The museum is named after these two fairy tale heroes. Museums for fairy-tale heroes. Fairytale Museums and Estates

The period of Boris Godunov's reign has gone down in history as one of the most controversial. Godunov's career began back in the years. Being a talented and far-sighted politician, Godunov was able to rise from the guardsmen to the close boyars of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Even during the life of Ivan the Terrible, he influenced government decisions, acting, however, wisely and with caution.

The Rise of Boris Godunov

The reign of Boris Godunov began long before his official assumption of the post of sovereign. After the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584, the throne was inherited by the Tsar’s eldest son Fedor, kind and pious, but at the same time incapable of government. IN as soon as possible after Fedor's ascension to the throne, he was able to achieve such influence that he actually ruled the country during all fourteen years of Fedor's reign and even then proved himself to be an outstanding statesman and skillful politician.

After the death of Ivan the Terrible, there were rumors that the cause of the tsar’s death was poison from the hands of Godunov. The accusation was refuted by court doctors: Ivan the Terrible died of natural causes.

Tsar Fedor, lacking not only the ability to rule, but also the desire to participate in resolving state issues, entrusted all matters to Boris, including the reception of foreign ambassadors (which no boyar had previously been honored with). The first important foreign policy steps of Boris Godunov were the establishment lasting peace with Poland and the Russian-Swedish war in 1590-1595. Boris's decisions were aimed at strengthening and expanding Russia's borders. During the war with the Swedes, Russian troops returned what was lost in the Livonian War The Gulf of Finland. Through negotiations with Sweden, several cities were returned to the Russian crown. The expansion of Russian lands to the east continued: the colonization of the Volga region and Siberia expanded. Thanks to the active construction of Moscow fortifications, the attack of the Crimean Khan was repulsed without difficulty, who was subsequently defeated by the Russian troops pursuing him. By supporting the Terek Cossacks, Godunov strengthened his influence in the Caucasus.

Making all government decisions, Boris focused his efforts on strengthening statehood. One of Boris’s main historical decisions in the domestic political arena was the establishment of the patriarchate; the church gained independence from Byzantium, while simultaneously becoming an important political lever for the Russian ruler. This step significantly increased the authority of Russia throughout the Christian world. Another historic decision of Godunov was the strengthening of Grozny’s policy of enslaving the peasants - the surest, in his opinion, way to strengthen the economic condition of the country. By Boris's decision, St. George's Day was canceled.

Much attention was paid to growth existing cities and the emergence of new ones. On the initiative of Boris, the foundations of Samara, Saratov, Belgorod, Tsaritsyn, Tomsk, and Voronezh were founded. An impressive fortress wall was erected in Smolensk. Under Godunov's rule, secular and church architecture flourished. It was on Boris’s initiative that the first water supply system appeared in the capital, which was then considered a miracle of technology.

Ascension to the throne

In 1591, in Uglich, the tragic death of Tsarevich Dmitry, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible and the only heir of the childless Fyodor, occurred. This event opened the way for Godunov to the throne, at the same time forever tarnishing his image in history with suspicions of organizing the murder of the prince. However, after the death of Tsar Fedor in 1598, it was Boris who was elected as the new Tsar.

Boris Godunov became the first tsar to open the way to education in Russia: trying to found the first university, he sent the boyars’ sons to Europe to master the sciences.

Having become the official ruler, Boris Godunov continued to strengthen Russia's foreign policy influence. Numerous contacts with guests from Western states, including officers, merchants, industrialists, and doctors, shaped a policy much similar to that which later glorified the achievements of Peter I. However, the reign of the Tsar was associated with constant confrontation with many difficult conditions. The famine that befell the country in 1601 over the course of three years claimed thousands of human lives, which served as a reason for the opposition boyars to spread the rumor that the plight of the people was a curse on the Tsar for the murder of the young Tsarevich Dmitry.

Godunov’s position was only complicated by the fact that, in conditions of constant confrontation, he suspected most of the boyars of conspiracies and persecuted many boyar families - forcibly sending them to monastic vows, into exile, into imprisonment or execution, often on false charges.

Despite the lack of proper education, Godunov proved himself to be a talented economist: he made decisions to strengthen production and trade, freed part of the population from taxes, and during the years of famine he opened granaries for the people and established low prices for bread. Unfortunately, in the end this did not save the people from their plight.

On the verge of troubles

The consequences of a three-year famine and the increasing frequency of robberies, epidemics, and growing discontent among the boyars became the beginning of a difficult historical period, called the Time of Troubles. Trying to regain the favor of the people, the king announced the distribution of alms, but this only further aggravated the situation - residents of the surrounding areas, who moved to the capital for the sovereign's favor, died of hunger along the way. General discontent finally shook Godunov's position and created fertile ground for the appearance of an impostor - posing as a miraculously saved prince.

Strength and health of Boris Godunov, last years whose lives were associated with difficult trials were irreversibly undermined, and in April 1605 the king died suddenly.

In the “stateless” time after the death of Ivan the Terrible, with the sick and weak Fyodor, the boyars began an open struggle for power. The strongest of them was the former guardsman Godunov. After the death of Fyodor, Patriarch Job gathered to elect a new sovereign. At this cathedral the council of the patriarch, and service people and the population of Moscow gathered. The most likely candidates were two people: the Tsar's brother-in-law Boris Fedorovich Godunov and Tsar Fyodor's cousin, Nikita Romanovich's eldest son - Fyodor Nikitich Romanov.

The years of Boris Godunov's reign came at a difficult time in the history of the Russian state. This was the period from 1598 to 1605. In fact, the future tsar was already in power under the sick son of Ivan the Terrible, Fedor.

The reign of Boris Godunov began controversially. In February 1598, the Council offered the throne to Boris, but he refused. In order for him to agree, a religious procession was organized to the Maiden Convent, where Boris was staying with his sister. The future king was forced to agree to ascend the throne. Thus, the election of Godunov was popular. However, it was believed that he secretly resorted to threats and bribes to achieve this.

Boris was crowned king only on September 1, having become convinced of the strength of the people's election. The reign of Boris Godunov throughout its entire duration was distinguished by special caution. He was afraid of attacks on his power and eliminated all the boyars who were suspicious of him. His real rival was only Fyodor Nikitich Romanov, as a result of which all the Romanovs were put on trial on charges of conspiracy against the sovereign. The boyars did not like the tsar, considering him the successor of Ivan the Terrible with his persecution of the nobility.

The reign of Boris Godunov became a continuation of Fedor’s policy, or rather what Godunov did under him. By all means he sought to restore the people's well-being, disturbed during the era of Ivan the Terrible. In foreign policy, he sought to avoid clashes and refrain from new wars. He cared about strengthening justice and wanted to be a good ruler for the people. He really gave many benefits to the common people. For three years in a row, from 1601, there was a crop failure, which led to massive starvation deaths. Boris arranged for free distribution of bread to the hungry from the royal treasury, and began large constructions in the capital to give people income.

The reign of Boris Godunov was accompanied by famine and robbery, but this was not his fault. However, this contributed to the growth of dissatisfaction with the king. Following the famine, a second misfortune appeared - a popular uprising for the self-proclaimed Tsarevich Dmitry. During this struggle, Boris Godunov died unexpectedly (1605).

Godunov attached great importance to European enlightenment. The tsar communicated with foreign specialists in the field of technology and medicine, willingly taking them into public service. He sent young people to foreign countries and planned to organize Moscow schools in a foreign way. He formed a military detachment of Germans according to a foreign model. Under Godunov, the Moscow government's inclination towards closer contacts with the enlightened West and the assimilation of European knowledge was clearly visible.

This is how the reign of Boris Godunov is briefly described by most historians. Many doubt how legally he gained power, believing that he was responsible for the murder of Ivan the Terrible’s youngest son, Tsarevich Dmitry, in Uglich.

The content of the article

RUSSIA, HISTORY. The history of the Russian state can be divided into three periods: from the beginning of the formation of the Russian people until 1917, which marked the end of the Russian Empire; from 1917 to the collapse of the USSR in 1991; from collapse USSR and until now. This article examines the first period. On the history of the second and third periods .

East Slavs.

Tribal groups of Eastern Slavs were among the first inhabitants of the lands later called Kievan Rus. Sources of the 6th century, including the Byzantine Procopius of Caesarea and the Gothic author Jordanes, identify the Antes with the Eastern Slavs - a group of tribes that occupied territory that reached the Black Sea in the south, in the west - to the lower reaches of the Danube, and in the east - to the Seversky Donets. According to the first source on the early history of Russia - Tales of Bygone Years(compiled at the beginning of the 12th century by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor), the ancient Eastern Slavs comprised more than a dozen tribes that lived over a vast area from the Black Sea in the south to Ladoga in the north, from the Danube and Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Volga in the east. Among these tribes were the Polyans, who lived in the middle reaches of the Dnieper, the Slovenes, who lived in the vicinity of Lake Ilmen, as well as the Drevlyans, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Northerners, White Croats, Dulebs, Ulichs, Krivichi, Tivertsy, Dregovichi, etc. Their original origin is certain. not known; According to some theories, the ancestral home of the Slavs is delineated by the southern borders of the Pripyat swamps, the Vistula valley and the northern Carpathians. Slavic tribes have long been engaged in agriculture, hunting, fishing and cattle breeding. In addition, in many Slavic settlements that arose in the valleys of the Dnieper, Donets and Volkhov, primitive crafts were established, including pottery and weaving. On significance Agriculture for the early tribal society of the Slavs indicates the predominance of the corresponding cults and natural gods of the East Slavic pagan pantheon.

Migrations of Asian tribes.

The geographical position of Rus' at the crossroads of Eurasian trade and migration routes played a decisive role at the initial stage of its political development. Starting from the arrival of the Cimmerians in southern Rus' (c. 1000–700 BC) and up to the Mongol-Tatar yoke (c. 1240–1480), the history of Rus' is an almost continuous struggle between sedentary (mainly Slavic) and nomadic ( predominantly Asian) peoples moving from east to west along the Caspian and Black Sea steppes. The first nomadic tribes that influenced Rus' were the Scythians (7th century BC) and Sarmatians (4th century BC). They had military superiority over the Slavs due to their ability to make bows and arrows and the use of cavalry. Later, the Huns (4th and 5th centuries), Avars (6th–9th centuries) and Khazars (7th–10th centuries) appeared in the southern steppes. The Khazars not only engaged in cattle breeding and fought, but also created trading cities - such as Itil, Semender, Sarkel in the lower reaches of the Volga and Don. Having liberated the Vyatichi from the power of the Khazars, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav in 964 destroyed the Khazar state ( Khazar Khaganate).

Rus', Varangians and the emergence of Kyiv.

The earliest Russian state union, according to Tales of Bygone Years, was created in Novgorod on the Volkhov by three Varangian-Russian brothers - Rurik, Sineus and Truvor (862). From Novgorod, Rus' extended its influence to Kyiv, which, under Rurik’s heir, Oleg, became the Russian capital. The word “Rus” was interpreted in different ways: as a variant of the Finnish word “Ruotsi”, which denoted the Swedes, and as the name of the Azov tribe of Antes, and as a toponym “Ra” - the ancient name of the Volga. The so-called Norman theory argued that the Varangians and Rus were Scandinavians (Normans) who arrived in the lands of Rus' as traders and warriors. The anti-Norman theory suggests that it was not the Scandinavians, but the Slavs, who were the dominant people in the process of forming the first political structures of the future Russian state. Today, many scientists believe that the word “Rus” is a non-ethnic term; it was the name given to a group of Slavic, Scandinavian and Finnish merchants and mercenaries who united in mutually beneficial military and trade alliances. Kievan Rus, located on key river trade routes, gradually expanded its sphere of dominance over other Slavic tribes and cities.

Kyiv and Novgorod.

The strengthening of the political and economic influence of Kievan Rus is associated with the names of the Novgorod prince Rurik (d. about 879) and Oleg (ruled 879–912), who in 882 became the prince of Kyiv. Control over the Dnieper and its tributaries played a decisive role in the economic development of Kyiv, especially in those places where passage without portages to the Western Dvina and Volkhov basins was impossible. Rus' exacted tribute from neighboring Slavic tribes, such as the Drevlyans, conquered by Oleg's successor, Igor (reigned 912–945), as well as the widow Igor – Olga(d. 969). Igor accepted the title of Grand Duke, establishing the supreme status of Kyiv relative to other cities of Rus'. The Grand Duke, with the help of his squad, maintained control over Kiev, and he gave other Russian cities and lands to the management of his sons and other relatives. The first princes had the right to rule, but ideas about princely ownership of land property developed later.

Trade along the waterway of the Dnieper, Volkhov and Western Dvina (“from the Varangians to the Greeks”) for a long time was the main occupation and condition for the prosperity of the Rus. Their trading partners were Byzantium, trading cities Baltic Sea and Muslim neighbors from the Southeast. An important item of trade, in addition to furs, wax, honey, and luxury goods, was grain. Grain crops were cultivated both in the forest-steppe southeastern regions (wheat) and in the forest north (rye, barley and oats). At first, peasants developed shifting agriculture; Over time, two-field and three-field crop rotation appeared.

Trade and cultural ties between Rus' and Byzantium played a key role in the development (and subsequent decline) of Kievan Rus. In 988–989, Orthodox Christianity was adopted, brought from Byzantium during the reign of Grand Duke Vladimir (980–1015); later monasticism appeared. Orthodox monasteries became important cultural centers. In Rus', under the influence of Byzantine visual arts icon painting, mosaic and fresco painting began to develop, a special Russian temple style took shape, architectural feature which had an onion-shaped dome.

The son of Vladimir became the Grand Duke in 1019, after the death of eleven of his brothers in an internecine struggle. Yaroslav the Wise(reigned 1019–1054). Under Yaroslav, the first legal code of its own was drawn up - Russian truth, based on Slavic tribal law with Byzantine elements. The system of inheritance in the Rurik dynasty was justified under Yaroslav and was reduced to transferring the title of Grand Duke successively to the eldest sons in the family. The ruling dynasty was located in Kyiv and kept other cities and principalities in subjection with the help of a military aristocracy, whose members were chosen by the Grand Duke to serve in the Duma. In the affairs of local government in the cities of Rus', a meeting of the city nobility, or Veche, played a certain role.

The veche in Novgorod acquired significant power. During the 11th century. Novgorodians gradually emerged from direct subordination to Kyiv. Novgorod Veche by that time the position of mayor had been introduced. It could only be occupied by a boyar, who administered court and was responsible for protecting the city from attacks. The veche chose the mayor and could even deny the Kyiv prince the right to rule over the city. Since 1136, when the Veche expelled the Kyiv prince Vsevolod, Novgorod established the right to accept or remove from power princes sent from Kyiv. Two decades later, in 1156, the Novgorodians secured the right of the Veche to elect their own archbishops.

Boyars occupied dominant positions in the political life of Novgorod. The city was the largest craft and trade center, and a large number of surviving birch bark letters from the medieval period confirm the presence of a high level of literacy here. From the middle of the 12th to the end of the 15th century. Novgorod was one of the busiest shopping centers Europe. Waterways connected the city with the Scandinavian and Baltic lands, as well as (via portages) with Kiev and the Volga lands. Novgorod had its own coin, different from the Kyiv one, and its own system of weights and measures. After the Cumans blocked the route from the Varangians to the Greeks in the lower reaches of the Dnieper (end of the 11th century) and the decline of Kyiv (12th century), the importance of the city increased, and it began to be called Mister Veliky Novgorod.

One of the most prominent rulers of Novgorod was Prince Alexander Nevsky (ruled 1236–1251, 1252–1263 Grand Duke of Vladimir), who vigorously fought the crusaders’ attempts to conquer Orthodox lands. He defeated the Swedish army on the Neva in 1240, and then defeated the Teutonic knights in the Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipsi in 1242. The last powerful ruler in Kyiv was the Grand Duke Vladimir II Monomakh(reigned 1113–1125), who not only tried to prevent the collapse of Kievan Rus, but also repelled the raids of nomads. After the death of his son Mstislav I (ruled 1125–1132), Kievan Rus began to disintegrate into numerous appanage principalities, and in 1169 the grand-ducal table was moved from Kyiv to Vladimir, where, having accepted part of the population from the Dnieper, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality began to rise. The trading cities along the Dnieper route fell into decay for many years.


The Mongol-Tatar yoke and the rise of Moscow.

At the beginning of the 13th century. a large army of new nomads led by Genghis Khan(c. 1155–1227) conquered Central Asia and approached the southeastern borders of Rus'. They were called Tatars, although this name applied only to the tribe that played the role of the vanguard. In 1223, the Mongol army led by the military leader Subedei defeated the combined forces of the Russians and Cumans in the battle on the Kalka River near Sea of ​​Azov. In 1237, an alliance of Mongol tribes known as the Golden Horde, under the leadership of Subedei and Batu (1208–1255), the grandson of Genghis Khan, again invaded the territory of Rus'. Mongol horse archers defeated the Ryazan army and burned Ryazan, and then inflicted a crushing defeat on the army assembled by the Grand Duke of Vladimir. At the beginning of 1238 the city of Vladimir was taken; in 1240 Kyiv was destroyed to the ground, and its inhabitants were exterminated. Batu did not reach Novgorod, but the Novgorodians agreed to pay him tribute. Golden Horde Having reached the Carpathians, she returned to the east and established her capital in Sarai, a fortified city on the Lower Volga. From here, representatives of Batu and his heirs - the Baskaks - were sent to Russian cities to collect tribute, and Mongol shock troops could move to the northwest to conquer any rebellious Russian city. The depopulated Dnieper region was captured by Lithuania, and northeastern Rus' submitted to the Mongol-Tatars and paid them an annual tribute. Even Alexander Nevskiy went for a label to reign under Batu and was subordinate to Guyuk Khan in Karakorum - the capital of the Great Khanate in distant Mongolia.

Only a few Mongol-Tatars settled in the captured Slavic territory. The Orthodox Church opposed any intercultural contacts with the “filthy”, prohibited mixed marriages and did not conduct missionary activities in the pagan Golden Horde.

The question of the influence of the Mongol-Tatars on Rus' remains a matter of debate. “Eurasianist” historians claim that the subsequent development of Rus' is an example of intercultural interaction. Other historians argue that Mongol-Tatar influence slowed down the development of the Russian economy, and their cultural influence was minimal - due to the very nature of their rule, which was reduced mainly to the collection of tribute.

The Moscow princes skillfully used Moscow's advantageous position on trade routes in the center of the Russian principalities between the Oka and Volga rivers, eliminating their rivals - the princes of Vladimir, Ryazan and Tver - with the help of the Golden Horde. The Moscow prince played a decisive role in the rise of Moscow Ivan I Kalita.

The Muscovite state from Ivan I Kalita to Ivan IV.

The metropolis also moved to the northeast from Kyiv, finally establishing itself in Moscow during the reign of Ivan I (1325–1341). Ivan received the nickname Kalita (“leather money bag”), becoming a tribute collector for the Mongols. Kalita and his heirs used this position to strengthen the positions of Moscow, threatening, under the pretext of non-payment of tribute, to hand over rival cities to the Mongols for plunder. In 1328, Ivan bought the Grand Duke's label from the Khan, and Moscow took a dominant position in relation to other Russian cities. The Golden Horde had converted to Islam by that time. At the end of the 14th century. Moscow became the center of anti-Mongol protests, which reached their climax in 1380, when Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy (reigned 1359–1389) defeated the army of Khan Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo. After this, the decline of the Golden Horde began. In 1395 Tamerlane defeated the Golden Horde and ravaged Sarai. Subsequently, the Horde split into Crimean, Astrakhan , Kazanskoe and the Siberian Khanate. However, the Moscow prince stopped paying tribute to the Mongols only in 1476. In 1480, “standing on the Ugra,” when Khan Akhmat did not dare to fight and retreated, the Mongol-Tatar yoke ended.

After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks (1453), many Byzantine clergy found themselves in the Principality of Moscow - the last Orthodox power that managed to escape Islamic rule. In those years, the theory “Moscow is the third Rome” arose. It was argued that pagan (“first”) Rome fell due to the persecution of Christianity; then the “new Rome” collapsed - Constantinople, which recognized the supremacy of the Catholic Pope (1439) in the hope of help from the West; Now it is Muscovy that is the heir to the true Christian tradition and thereby becomes the “third Rome.” Ivan III the Great married Sophia Paleologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, to consolidate Moscow’s status as the heir to the imperial traditions of Rome and Byzantium. In some documents he is already called a king (from Greek kaisar, Latin caesar).

Nicholas I.

The new emperor (reigned 1825–1855) focused his efforts on strengthening personal power and establishing comprehensive control over the political, economic and cultural life of the country. In 1827 it was forbidden to admit children of serfs to the gymnasium. The new university charter (1835) practically eliminated the autonomy of universities. Censorship was rampant. His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was created to monitor the work of the ministries and the political police - the Third Department, which organically complemented the Chancellery. Nikolay feared the spread of constitutional and revolutionary Western ideas in Russia, especially after the revolutions of 1830 and 1848–1849 in Europe. In governing society, Nikolai relied on the doctrine of “official nationality” (according to the well-known formula of the Minister of Education S.S. Uvarov - “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality”) and the idea of ​​pan-Slavism.

The idea of ​​Pan-Slavism in foreign policy was directed against Ottoman Empire and Muslim domination over the Slavic populations of southeastern Europe. In the 1820s, Nicholas supported the Greek struggle for national independence. The allied fleet of Russia, Great Britain and France defeated the Turks at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, and according to the Peace of Adrianople, signed in 1829, Greece and Serbia gained independence, and Moldavia and Wallachia came under the protection of Russia. In 1833, the Turks signed an agreement with the Russians, granting Russia the right to pass ships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles. In 1831, Russia suppressed the uprisings in Warsaw and the Polish lands of Prussia, and in 1849, the uprising of the Hungarians in the Austrian Empire.

The dispute in Ottoman Palestine between the Catholic and Orthodox churches over the ownership of Christian shrines in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth became an international problem in the early 1850s. Nicholas demanded that the Sultan grant the Emperor of Russia the right to patronize all Orthodox Christians on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and having received a refusal, he sent Russian troops into Moldavia and Wallachia (June 1853). In November 1853, Admiral Nakhimov’s squadron destroyed Turkish fleet near Sinop. Great Britain and France, having ensured the benevolent neutrality of Austria and Prussia, supported the Turks, and the Crimean War began, the main military operation of which was the siege of Sevastopol by British and French troops. These troops were transported to the theater of operations by sea, while the Russians had to travel along poor dirt roads. Russia's military-technical backwardness was reflected in everything. The British and French had steam ships and were armed with rifles. The Russians only had sailboats and smoothbore guns; they lacked equipment; they didn’t even have military maps of Crimea. On March 2, 1855, at the height of the war, Nikolai died, and his son became his heir Alexander II, which continued the war until Sevastopol was surrendered on August 30 (September 11). Under the terms of the Paris Agreement signed in March 1856, Russia was prohibited from having a navy, military fortresses and arsenals in the Black Sea; Russia also renounced its protectorate over the Sultan’s Orthodox subjects.

Alexander II.

The humiliating defeat in the Crimean War made a deep impression on Alexander II, who rightly considered it a consequence of Russia's socio-economic backwardness. During his reign (1855–1881), he attempted to modernize the country through an extensive program of reforms, which, on the one hand, was contested by the reactionaries, and on the other, displeased the revolutionary intelligentsia, who sought more radical changes. The ideologists of the radicals became A.I. Herzen And N.M. Chernyshevsky.

The most important reform of Alexander II was the abolition of serfdom in 1861. However, the peasants had to buy back the land from the noble owners, for which they were offered government loans; they were to be paid gradually over 49 years. In order to control such payments and the use of land, peasant communities were created. Many peasants fell into debt dependence on the community. The peasants were not interested in maintaining the land, since the community monitored regular exchange land plots between peasant households. This situation in the village, along with the accelerated industrial development of the country, caused migration large number peasants to cities to work in factories. During such historically important social transformations, the movement of populist intellectuals rapidly gained strength, who believed that land should be given to the peasants without ransom, and that the country needed a parliament and a republican form of government. The populists argued that the Liberation Manifesto was a hoax, that the peasants by their nature were a revolutionary class, and that the world (community) should become the basis of a unique Russian uniform"peasant socialism". In the summer of 1874, thousands of students went to the villages to explain to the peasants what needed to be done. This “going to the people” failed because its leaders were unable to clearly convey their ideas to the peasants, most of whom remained loyal to the emperor and were convinced that the former landowners were to blame for their difficulties.

In 1864, a large-scale reorganization of local government was carried out, expressed in the creation of zemstvo institutions in most provinces of European Russia, the court and education system were democratized, and censorship was abolished. In 1870, a reform of city government was carried out, and in 1874 - a military reform. In 1880, Alexander II appointed a general M.T.Loris-Melikova head of the Supreme Administrative Commission, which, in order to counter radicalism, was preparing the transition to a constitutional monarchy. But back in 1878, a group of populists created an organization called “People's Will,” which proclaimed the need for terror to carry out the revolution. On March 1 (13), 1881 - the day the emperor signed a decree on the development of constitutional laws - the Narodnaya Volya members made another attempt on the life of Alexander II, who was killed by a bomb explosion.

Alexander III

(reigned 1881–1894) at first intended to continue the implementation of his father’s plans to reform Russia, but K.P. Pobedonostsev, the prosecutor of the Holy Synod, the former educator of the emperor, who remained his closest adviser, convinced him of the disastrousness of such a policy. Revolutionaries were subjected to repression; involvement in terrorism was punishable by death. In 1889 to perform in rural areas power functions Alexander III established the institution of zemstvo chiefs, and in 1890 reduced the representation of peasants in zemstvos.

During the reign of Alexander III, anti-Semitism became a weapon of political pressure. Jews played an active role in the revolutionary movement, and many government officials, in particular Pobedonostsev, blamed them for all the troubles. In the 1890s, Jewish pogroms began and many hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to emigrate.

In the 1890s there was a stormy economic development Russia. The construction of railways, metallurgical and machine-building plants. It was supported by Western investments, mainly Belgian, French, German and British. In 1897 Minister of Finance S.Yu.Witte carried out monetary reform and introduced gold circulation to encourage investment. Syndicates based on trade agreements were formed that regulated production volumes and prices, markets for metal, coal and other products. Russia built 3,000 km of railways annually and took first place in the world in terms of pace industrial development(9% per year), and its share in world production rose from 4% (1870) to 7% (1900).

External expansion.

Having recovered from defeat in the Crimean War, Russia continued its policy of conquest. In 1871, having refused to comply with the restrictive articles of the Paris Agreement, it restored its position in the Black Sea. In 1877–1878, during the next Russian-Turkish war, Russia liberated Bulgaria. The Russian Empire's dominion over the lands of modern Kazakhstan was established in the 1850s, when Kazakh khans, seeking patronage and military support, received them from Russia. Fortresses were built in the south of Kazakhstan (Verny, Chimkent). In the 1860s, the conquest of the Central Asian states south of Kazakhstan began. In 1865–1866 the Kokand Khanate was subordinated and in 1876 annexed. In 1866, the troops of the Russian general Kaufman invaded the Bukhara Emirate, which in 1868 was turned by Russia into a vassal state; in 1873 the same thing happened with the Khanate of Khiva. The territory of modern Turkmenistan was captured by generals Stoletov and Skobelev during the military campaigns of 1869–1873, 1880–1881 and 1885. In 1885, Russia and Great Britain entered into an agreement that established the border between the Russian Empire and Afghanistan, which remained in the British zone of influence. In 1895, Russia annexed the Gorno-Badakhshan region of the Pamirs.

The tsarist government, in alliance with the local feudal elite, established a colonial regime on these lands. Several uprisings were suppressed, including a peasant uprising in Bukhara (1885–1887), an Uzbek rebellion in the Tashkent region (1892), and a Kyrgyz uprising in the Fergana Valley (1898).

The growth of radicalism.

The industrialization of the 1880s and 1890s was accompanied by the growth of workers' organizations and the first unrest of the industrial proletariat. By the beginning of the 20th century. as a result of the rapid increase in population, the average allotment per cultivator decreased by almost 50% compared to 1861; have increased significantly rent and land prices. In addition, competition in the world market has led to lower prices for wheat and barley. At the end of the 19th century. taxes and tariffs on imports increased, which was supposed to protect Russian industry from competition with foreign goods. Peasant socialists proposed the expropriation of large estates to meet the growing needs for land. In 1901–1902, V.M. Chernov and other supporters of the idea of ​​a peasant-type socialist republic founded the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs).

Other Russian radicals of this period, in particular G.V. Plekhanova(1856–1918), attracted Marxist ideas. The famous revolutionary G.A. Lopatin translated Capital into Russian (1872). Although Marx admitted that collective peasant property could become the basis of socialism in Russia without the country going through the stage of capitalism, Russian Marxists rejected the idea of ​​a special path for Russia. Based on this, in the 1890s, “legal Marxists” - liberals led by P.B.Struve And M.I.Tugan-Baranovsky– promoted free enterprise and parliamentary democracy against, on the one hand, the defenders of the tsarist autocracy, and on the other, the supporters of romantic populism.

The main direction of Marxism in Russia - as in the West - declared the identity of its goals with the interests of the industrial working class (proletariat). This rapidly growing class constituted a relatively small share of society (in Russia at the end of the 19th century there were barely more than 2 million industrial workers out of a population of 128 million). In 1883, Plekhanov and other emigrants in Switzerland founded the first Russian Marxist group, “Emancipation of Labor.” She and other similar groups that appeared after her operated illegally in Russia. In 1898, Marxists in Russia organized the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP). The leaders of the new party were, along with Plekhanov, V.I.Zasulich , V.I.Ulyanov(Lenin), as well as Yu.O. Tsederbaum (Martov). The General Jewish Workers' Union (Bund) also joined the RSDLP.

In 1903, after a party congress held in Brussels and London, the RSDLP split into two factions. The group led by Lenin, highly organized and radical, became known as the "Bolsheviks" because they received a majority of the votes at the congress. Another, more moderate group, led by Martov, began to be called “Mensheviks.”

Nicholas II.

After the death of Alexander III in 1894, Nicholas II (ruled 1894–1917) became his heir. In 1895–1896 and 1901 the country was struck by famine. Redemption payments doubled, and mass unemployment began in industry. S.Yu. Witte, Minister of Finance in 1892–1903, tried to stimulate economic development by expanding the railway network, using foreign loans to finance industrial construction and introducing protective tariffs. But this was not enough. Some influential government officials, including Secretary of State A.M. Bezobrazov and Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve, believed that the prestige of the monarchy could only be saved by victory in a small war, viewing the war as a means of distracting workers and peasants from their plight provisions.

Russo-Japanese War.

In 1860, Russia acquired the territory of the Pacific coast between the Amur and Ussuri rivers from China and founded the port of Vladivostok here. In 1875, under an agreement with Japan, Sakhalin Island was acquired in exchange for Kurile Islands. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which began in 1891, strengthened Russia’s influence on Far East. Under an agreement with China in 1896, Russia received the right to build a railway through Manchuria, shortening the route to Vladivostok, in exchange for guarantees of Russian protection in the event of Japanese aggression. In 1903 Railway was built.

Japan has gained dominance in East Asia, defeating China in the war of 1894–1895. However, a more powerful Russia appeared on the Far Eastern stage. In 1898, Russia leased the Liaodong Peninsula and other territories in southern Manchuria and established the naval bases of Port Arthur and Dalny there. In 1900, Russia used the suppression of the Yihetuan uprising in China as a pretext for the occupation of Manchuria. With the support of Great Britain and the United States, Japan demanded a withdrawal from Manchuria Russian troops. Russia proposed a compromise solution, but Japan did not give an answer and on January 24, 1904, broke off diplomatic relations with Russia. On the night of January 27, 1904, the Japanese unexpectedly attacked Russian ships in Port Arthur and the Korean port of Chemulpo. The Russian army was not ready for war and suffered a series of humiliating defeats at Laoyang, Mukden and Port Arthur. In May 1905, the Japanese actually destroyed the Russian squadron that arrived from Kronstadt in the decisive naval battle of Tsushima. The war ended in August 1905 with the Peace of Portsmouth. According to the agreement, Russia's concessions in southern Manchuria and southern Sakhalin. The demand for indemnities was rejected by Russia.

Revolution of 1905.

Although Russia lost very little territory, the war resulted in great humiliation. Many cities and industrial areas were engulfed in unrest. The first unrest began in 1904, when the Liberation Union, consisting of liberals, zemstvo officials and specialists, publicly held the authorities responsible for the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. The RSDLP and the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs) took advantage of public indignation. In July 1904, the Socialist Revolutionaries killed the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve, and in October the Liberation Union adopted a resolution demanding the provision of civil liberties and the convening of a national assembly with legislative powers.

Between 1901 and 1903 Colonel S.V.Zubatov, head of the Moscow security department, organized several police-controlled trade unions, which were supposed to be used to contain radicals. The former prison priest G.A. Gapon was supposed to lead one of these unions. He advocated the introduction of a 10-hour working day and higher wages, although the radicals in the union also put forward political demands - freedom of speech, representative government, transfer of land to peasants. On January 9, 1905, Gapon led a peaceful protest march, in which about 200 thousand workers of St. Petersburg participated. The demonstrators headed towards Winter Palace with a petition to Nicholas II. The Emperor was not in residence at that time. Fearing violence, the palace guards opened fire, killing and wounding hundreds of participants in the unarmed procession. This day became known as "Bloody Sunday". In February 1905, the Socialist Revolutionary I.P. Kalyaev killed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the Moscow governor-general and uncle of the emperor. In response to this murder, Nicholas II promised to convene a commission of elected people's representatives in March to develop legislative proposals. Since this promise was not fulfilled, Professor P.N. Milyukov(1859–1943), several zemstvo leaders and a group of moderate socialists organized the “Union of Unions” in May, which aimed to achieve the convening of a Constituent Assembly. In the spring and summer of 1905, hundreds of strikes and peasant riots took place throughout the country, and unrest began in the army. In the summer, there were about 50 cases of disobedience by soldiers and sailors, including the famous mutiny of the crew of the battleship Prince Potemkin Tauride. Frightened by the scale of the revolutionary movement, Nicholas II in August issued a Manifesto on the convocation of a deliberative assembly, called the State Duma.

In September 1905, a mass strike of workers began in Moscow, and on October 8, all railway workers in Russia stopped working. After this, an all-Russian strike began, which forced Nicholas II to issue a Manifesto on October 17, which provided full civil liberties and promised the convening of a Duma with legislative powers. A partial political amnesty was declared, residual ransom payments by peasants were cancelled; The Peasant Bank was established to facilitate land transactions. The moderates welcomed the October Manifesto and created two reformist parties - the constitutional democrats (cadets) and the Octobrists.

On October 13, a revolutionary Council of Workers' Deputies was created in St. Petersburg, which was supposed to lead the general strike. In Moscow, the Council was created on November 22. He began to organize armed workers' squads. The Soviets called for a general strike in December, to which the government responded with repression. On December 3, the leaders (all Social Democrats) of the St. Petersburg Council were arrested, and on December 9, the Moscow Council, also led by Marxists, began an armed uprising. For 9 days, Moscow workers fought with government troops in the streets, and only on December 18, after the use of artillery, the Council was forced to stop the fight.

Frightened by the revolution, the monarchy began to take measures to strengthen the autocracy. The Emperor, by decree of March 5, 1906, confirmed his status as supreme commander-in-chief, leader foreign policy, as well as its royal right to appoint and remove ministers.

State Dumas.

Despite the victory over the revolutionaries, Nicholas II authorized the convening of the Duma in April 1906. Its members were elected by universal suffrage (male). The Bolsheviks called for a boycott of the elections, but were not supported, and 18 Social Democrats from the Mensheviks entered the Duma. The liberals (cadets) achieved the greatest representation. Soon the Duma came into conflict with the new Minister of Internal Affairs P.A. Stolypin on the issue of land reform, refusing to approve laws that were not developed on its initiative. Stolypin, who had become prime minister by this time, convinced the emperor to dissolve the Duma, which was done on July 9 - 73 days after its convocation. About 200 former members of the Duma gathered in Vyborg, demanding its restoration and calling on the people not to pay taxes and create obstacles to recruitment into the army. On August 12, 1906, suicide Socialist Revolutionaries carried out an explosion in Stolypin’s house. Several dozen people were killed, the daughter and son of the prime minister were wounded. In response, Stolypin established military courts.

Stolypin looked for ways to undermine the peasant community and stimulate the work of enterprising peasants . He supported the creation of the Peasant Bank as a means of assisting peasants who wanted to leave the community and establish their own farms, and developed measures to encourage the resettlement of enterprising peasants to new lands in Siberia. As a result of these reforms in 1906–1915, a quarter of peasant households left the communities, and the sown area increased by 10%.

In February 1907, the second Duma was convened. It included fewer cadets than the first, but it consisted of 65 Social Democrats, mostly Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks did not boycott these elections, but opposed the Mensheviks’ call for cooperation with the Cadets. Far left and far right factions refused to cooperate with the government. Less than 4 months after its convocation, the Second Duma was dissolved when Stolypin secured the arrest of 16 Social Democrats accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

The Third Duma was convened in November 1907; its work continued until 1912. The representation of peasants, national minorities and remote regions (Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia) was reduced under the new electoral law. There were only 19 Social Democrats in the Duma, six of them Bolsheviks. The right and centrist Octobrists formed a majority, and the Duma began to cooperate with the government. Stolypin successfully carried out military reform and managed to create a network of primary and secondary schools. “Give the state 20 years of internal and external peace, and you will not recognize Russia,” said Stolypin. However, in September 1911 in Kiev opera house in the presence of the emperor, he was mortally wounded by the Socialist-Revolutionary, secret police agent D.G. Bogrov. In June 1912, the Third Duma was dissolved.

In November 1912, the Fourth Duma was convened, which met until October 1917. It included 14 Social Democrats, including 6 Bolsheviks (later it turned out that the leader of the Bolshevik faction R.V. Malinovsky was an agent of the Tsarist secret police). The Mensheviks went to the elections with the slogan “let’s snatch the Duma from the hands of the reactionaries,” while the Bolsheviks used the slogan “let’s snatch the democratic movement from the hands of the liberals.” The Bolshevik program pointed out the futility of reforms; it contained calls for the establishment democratic republic workers and peasants. Despite the right majority, the fourth Duma and before First World War, and during it was often in opposition to the government.

Russia and the First World War.

Using the ideas of Pan-Slavism and Orthodoxy, Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. intensified its attempts to achieve hegemony in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary also strived for this. The Balkans were called the “powder keg of Europe.” In 1907, an alliance of Russia, France and Great Britain was formed - the Triple Entente (Entente). His opponent was the Triple Alliance (created in 1882), which included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Potential areas of conflict included the Balkans and colonial possessions in Africa. The first conflict between the two blocs broke out in 1906 at the Algeciras Conference, according to which the protectorate over Morocco was granted to France, and not to Spain, as Germany wanted. The second conflict (1908–1909) concerned the fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a former Ottoman province in the Balkans inhabited by Slavs and after Russian-Turkish war 1877–1878 transferred to the control of Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary wanted to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Serbia was hostile to this. Russia agreed to such annexation on the condition that it was given control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. However, on September 24, 1908, without waiting for an agreement with Russia, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. Europe was on the brink of war. Serbia and Austria-Hungary exchanged threats; Serbia, in addition to Russia, was supported by England and France. Russia was not ready for the conflict, and by the spring of 1909 the atmosphere of crisis had partially deflated; nevertheless, the threat of a major war was brewing.

In 1912 the situation worsened again; The Balkan Union (Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro) that emerged under the auspices of Russia defeated the Turks. However, the winners quickly quarreled; Having won the Second Balkan War (1913) over Bulgaria, Serbia became the dominant power in the Balkans.

Serbia, with the support of Russia, set as its goal the unification of all southern Slavic lands, including territories under the control of Austria-Hungary. On June 15 (28), 1914, a member of the secret society “Young Bosnia” Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo. The Austrians sent an ultimatum to Serbia. Russian Foreign Minister S.D. Sazonov warned that if the Austrians attacked Serbia, Russian armed intervention would follow. Nevertheless, on July 15 (28), Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia; the next day Russia began general mobilization, and on July 19 (August 1) Germany declared war on Russia. France and Great Britain took the side of Russia. Somewhat later, Japan joined the Entente, and Türkiye and Bulgaria joined the Austro-German bloc. The First World War began.

The war was bloody and protracted. In a hurry to help the French, the Russian armies of Samsonov and Rennenkampf, who had not completed mobilization, invaded East Prussia, but were defeated (August 1914). A similar offensive in Galicia (August-September 1914) was successful for the Russians. In April 1915, German-Austrian troops broke through the front and by the end of 1915 reached the Riga-Baranovichi-Tarnopol line. In April - July 1916, the Brusilov breakthrough near Tarnopol ended in the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian armies, but was not supported by other fronts. The troops switched to trench warfare.

At this time in St. Petersburg big influence the imperial family was acquired by a “seer” from Siberian peasants Grigory Rasputin- Empress Alexandra Feodorovna believed that he was able to heal Tsarevich Alexei (1904–1918), who suffered from hemophilia. On the advice of Rasputin, the removals and appointments of key figures in the government were made. A scandal broke out, and in December 1916 Rasputin was killed by people from the emperor’s entourage, who believed that because of Rasputinism, Russia was in mortal danger.

By the end of 1916, Russia's position had worsened as a result of a series of military defeats, a reduction in food supplies in the cities, and mass desertion. In December, after expressing no confidence in the government, the Duma was dissolved. When it met again in February 1917, political actions, strikes and food riots, as well as the disobedience of military units sent to suppress them, led to mass unrest in Petrograd (as St. Petersburg was called from 1914). Under pressure from the Duma delegation and generals, Nicholas II abdicated the throne on March 2 (15), 1917 in favor of his brother. The next day, his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, also announced his abdication. The reign of the Romanovs ended, the old order in Russia became a thing of the past forever.

APPLICATION

The Supreme Manifesto

“On improving public order”

By the grace of God, We, Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Tsar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Troubles and unrest in the capitals and in many localities of Our Empire fill Our heart with great and grave sorrow. The good of the Russian Sovereign is inseparable from the good of the people, and the people's sorrow is His sorrow. The unrest that has now arisen may result in deep national disorder and a threat to the integrity and unity of Our State.

The great vow of the Royal service commands Us to strive with all the forces of Our reason and power for a speedy end to the unrest that is so dangerous for the State. Having ordered the subject authorities to take measures to eliminate direct manifestations of disorder, riots and violence, in order to protect peaceful people striving for the calm fulfillment of everyone’s duty, We, for the most successful implementation of the general measures We intend to pacify the life of the state, recognized the need to unite the activities of the Supreme Government.

We entrust the Government with the responsibility of fulfilling Our unyielding will.

1. Grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association.

2. Without stopping the scheduled elections to the State Duma, now attract to participation in the Duma, to the extent possible, corresponding to the shortness of the period remaining before the convocation of the Duma, those classes of the population that are now completely deprived of voting rights, providing for this further development the beginning of general suffrage and the newly established legislative order.

3. Establish as an unshakable rule that no law can take effect without the approval of the State Duma and that those elected by the people are provided with the opportunity to truly participate in monitoring the regularity of the actions of the authorities appointed by Us.

We call on all the faithful sons of Russia to remember their duty to the Motherland, to help put an end to this unheard-of unrest and, together with Us, to strain all their strength to restore silence and peace in their native land.

Given in Peterhof, on the 17th day of October, in the year of the Nativity of Christ one thousand nine hundred and five, the eleventh of Our Reign.

On the genuine Own of His Imperial Majesty

hand signed: “NIKOLAY”.

From statistical indicators of the Russian Empire

Table 1. Population reproduction in the largest countries of the world in 1913 (in%)

Table 2. Private land ownership in 47 provinces European Russia in 1905–1914

Table 3. Bread yield in Russia and other countries in 1913

Table 4. Average prices for basic food products and labor in St. Petersburg in 1913

Table 5. Reference prices for food, fuel and labor in Moscow in 1910–1913

Table 6. Distribution of economic strikes and their participants in the factory manufacturing industry of European Russia according to their results in 1910–1913

Table 7. Number and specialization of graduates of Russian universities in 1900–1913

Table 8. Organization of medical care in Russia in 1912

Table 9. Infectious diseases in Russia in 1912

Table 10. Statistics of defendants and convicts in 1912 by district courts and judicial chambers by type of crime

Table 11. Statistics of defendants and convicts in 1912 by magistrates' courts and judicial-administrative institutions established according to the laws of July 12, 1889 by type of crime

Table 12. Crimes convicted by general and magistrate courts in 1912 (by place of commission)

Table 13. The death penalty in Russia in 1905–1913

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Literature:

Klyuchevsky V.O. Works in 9 volumes. M., 1987–1993
Soloviev S.M. History of Russia since ancient times. M., 1988–1993
Andreev A.G. Short story Russia(XIX - early XX centuries). St. Petersburg, 1995
Munchev Sh.M., Ustinov V.M. Russian history. M., 1997
Basics of Russian history course. M., 1997
National history. M., 1997
Ilovaisky D.I. Russian history. M., 1998
Fedorov B.A. Russian history. 1861–1917. M., 1998
Danilov A.A. Russian history. 9th–19th centuries. M., 1999



 

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