsy uprising in Moscow.

During the outbreak of the war with England and France, he actually commanded the Black Sea Fleet, until his heroic death he was the immediate superior of P.S. Nakhimov and V.I. Istomin. After the landing of the Anglo-French troops in Evpatoria and the defeat of the Russian troops on the Alma, Kornilov received an order from the commander-in-chief in the Crimea, Prince Menshikov, to flood the ships of the fleet in the roadstead in order to use sailors to defend Sevastopol from land.

Momyshuly Bauyrzhan

Fidel Castro called him a hero of World War II.
He brilliantly put into practice the tactics developed by Major General I.V. Panfilov of fighting with small forces against an enemy many times superior in strength, which later received the name "Momyshuly's spiral".

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich

01/28/1887 - 09/05/1919 life. Head of a division of the Red Army, participant in the First World War and the Civil War.
Cavalier of three St. George's crosses and the St. George medal. Cavalier of the Order of the Red Banner.
On his account:
- Organization of the county Red Guard of 14 detachments.
- Participation in the campaign against General Kaledin (near Tsaritsyn).
- Participation in the campaign of the Special Army against Uralsk.
- An initiative to reorganize the Red Guard detachments into two regiments of the Red Army: them. Stepan Razin and them. Pugachev, united in the Pugachev brigade under the command of Chapaev.
- Participation in battles with the Czechoslovaks and the People's Army, from whom Nikolaevsk was recaptured, renamed in honor of the brigade in Pugachevsk.
- Since September 19, 1918, the commander of the 2nd Nikolaev division.
- From February 1919 - Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Nikolaevsky district.
- From May 1919 - brigade commander of the Special Alexander-Gai Brigade.
- Since June - the head of the 25th Infantry Division, which participated in the Bugulma and Belebeev operations against Kolchak's army.

Platov Matvei Ivanovich

Military ataman of the Don Cossack army. He began active military service at the age of 13. A member of several military companies, he is best known as the commander of the Cossack troops during the Patriotic War of 1812 and during the subsequent Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army. Thanks to the successful actions of the Cossacks under his command, Napoleon's saying went down in history:
- Happy is the commander who has Cossacks. If I had an army of Cossacks alone, then I would conquer all of Europe.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, Supreme Commander. Brilliant military leadership of the USSR in World War II.

Field Marshal Ivan Gudovich

The assault on the Turkish fortress of Anapa on June 22, 1791. In terms of complexity and importance, it is only inferior to the assault on Izmail by A.V. Suvorov.
A 7,000-strong Russian detachment stormed Anapa, which was defended by a 25,000-strong Turkish garrison. At the same time, shortly after the start of the assault, 8,000 mounted mountaineers and Turks attacked the Russian detachment from the mountains, who attacked the Russian camp, but could not break into it, were repulsed in a fierce battle and pursued by Russian cavalry.
The fierce battle for the fortress lasted over 5 hours. Of the Anapa garrison, about 8,000 people died, 13,532 defenders were taken prisoner, led by the commandant and Sheikh Mansur. A small part (about 150 people) escaped on ships. Almost all artillery was captured or destroyed (83 cannons and 12 mortars), 130 banners were taken. To the nearby fortress of Sudzhuk-Kale (on the site of modern Novorossiysk), Gudovich sent a separate detachment from Anapa, but when he approached, the garrison burned the fortress and fled to the mountains, leaving 25 guns.
The losses of the Russian detachment were very high - 23 officers and 1,215 privates were killed, 71 officers and 2,401 privates were wounded (slightly lower data are indicated in Sytin's Military Encyclopedia - 940 killed and 1,995 wounded). Gudovich was awarded the Order of St. George of the 2nd degree, all the officers of his detachment were awarded, a special medal was established for the lower ranks.

Oktyabrsky Philip Sergeevich

Admiral, Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. One of the leaders of the Defense of Sevastopol in 1941 - 1942, as well as the Crimean operation of 1944. During the Great Patriotic War, Vice Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky was one of the leaders of the heroic defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. Being the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, at the same time in 1941-1942 he was the commander of the Sevastopol Defense Region.

Three orders of Lenin
three orders of the Red Banner
two orders of Ushakov 1st degree
Order of Nakhimov 1st class
Order of Suvorov 2nd class
Order of the Red Star
medals

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

Outstanding Russian commander. He successfully defended the interests of Russia both from external aggression and outside the country.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

The best Russian commander during the First World War. An ardent patriot of his Motherland.

Gorbaty-Shuisky Alexander Borisovich

Hero of the Kazan War, the first governor of Kazan

Olsufiev Zakhar Dmitrievich

One of the most famous commanders of Bagrationov's 2nd Western Army. He always fought with exemplary courage. He was awarded the Order of St. George 3rd degree for heroic participation in the Battle of Borodino. He distinguished himself in the battle on the Chernishna (or Tarutinsky) River. The award to him for participating in the defeat of the vanguard of Napoleon's army was the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree. He was called "general with talents". When Olsufiev was captured and was delivered to Napoleon, he said to his entourage the famous words in history: "Only Russians know how to fight like that!"

Marshal F.I. Tolbukhin

Hero of the First and Second World Wars, a commander who symbolizes the path of our army from the double-headed eagle to the red banner ...

Dovmont, Prince of Pskov

On the famous Novgorod monument to the Millennium of Russia, he stands in the section "military people and heroes."
Dovmont, Prince of Pskov, lived in the 13th century (he died in 1299).
Descended from the family of Lithuanian princes. After the assassination of the Lithuanian prince Mindovg, he fled to Pskov, where he was baptized under the name of Timothy, after which the Pskovites elected him their prince.
Soon Dovmont showed the qualities of a brilliant commander. In 1266 he utterly defeated the Lithuanians on the banks of the Dvina.
Dovmont participated in the famous Rakovor battle with the crusaders (1268), where he commanded the Pskov regiments as part of the united Russian army. When the Livonian knights besieged Pskov, Dovmont, with the help of the Novgorodians who came to the rescue, managed to defend the city, and the Grand Master, wounded in a duel by Dovmont himself, was forced to make peace.
To protect against attacks, Dovmont fortified Pskov with a new stone wall, which until the 16th century was called Dovmontova.
In 1299, the Livonian knights unexpectedly invaded the Pskov land and devastated it, but were again defeated by Dovmont, who soon fell ill and died.
None of the Pskov princes enjoyed such love among the Pskovites as Dovmont.
The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him as a saint in the 16th century after the Batory invasion on the occasion of some miraculous phenomenon. The local memory of Dovmont is celebrated on May 25. His body was buried in the Trinity Cathedral in Pskov, where his sword and clothes were kept at the beginning of the 20th century.

The reign of Alexander 1 (1801-1825)

By 1801, dissatisfaction with Paul 1 began to go wild. Moreover, it was not ordinary citizens who were dissatisfied with him, but his sons, in particular Alexander, some generals and the elite. The reason for non-solicitation is the rejection of the policy of Catherine 2 and the deprivation of the nobility of the leading role and some privileges. The English ambassador supported them in this, since Paul 1 severed all diplomatic relations with the British after their betrayal. On the night of March 11-12, 1801, the conspirators, led by General Palen, broke into Paul's chambers and killed him.

Emperor's First Steps

The reign of Alexander 1 actually began on March 12, 1801 on the basis of a coup carried out by the elite. In the early years, the emperor was an adherent of liberal reforms, as well as the ideas of the Republic. Therefore, from the first years of his reign, he had to face difficulties. He had like-minded people who supported the views of liberal reforms, but the main part of the nobility spoke from a position of conservatism, so 2 camps formed in Russia. In the future, the conservatives won, and Alexander himself, by the end of his reign, changed his liberal views to conservative ones.

In order to implement his vision, Alexander created a "secret committee", which included his associates. It was an informal body, but it was he who was involved in the initial drafts of reforms.

Internal government of the country

Alexander's domestic policy differed little from that of his predecessors. He also believed that serfs should not have any rights. The dissatisfaction of the peasants was very strong, so Emperor Alexander 1 was forced to sign a decree banning the sale of serfs (this decree was easily managed by the landlords) and in the same year the decree “On Sculptural Plowmen” was signed. According to this decree, the landowner was allowed to provide the peasants with freedom and land if they could redeem themselves. This decree was more formal, since the peasants were poor and could not redeem themselves from the landowner. During the reign of Alexander 1, 0.5% of peasants throughout the country received freedom.

The emperor changed the system of government of the country. He dissolved the colleges that had been appointed by Peter the Great and organized ministries in their place. Each ministry was headed by a minister who reported directly to the emperor. During the reign of Alexander, the judicial system of Russia was also changed. The Senate was declared the highest judicial authority. In 1810, Emperor Alexander 1 announced the creation of the State Council, which became supreme body governance of the country. The system of government proposed by Emperor Alexander 1, with minor changes, lasted until the very moment of the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917.

Population of Russia

During the reign of Alexander the First in Russia there were 3 large estates of inhabitants:

• Privileged. Nobles, clergy, merchants, honorary citizens.
• Semi-privileged. Odnodvortsy and Cossacks.
• Taxable. Petty bourgeois and peasants.

At the same time, the population of Russia increased and by the beginning of the reign of Alexander (early 19th century), it amounted to 40 million people. For comparison, at the start of the 18th century, the population of Russia was 15.5 million people.

Relations with other countries

Alexander's foreign policy was not distinguished by prudence. The emperor believed in the need for an alliance against Napoleon, and as a result, in 1805, a campaign was made against France, in alliance with England and Austria, and in 1806-1807. in alliance with England and Prussia. The British did not fight. These campaigns did not bring success, and in 1807 the Treaty of Tilsit was signed. Napoleon did not demand any concessions from Russia, he was looking for an alliance with Alexander, but Emperor Alexander 1, devoted to the British, did not want to move closer. As a result, this peace has become only a truce. And in June 1812, the Patriotic War began between Russia and France. Thanks to the genius of Kutuzov and the fact that the entire Russian people rose up against the invaders, already in 1812 the French were defeated and expelled from Russia. Fulfilling the allied duty, Emperor Alexander 1 gave the order to pursue Napoleon's troops. The foreign campaign of the Russian army continued until 1814. This campaign did not bring much success for Russia.

Emperor Alexander 1 lost his vigilance after the war. He absolutely did not control foreign organizations, which began to supply Russian revolutionaries with money in large volumes. As a result, a boom of revolutionary movements began in the country aimed at overthrowing the emperor. All this resulted in the Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825. The uprising was subsequently suppressed, but a dangerous precedent was set in the country, and most of the participants in the uprising fled from justice.

results

The reign of Alexander 1 was not glorious for Russia. The emperor bowed before England and did almost everything he was asked to do in London. He got involved in the anti-French coalition, pursuing the interests of the British, Napoleon at that time did not think about a campaign against Russia. The result of such a policy was terrible: the devastating war of 1812 and the powerful uprising of 1825.

Emperor Alexander 1 died in 1825, ceding the throne to his brother, Nicholas 1.

December 23, 1777 was born Alexander I - one of the most controversial Russian emperors. The winner of Napoleon and the liberator of Europe, he went down in history as Alexander the Blessed. However, contemporaries and researchers accused him of weakness and hypocrisy. “The Sphinx, not unraveled to the grave, They are still arguing about it again,” - this is how poet Peter Vyazemsky wrote about him almost a century after the birth of the autocrat. About the era of the reign of Alexander I - in the material RT.

Exemplary son and loving grandson

Alexander I was the son of Paul I and the grandson of Catherine II. The empress did not like Paul and, not seeing in him a strong ruler and a worthy successor, she gave all unspent maternal feelings to Alexander.

From childhood, the future Emperor Alexander I often spent time with his grandmother in the Winter Palace, but at the same time he managed to visit Gatchina, where his father lived. According to the doctor of historical sciences Alexander Mironenko, it was this duality, the desire to please the grandmother and father, who were so different in temperaments and views, that formed the contradictory character of the future emperor.

“Alexander I in his youth loved to play the violin. During this time, he corresponded with his mother, Maria Feodorovna, who told him that he was too fond of playing a musical instrument and that he should prepare more for the role of autocrat. Alexander I replied that it would be better to play the violin than, like his peers, play cards. He did not want to reign, but at the same time he dreamed of curing all ulcers, correcting any disorders in the structure of Russia, doing everything as it should be in his dreams, and then abdicate, ”Mironenko said in an interview with RT.

According to experts, Catherine II wanted to pass the throne to her beloved grandson, bypassing the legitimate heir. And only sudden death Empress in November 1796 violated these plans. Paul I ascended the throne. A short, lasting only four years, reign of the new emperor, who received the nickname "Russian Hamlet", began.

The eccentric Paul I, obsessed with drill and parades, was despised by the whole of Catherine's Petersburg. Soon, among those dissatisfied with the new emperor, a conspiracy arose, the result of which was a palace coup.

“It is not clear whether Alexander understood that his removal own father from the throne is impossible without killing. Nevertheless, Alexander went for it, and on the night of March 11, 1801, the conspirators entered the bedroom of Paul I and killed him. Most likely, Alexander I was ready for such an outcome of events. Subsequently, from the memoirs it became known that Alexander Poltoratsky, one of the conspirators, quickly informed the future emperor that his father had been killed, which means that he had to take the crown. To the surprise of Poltoratsky himself, he found Alexander awake in the middle of the night in full uniform, ”said Mironenko.

Tsar Reformer

Having ascended the throne, Alexander I began to develop progressive reforms. Discussions took place in the Unspoken Committee, which included close friends of the young autocrat.

“According to the first reform of government, undertaken in 1802, the colleges were replaced by ministries. The main difference was that in collegiums decisions are made collectively, in ministries all responsibility rests with one minister, who now had to be chosen very carefully,” Mironenko explained.

In 1810, Alexander I created the State Council - the highest legislative body under the emperor.

“The famous painting by Repin - the solemn meeting of the State Council on its centennial anniversary - was written in 1902, on the day the Private Committee was approved, and not in 1910,” Mironenko noted.

The State Council, as part of the transformation of the state, was developed not by Alexander I, but by Mikhail Speransky. It was he who laid the foundation for the Russian government controlled the principle of separation of powers.

“We should not forget that in an autocratic state this principle was difficult to implement. Formally, the first step - the creation of the State Council as a legislative body - was taken. Since 1810, any imperial decree was issued with the wording: "Having heeded the opinion of the State Council." At the same time, Alexander I could issue laws without listening to the opinion of the State Council,” Mironenko explained.

Tsar Liberator

After the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns, Alexander I, inspired by the victory over Napoleon, returned to the long-forgotten idea of ​​​​reforms: changing the form of government, limiting autocracy by the constitution and solving the peasant question.

Alexander I in 1814 near Paris

© F. Kruger

The first step in resolving the peasant issue was the decree on free cultivators of 1803. For the first time in many centuries of serfdom, peasants were allowed to be liberated, giving them land, albeit for a ransom. Of course, the landowners were in no hurry to free the peasants, especially with the land. As a result, very few were free. However, for the first time in the history of Russia, the authorities gave the peasants the opportunity to leave serfdom.

The second significant state act of Alexander I was a draft constitution for Russia, which he instructed Nikolai Novosiltsev, a member of the Private Committee, to develop. An old friend of Alexander I fulfilled this order. However, this was preceded by the events of March 1818, when in Warsaw, at the opening of the meeting of the Polish Council, Alexander, by decision of the Congress of Vienna, granted Poland a constitution.

“The emperor uttered words that shocked all of Russia at that time: “Someday the grace-filled constitutional principles will be extended to all the lands subject to my scepter.” It's like saying in the 1960s that Soviet power will no longer exist. Many representatives of influential circles were frightened by this. As a result, Alexander did not dare to adopt the constitution,” Mironenko said.

The plan of Alexander I to free the peasants was also not fully implemented.

“The emperor understood that it was impossible to free the peasants without the participation of the state. A certain part of the peasants must be redeemed by the state. One can imagine such an option: the landowner went bankrupt, his estate was put up for auction and the peasants were personally liberated. However, this was not implemented. Although Alexander was an autocratic and domineering monarch, he was still within the system. The unrealized constitution was supposed to modify the system itself, but there were no forces that would support the emperor at that moment, ”Mironenko explained.

According to experts, one of the mistakes of Alexander I was his conviction that the communities in which the ideas of reorganizing the state are discussed should be secret.

“Away from the people, the young emperor discussed reform projects in the Unspoken Committee, not realizing that the already emerging Decembrist societies partly share his ideas. In the end, neither of these attempts were successful. It took another quarter of a century to understand that these reforms were not so radical, ”Mironenko concluded.

Mystery of death

Alexander I died during a trip to Russia: he caught a cold in the Crimea, lay “in a fever” for several days and died in Taganrog on November 19, 1825.

The body of the late emperor was to be transported to Petersburg. The remains of Alexander I were embalmed. The procedure was unsuccessful: the complexion and appearance of the sovereign changed. In St. Petersburg, during a public farewell, Nicholas I ordered that the coffin be closed. It was this incident that gave rise to unceasing disputes about the death of the king and aroused suspicions that "the body was changed."

© Wikimedia Commons

The most popular version is associated with the name of the elder Fyodor Kuzmich. The elder appeared in 1836 in the Perm province, and then ended up in Siberia. In recent years, he lived in Tomsk in the house of the merchant Khromov, where he died in 1864. Fyodor Kuzmich himself never spoke about himself. However, Khromov assured that the elder was Alexander I, who had secretly departed from the world. Thus, a legend arose that Alexander I, tormented by remorse because of the murder of his father, staged his own death and set off to wander around Russia.

Subsequently, historians tried to debunk this legend. After studying the surviving notes of Fyodor Kuzmich, the researchers came to the conclusion that the handwriting of Alexander I and the elder have nothing in common. Moreover, Fyodor Kuzmich wrote with errors. However, lovers of historical secrets believe that the point in this matter has not been set. They are convinced that until a genetic examination of the remains of the old man has been carried out, it is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion about who Fyodor Kuzmich really was.