Nicholas I of Russia
Emperor of Russia known for autocratic rule, territorial expansion, and suppression of dissent.
Nicholas I was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1825 until his death in 1855. The third son of Paul I, he succeeded his older brother Alexander I. His nearly three-decade rule opened with the Decembrist revolt, which he crushed. History remembers him as a staunch reactionary: his reign saw the empire expand geographically, administrative power become more centralized, and dissent—both at home and abroad—was harshly suppressed. On a personal level, his marriage was a happy one, and all seven of his children lived to adulthood.
Biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky described Nicholas as a man of iron will, fierce determination, and single-minded purpose, driven by a strong sense of duty and a relentless work ethic. He viewed himself as a soldier, a junior officer obsessed with discipline and polish. Though handsome, he was also highly strung and aggressive. With a background in military engineering, he obsessed over tiny details. In public, Riasanovsky wrote, Nicholas “came to represent autocracy personified: infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate.”
Nicholas played a key role in establishing an independent Greece and pushed forward Russia’s conquest of the Caucasus. During the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), he took Iğdır Province and the rest of what is now Armenia and Azerbaijan from Qajar Iran. He also concluded the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) on favorable terms. In 1831, he put down the November Uprising in Poland, and in 1848 he gave decisive support to Austria during the Hungarian Revolution. Later, however, he steered Russia into the Crimean War (1853–1856), which ended in disaster. Historians note that his constant meddling in military affairs hampered his generals, and his strategic choices were flawed. Several scholars have judged that “the reign of Nicholas I was a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy.” When he died, the Russian Empire covered more than 20 million square kilometers, yet it desperately needed reform.
Nicholas was born in 1796 at Gatchina Palace, the ninth child of Grand Duke Paul and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. He had six older sisters and two older brothers: the future Alexander I and Grand Duke Constantine. Four months after his birth, Catherine the Great died, and his parents became emperor and empress. At age four, in 1800, he was made Grand Prior of Russia, entitled to wear the Maltese cross. He grew into a striking young man. Riasanovsky called him “the most handsome man in Europe, but also a charmer who enjoyed feminine company and was often at his best with the men.”
On 13 July 1817, Nicholas married Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798–1860), who upon converting to Orthodoxy took the name Alexandra Feodorovna. Her parents were Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Nicholas and Charlotte were third cousins, both being great-great-grandchildren of Frederick William I of Prussia. With two older brothers, Nicholas seemed unlikely to become tsar. But because neither Alexander nor Constantine had legitimate sons, Nicholas eventually emerged as the likely heir—or at least the father of a future one. When Alexander died suddenly of typhus in 1825, Nicholas was caught between swearing loyalty to Constantine and accepting the throne himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine, then in Warsaw, formally renounced his right to succeed—a condition Alexander had set for Constantine’s marriage to his second wife, Joanna Grudzinska. On 25 December (13 December Old Style), Nicholas issued a manifesto proclaiming his accession, backdated to 1 December (19 November Old Style), the day of Alexander’s death. During this confusion, some military officers plotted a coup, leading to the Decembrist Revolt on 26 December (14 December Old Style), which Nicholas quickly suppressed.
Nicholas lacked his brother Alexander’s intellectual and spiritual breadth. He saw his role simply as a paternal autocrat ruling by any means necessary. His reign began on 14 December 1825 (Old Style), a Monday—considered unlucky in Russian superstition. That Monday dawned bitterly cold, at −8°C, which the people took as a bad omen. The accession was marred by a demonstration of 3,000 young officers and liberal citizens demanding a constitution and representative government. Nicholas ordered the Imperial Russian Army to break it up. The “uprising” was swiftly crushed and became known as the Decembrist revolt. Traumatized by this event on his very first day, Nicholas was determined to control Russian society. The Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery ran a vast network of spies and informers, backed by Gendarmes. The government imposed censorship and tightly controlled education.
- field
- Monarchy
- nationality
- Russian
- known_for
- Reactionary rule, suppression of the Decembrist revolt, expansion of the Russian
Lore & Background
Nicholas was the third son of Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I. With two older brothers, it initially seemed unlikely he would ever become Tsar, but after Alexander and Constantine failed to produce legitimate sons, he came to attention as likely to rule. Nicholas saw himself as a soldier—a junior officer consumed by spit and polish. Trained as a military engineer, he was a stickler for minute detail. His biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky stated that he displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. In his public persona, he came to represent autocracy personified: infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate. He had a happy marriage that produced a large family, with all of their seven children surviving childhood. Historians emphasize that his micromanagement of the armies hindered his generals, as did his misguided strategy. Nicholas was instrumental in helping to create an independent Greek state and resumed the Russian conquest of the Caucasus by seizing Iğdır Province and the remainder of modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan from Qajar Iran during the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). He ended the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) successfully as well. He crushed the November Uprising in Poland in 1831 and decisively aided Austria during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Later on, however, he led Russia into the Crimean War (1853–1856), with disastrous results. Several historians have concluded that "the reign of Nicholas I was a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy." On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire spanned over 20 million square kilometers (7.7 million square miles), but had a desperate need for reform. Nicholas was crowned King of Poland in Warsaw on 12 (24) May 1829, per the Polish Constitution, a document he would not respect thereafter. He is the only Russian monarch ever crowned King of Poland—although not the only one bestowed with the title.
Reader's Guide
Nicholas I's reign is often judged as a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy. His response to the Decembrist revolt set a tone of repression: he established the Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery, which ran a huge network of spies and informers with the help of Gendarmes, and exercised censorship over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life. Nicholas appointed Alexander Benckendorff to head this Chancellery, who employed 300 gendarmes and 16 staff, collecting informers and intercepting mail. The saying that "it was impossible to sneeze in one's house before it is reported to the emperor" became Benckendorff's creed. Tsar Nicholas abolished several areas of local autonomy: Bessarabia's autonomy was removed in 1828, Poland's in 1830, and the Jewish Qahal was abolished in 1843. As an exception, Finland was able to keep its autonomy partly due to Finnish soldiers' loyal participation in crushing the November Uprising in Poland. In 1833, Sergey Uvarov devised a program of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality" as the guiding principle of the regime—a reactionary policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and the state-founding role of the Russian nationality, with the exclusion of Jews. The results led to increasing repression of all classes, excessive censorship, and surveillance of independent-minded intellectuals like Pushkin and Lermontov, and to the persecution of non-Russian languages and non-Orthodox religions. Taras Shevchenko, later known as the national poet of Ukraine, was exiled to Siberia by a direct order of Tsar Nicholas after composing a poem that mocked the Tsar, his wife, and his domestic policies. Nicholas disliked serfdom and toyed with the idea of abolishing it, but declined to do so for reasons of state, fearing the aristocracy might turn against him. He did make some efforts to improve the lot of the Crown Serfs with the help of his minister Pavel Kiselyov. In 1831, Nicholas restricted the votes in the Noble Assembly to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters. In 1841, landless nobles were banned from selling serfs separate from the land. From 1845, attainment of the 5th highest rank in the Table of Ranks was required to be ennobled, previously it had been the 8th rank. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire spanned over 20 million square kilometers but had a desperate need for reform.
Did You Know?
- Nicholas I was the only Russian monarch ever crowned King of Poland, which he did in Warsaw on 12 (24) May 1829.
- His reign began on a Monday with a temperature of −8 degrees Celsius, which Russians regarded as a bad omen.
- He appointed Alexander Benckendorff to head the Third Section, who employed 300 gendarmes and 16 staff to run a network of spies and informers.
- Taras Shevchenko, later Ukraine's national poet, was exiled to Siberia by direct order of Nicholas I for composing a poem that mocked the Tsar, his wife, and his domestic policies.
- All seven of Nicholas I's children survived childhood, which was unusual for the time.
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