A great personality and the accomplishments of Nicholas I are revealed in the collection of the Presidential Library

By the 220th anniversary of the birth of Nicholas I, celebrated on July 6, 2016, the Presidential Library presented on its website a collection of little-known materials, historical documents, rare books and publications related to the life and work of this probably one of the most complex and comprehensive, according to historians, among the emperors - Nicholas Pavlovich Romanov.

His reign was not so quiet. The first trial was waiting for the young monarch right at the day of his enthronement - the revolt of the Decembrists, which was intended to prevent the troops and the Senate to take the oath to the new king, not allowing Nicholas I to the throne.

“What is the beginning of the reign!” - the Emperor said to the Empress, who was coming out from the palace towards him. The sad and depressing silence was an eloquent answer." This is how A. Magam conveys the tragic atmosphere of December 14 in the 1859-year’s book entitled “The Emperor Nicholas I and His Reign”, an electronic copy of which is in the Presidential Library stock.

The convulsions, however, were strongly suppressed; after his first decisions Nicholas I was considered as a strong ruler.

In the “Semyanin” (family man) magazine for 1894, in the electronic copy of The Emperor Nicholas essay, can be read: “Taking the reins in his hands, the young sovereign surrounded unlimited monarch power with unprecedented charm, and in face of the whole of Europe declared himself a powerful protector of Russian autocracy, and in the eyes of his people - a father and a bearer of the homeland, the greatness of which he valued above the all.”

Most important historical documents of the period, such as the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, which was first released by the decree of Nicholas I in 1832, could be found on the Presidential Library website. There are 15 volumes of effective legislative acts of the Russian Empire, arranged in thematic order. Proclaiming a strictness of the law, as a corrective measure, the sovereign didn’t have a mercy on a guilty one, whether it was very close to him person, and was not ceremonious even with the persons of high standing, not to mention the noblemen, whose absolute power over the serfs he significantly restricted,” - writes the unnamed (alas!) author of The Emperor Nicholas essay.

The heir to the throne began to reform primarily with the internal control system, as in previous reigns the main concern was the foreign affairs. Nicholas took measures to improve the military and civil court proceedings; significantly increased the role of the Governing Senate, which was weakened under Alexander I by the influence of the Council of State; justice was upraised at a considerable height. Tsar had deal with the most difficult problems that required to get solved in several stages.

So, for instance, the lines of communication remained completely off-road, so during the muddy spring and autumn seasons, the traffic over earth roads almost ceased. Stagnation reigned in the industry and commerce. The Emperor wanted to liberate the peasants, but did not meet the necessary support. Shortly before the Crimean War, the Emperor, not without a bitterness, confessed to one of his subordinates: “Three times I started this thing and three times and could not continue - this is obviously a finger of God.” He realized that the country was not ready yet to accept such the great reform.

Received an excellent home education, Nicholas Pavlovich highly valued a literature, a painting, a poetry, drawing nearer marked with talent people. “You know - the monarch mentioned once, - I just talked to the wisest man in Russia.” And answered on a question “Who was it?” - “With Pushkin.” The electronic copy of the book of Eugene Petukhov entitled On the Relationship of the Emperor Nicholas I and Pushkin of 1897 is investigated absolutely not trivial nature of the relationship between the monarch and the first poet of Russia:

“These mutual relations, extremely close for two people so far divided with each other by their social position, were filled on the one hand with a large heartedness and a generosity, and on the other - with sovereign integrity, dignity and inner nobility, make one of the most curious chapter in the history of our most recent literature.”

Freed by Nicholas from his Mikhailovsky exile and visited an audience with him in Moscow, Pushkin hurried to notify N. M. Yazykov about this with enthusiasm: "The tsar set me free from censorship. He is my censor himself. There is a huge benefit of it, by all means.”

A large array of electronic copies of documents, personally handwritten by Nicholas I, had been accumulated at the Presidential Library stock. Among these are the Rescript of the Emperor Nicholas I to General Yermolov, The draft missive letter of the Emperor Nicholas I to the Emperor of Japan regarding directing to Japan the Vice Admiral E. V. Putyatin for the establishing of trade relations and others.

Related to Nicholas I materials included in the collection of the first in country national electronic library entitled The Romanov Dynasty. The 400th anniversary of the Assembly of Land of 1613. In total, the collection contains about 900 items.