A history of life and a state activity of Nicholas I - in the rarities of the Presidential Library

6 July 2017

July 6, 2017, marks the 221st anniversary of Emperor Nicholas I. A selection of digitized rare materials dedicated to the Russian autocrat are available on the Presidential Library website. It contains the historical documents, including Tsar’s personal correspondence, rare books, biographical essays, recollections of contemporaries, historical studies and many other sources, which shed light on the way of life and state accomplishments of Nikolay Pavlovich. Current selection is part of more extensive, including about 900 pieces electronic array on The House of Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor of 1613 (also known as Assembly of the Land).

To find out in details about Nikolai Pavlovich's childhood made literally possible in his own words. There is an electronic copy of released in 1906 book entitled The recollections about the infant years of the Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, made with His own hand, containing many interesting facts concerning the members of the royal family, their lifestyle and their ambiance, on the Presidential Library website.

“They say that my birth did everyone a great favor, since it happened after a birth of his six in a row sisters,” - Nikolai Pavlovich begins with. His Majesty mentions that such event brought a special joy to a grandmother of the new-born, Empress Catherine II: “I was born and I think that my birth was the last happy event she experienced; she wanted to have a grandson - I was, they say, a big and healthy child, she blessed me, saying: “What an epic warrior hero!”

Detailed memoirs of Nikolai Pavlovich include most diverse information about life at court. So, he writes: “The image of our children's life was quite similar to the life of other children, with the exception of etiquette, which was then given an extraordinary importance. Since the birth of each child, an English nursery governess, two ladies for night duty, four nannies or maids, a wet-nurse, two valets, two chamber lackeys, eight lackeys and eight heaters have been attached to him. Much attention was paid to the domestic side: “We slept on iron beds, which were surrounded by a usual curtain. <…> Also, a white paper nightcap was requested, which we, however, never wore, hating it since very beginning as early as there and then. The night suit, besides a long, in the woman's fashion shirt, consisted of a dress with half-length sleeves, fastened on the back and reaching the neck.”

There are also some memoirs of young Nikolai Pavlovich on his famous contemporaries included in the edition. Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov is a hero of one of the episodes: “I was in the Winter Palace, in the library of my mother, where I’ve noticed a picturesque figure all covered with the medals, which I’ve never seen; this person struck me. I overwhelmed him with questions about this; he got down on his knees before me and showed me and explained everything.”

Certainly, Nicholas I pays much attention to his family, especially fondly telling about their move to a new residence - the newly built Mikhaylovsky Castle: “When we were carried there, we were temporarily accommodated all together, on the fourth floor, in a suite of rooms that were arranged on the different levels; quite steep staircases led from one room to another. My father often came to see us, and I remember very well that he always was really cheerful. My sisters lived next to us, and we kept playing and rolling around all the rooms and stairs in the sleigh, that was, the overturned chairs; even my mother joined these games.”

Nicholas I, who grew up in a large and friendly family, became a wonderful family man himself. Released in 1900 book of N. Ermilov entitled Some sketches from a being of the Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich: based on the memories of his contemporaries describes an idyll that was in the union of Grand Duke Nicholas and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna: “Without assuming to become a Russian emperor and being a Grand Duke, Nikolai Pavlovich lived in the Anichkov Palace very simple life, reserved with a circle of his beloved family, just like an ordinary mortal being. He rarely appeared at court. All his time he devoted to the family, studying music, drawing, reading selected works of English and French authors, loved to collect and arrange his collections of prints, caricatures and maps.”

The unexpected death of Alexander I revealed all the complexity of existing dynastic situation: his successor, brother Konstantin Pavlovich, refused to enthrone. Then Nikolai Pavlovich has managed to take the initiative in his own hands and decided to declare himself emperor on the basis of documents signed by Alexander I as early as in 1823.

On December 14 (26), the day of the second oath to the Emperor Nicholas I a famous Decembrist uprising took place at the Senate Square in St. Petersburg. “What is the beginning of the reign!” - said the Emperor to the Empress, who stepped out from the palace. Sad and oppressive silence was a most meaningful response to it,” – as A. Magam expresses the tragic atmosphere on December 14 in his book of 1859 entitled The Emperor Nicholas I and his reign, an electronic copy of which is also belonging to the collection of the Presidential Library.

Nikolai Pavlovich has a strong character: “Gifted with a great mind Tsar was never embarrassed by the difficulty of the first steps, immediately seeing how the land lies,” – according to The Emperor Nicholas essay, published in 1894. Contemporaries solidly asserted that “from the first minute of the supreme power, the Emperor Nicholas I got engaged in public affairs with the utmost energy, patience and accuracy,” – as stated in “A word in memory of the Emperor Nicholas I” publication of 1896 from the Presidential Library stock.

The reign of Nicholas I was marked for Russia by many transformations. Heir to the throne began with the reform of the system of internal management, as in the past years the first concern was a foreign policy. Nicholas took steps to improve military and civil legal proceedings; significantly increased the role of the Governing Senate, weakened under Alexander I by the influence of the State Council; strengthened justice.

During the thirty years of the country's rule (1825-1855), the Emperor significantly expanded its territory, adding vast areas of the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Far East; the first in the country Tsarskoselskaya railroad was built, and later - the Nikolayev Railway, which connected St. Petersburg and Moscow, appeared.

During the reign of Nicholas I, the Russian University, Russian science, and Russian art have blossomed. The Military Academy, the Engineering School, the School of Law, the Technological Institute, and two cadet corps were established in St. Petersburg. The Russian Geographical Society was established and the first in Russia privately funded yet publicly available Rumyantsevsky museum appeared under Nicholas I.

The Presidential Library has collected a large number of electronic copies of written by Nicholas I documents. Among them are the Rescript of Emperor Nicholas I to General Ermolov regarding The Draft Charter of Emperor Nicholas I to the Emperor of Japan on sending Vice Admiral E. Putyatin to Japan and a desire to establish trade relations and various others.

Also, there are some other important documents of that period, such as the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, which was first published in 1832 by the decree of Nicholas I, on the Presidential Library website. Including 15 volumes of legal acts of the Russian Empire in those years, which are grouped by subject. The Statute of censorship of 1829 could be found here. This is the second censorship charter issued to soften the previous one: in 1826 the first censorship statute was issued, prohibiting a release of virtually everything that had any political connotation.