Russian in spirit. tsar-peacemaker alexander iii

Alexander III Alexandrovich (February 26 (March 10) 1845, Anichkov Palace, St. Petersburg - October 20 (November 1) 1894, Livadia Palace, Crimea) - Emperor of All Russia, Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from March 1 (13), 1881 ... Son of Emperor Alexander II and grandson of Nicholas I; father of the last Russian monarch Nicholas II.

Alexander III is a significant figure in the history of Russia. During his reign, no Russian blood was shed in Europe. Alexander III provided many years of calm for Russia. For his peace-loving policy, he went down in Russian history as "a tsar - a peacemaker."

He adhered to conservative-protective views and pursued a policy of counter-reforms, as well as the Russification of the national borderlands.

He was the second child in the family of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna Romanov. According to the rules of succession to the throne, Alexander was not prepared for the role of ruler of the Russian Empire. The throne was to be taken by the elder brother, Nikolai. Alexander did not envy his brother at all, did not feel the slightest jealousy, watching how Nicholas was being prepared for the throne. Nikolai was a diligent student, and Alexander was overcome by boredom in the classroom.

Alexander III's teachers were such distinguished people as the historians Soloviev, Grott, the remarkable military tactician Dragomirov, and Konstantin Pobedonostsev. It was the latter who had a great influence on Alexander III, largely determining the priorities of the domestic and foreign policy of the Russian emperor. It was Pobedonostsev who raised in Alexander III a true Russian patriot and Slavophile. Little Sasha was more attracted not by study, but by physical activity. The future emperor loved horse riding and gymnastics. Even before his majority, Alexander Alexandrovich showed remarkable strength, easily lifted weights and easily bent horseshoes. He did not like secular entertainment, he preferred to spend his free time on improving horse riding skills and developing physical strength. The brothers joked, they say, "Sashka is the Hercules of our family." Alexander loved the Gatchina Palace, and loved to spend time there, whiling away the days with walks in the park, thinking about the day.

In 1855, Nicholas was proclaimed Tsarevich. Sasha was happy for his brother, and even more so that he himself would not have to be the emperor. However, fate nevertheless prepared the Russian throne for Alexander Alexandrovich. Nikolai's health deteriorated. The Tsarevich suffered from rheumatism from a contusion of the spine, later he also contracted tuberculosis. In 1865, Nikolai died. Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov was proclaimed the new heir to the throne. It is worth noting that Nikolai had a bride - the Danish princess Dagmar. They say that the dying Nikolai took the hands of Dagmar and Alexander with one hand, as if urging two close people not to part after his death.

In 1866, Alexander III went on a trip to Europe. His path lies in Copenhagen, where he wooed his brother's bride. Dagmar and Alexander became close while caring for sick Nikolai together. Their engagement took place on June 17 in Copenhagen. On October 13, Dagmar converted to Orthodoxy and began to be called Maria Feodorovna Romanova, and on this day the young became engaged.

Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna Romanovs lived a happy family life. Their family is a true role model. Alexander Alexandrovich was a real, exemplary family man. The Russian Emperor loved his wife very much. After the wedding, they settled in the Anichkov Palace. The couple was happy and raised three sons and two daughters. The firstborn of the imperial couple was the son of Nikolai. Alexander loved all his children very much, but his second son, Mishka, enjoyed special paternal love.

The high morality of the emperor gave him the right to ask it from the courtiers. Under Alexander III, the Russian autocrat fell into disgrace for adultery. Alexander Alexandrovich was modest in everyday life, did not like idleness. Witte, Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, witnessed how the emperor's valet darned his worn clothes.

The Emperor loved paintings. The Emperor even had his own collection, which by 1894 consisted of 130 works by various artists. On his initiative, a Russian museum was opened in St. Petersburg. He treated the works of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky with great respect. Alexander Romanov also liked the artist Alexei Bogolyubov, with whom the emperor had a good relationship. The emperor rendered all kinds of support to young and talented cultural figures, museums, theaters and universities were opened under his patronage. Alexander adhered to truly Christian postulates, and in every possible way protected Orthodox faith, tirelessly defending her interests.

Alexander III came to the Russian throne after the murder of Alexander II by the terrorist revolutionaries. It happened on March 2, 1881. For the first time, the peasants were sworn in to the emperor, on a par with the rest of the population. In domestic politics, Alexander III embarked on the path of counterreforms. The new Russian emperor was distinguished by conservative views.

During his reign, the Russian Empire achieved great success. Russia was a strong, developing country with which all European powers sought friendship. In Europe, there were always some political movements. And then one day, to Alexander, who surprised the fish, came the minister, talking about the affairs in Europe. He asked the emperor to react somehow. To which Alexander replied - "Europe can wait while the Russian tsar catches fish." Alexander Alexandrovich really could afford such statements, for Russia was on the rise, and its army was the most powerful in the world. Nevertheless, the international situation obliged Russia to find a reliable ally. In 1891, friendly relations between Russia and France began to take shape, which ended with the signing of an alliance agreement.

According to the historian P.A.Zayonchkovsky, “Alexander III was rather modest in his personal life. He did not like lies, was a good family man, was hardworking ", working on state affairs, often until 1-2 o'clock in the morning. “Alexander III possessed a certain system of views ... To protect the purity of the“ faith of the fathers ”, the inviolability of the principle of autocracy and develop the Russian nationality ... - these are the main tasks that the new monarch set for himself ... in some issues foreign policy he discovered and probably common sense ".

As S. Yu. Witte wrote, “Emperor Alexander III had absolutely outstanding nobility and purity of heart, purity of morals and thoughts. As a family man, he was an exemplary family man; as a boss and master - he was an exemplary boss and an exemplary owner ... he was a good owner not because of a sense of self-interest, but because of a sense of duty. Not only in the Royal family, but also among the dignitaries, I never met that feeling of respect for the state ruble, for the state penny, which the Emperor possessed ... He knew how to instill confidence abroad, on the one hand, that He would not do unfair to anyone, will not want any seizures; everyone was at peace that He would not start any adventure ... Emperor Alexander III never had a word with a deed. What he said was felt by him, and he never backed down from what he said ... Emperor Alexander III was an extremely courageous man. ".

The Emperor was a passionate collector, second only to Catherine II in this respect. The Gatchina Castle has literally turned into a warehouse of priceless treasures. Alexander's acquisitions - paintings, art objects, carpets and the like - no longer fit in the galleries of Zimny, Anichkov and other palaces. Collected by Alexander III, an extensive collection of paintings, graphics, objects of decorative and applied art, sculptures after his death was transferred to the Russian Museum, established by the Russian Emperor Nicholas II in memory of his parent.

Alexander was fond of hunting and fishing. Often in summer royal family went to the Finnish skerries. Belovezhskaya Pushcha was the favorite hunting place of the Emperor. Sometimes the imperial family, instead of resting in the skerries, left for Poland to the Principality of Lovichesk, and there they indulged in hunting fun, especially hunting deer, and ended their vacation most often with a trip to Denmark, to Bernstorf Castle - the ancestral castle of Dagmara, where they often gathered from all over Europe her crowned kinsmen.

With all his outward severity in relation to his loved ones, he invariably remained a devoted family man and a loving father. Not only has he never touched children with a finger in his life, but he did not offend them with a harsh word.

On October 17, 1888, an attempt was made on the life of Alexander III and the entire royal family. The terrorists derailed the train in which the emperor was. Seven carriages were smashed, many victims were killed. The king and his family survived by the will of fate. At the time of the explosion, they were in the carriage of the restaurant. In the explosion, the roof of the carriage with the royal family collapsed, and Alexander literally kept it on himself until help arrived. After a while, he began to complain of lower back pain. The examination revealed that the king had kidney problems. In the winter of 1894, Alexander caught a bad cold, and soon the emperor became very ill while hunting, and he was diagnosed with acute nephritis. Doctors sent the emperor to Crimea, where Alexander III died on November 20, 1894.

Alexander III left a big mark on the history of Russia. After his death, the following lines were written in one of the French newspapers: - "He leaves Russia greater than he received it."

Wife: Dagmara Danish (Maria Fedorovna) (November 14, 1847 - October 13, 1928), daughter of the Danish king Christian IX.

Children:
1.Nikolai Alexandrovich (later Emperor Nicholas II) (May 6, 1868 - July 17, 1918, Yekaterinburg);
2.Alexander Alexandrovich (May 26, 1869 - April 20, 1870, St. Petersburg);
3.Georgy Alexandrovich (April 27, 1871 - June 28, 1899, Abastumani);
4.Ksenia Alexandrovna (March 25, 1875 - April 20, 1960, London);
5.Mikhail Alexandrovich (November 22, 1878 - June 13, 1918, Perm);
6. Olga Alexandrovna (June 1, 1882 - November 24, 1960, Toronto).

He was on the throne for thirteen and a half years and died 49 years old, earning the title of "Tsar-Peacemaker" during his lifetime, since during his reign not a drop of Russian blood was shed on the battlefields ...

Soon after his death, the historian V.O. Klyuchevsky wrote: “Science will give Emperor Alexander III a proper place not only in the history of Russia and all of Europe, but also in Russian historiography, and will say that He won a victory in the area where it is most difficult to achieve victory, defeated the prejudice of peoples and thereby contributed to their rapprochement, conquered the public conscience in the name of peace and truth, increased the amount of goodness in the moral turn of mankind, encouraged and raised Russian historical thought, Russian national consciousness, and did all this so quietly and silently that only now, when He is no longer there, Europe understood what He was for her. "

The venerable professor was mistaken in his predictions. For more than a hundred years, the figure of the penultimate Russian Tsar has been the target of the most impartial assessments; his personality is the object of unbridled attacks and tendentious criticism.

The fake image of Alexander III is being recreated to this day. Why? The reason is simple: the Emperor did not admire the West, did not worship liberal-egalitarian ideas, believing that the literal imposition of foreign orders would not be a boon for Russia. Hence - the irreconcilable hatred of this Tsar on the part of Western lovers of all stripes.

However, Alexander III was not a narrow-minded Western-hater, rejecting from the start everything that did not have the generic stigma: "made in Russia." For him, Russian was primary and especially significant not because it is the best in the world, but because it is dear, close, his own. During the reign of Emperor Alexander III, the words "Russia is for the Russians" were first spoken throughout the country. And although he was perfectly aware of the problems and absurdities in Russian life, he did not doubt for a minute that they should be overcome only by relying on his own sense of understanding of duty and responsibility, not paying attention to what some "Princess Marya Aleksevna ".

For almost two hundred years, he was the first ruler who not only did not covet "the love of Europe", but was not even interested in what they say and write about him there. However, it was Alexander III who became the ruler under whom, without a single weapon shot, Russia began to win the moral authority of a great world power. The imposing bridge across the Seine in the very center of Paris, bearing the name of the Russian Tsar, has forever remained a vivid confirmation of this ...

Alexander Alexandrovich ascended the throne at the age of 36 on March 1, 1881. On that day, his father was mortally wounded by a terrorist's bomb, who soon died, and Alexander Alexandrovich became the "Autocrat of All Russia". He did not dream of a crown, but when death took away his father, he showed amazing composure and humility, accepting what was given only by the will of the Almighty.

With great spiritual trepidation, with tears in his eyes, he read the will of his father, the words and instructions of the murdered man. "I am sure that my son, Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich, will understand the importance and difficulty of his high calling and will continue in all respects worthy of the nickname of an honest man ... May God help him justify my hopes and complete what I failed to do to improve the prosperity of our dear Fatherland. I implore him not to get carried away with fashionable theories, to think about its constant development, based on love for God and on the law. He must not forget that the power of Russia is based on the unity of the State, and therefore everything that can lean to the shocks of all unity and to the separate development of various nationalities, for her it is pernicious and should not be tolerated.Thank him, for the last time, from the depths of his tenderly loving heart, for his friendship, for the diligence with which he performed his official duties and helped me in State Affairs. "

Tsar Alexander III inherited a heavy inheritance. He understood perfectly well that improvements in various areas of life and public administration were necessary, they were long overdue, no one argued with this. He also knew that the "bold transformations" carried out by Alexander II in the 60s and 70s often gave rise to even more acute problems.

Since the end of the 70s, the social situation in the country had become so tense that some concluded that a collapse would soon come. Some tried to leave Petersburg as far away as possible: some went to the estate, and some went abroad.

Joylessness social status felt everywhere. Finances were upset economic development slowed down, stagnation was observed in agriculture. The zemstvos did a poor job of local improvement, all the time they asked for money from the treasury, and some zemstvo meetings turned into centers for public discussions of political issues that did not concern them in any way.

The universities were almost anarchy: anti-government publications were almost openly distributed, student gatherings were organized, where attacks on the government were heard. And most importantly, there were constant murders and attempts on the life of officials, and the authorities could not cope with the terror. The monarch himself became the object of these villainous intentions and fell at the hands of terrorists!

Alexander III had an extremely difficult time. There were plenty of advisers: every relative and dignitary dreamed that the tsar would "invite to a conversation." But the young Emperor knew that these recommendations were often too biased, too selfless to trust them without looking back. The late father sometimes brought unprincipled people, devoid of will and strong monarchical convictions closer to him.

Business must be handled differently, of which he had no doubt. First of all, it is not necessary to draw up new laws, but to ensure that the existing ones are observed. This conviction matured in him in the spring days of 1881. Earlier, in January, speaking at a meeting with the main patron of the "constitutionalists", Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, the future Tsar definitely stated that "he sees no need to impose on Russia all the inconveniences of constitutionalism that impede good legislation and governance." Such a statement was immediately interpreted by the liberal public as a manifestation of "reactionary convictions."

Alexander III never sought popularity, did not curry favor with entrepreneurs and regulars of Petersburg salons, either before he became Tsar, or after. A few years after accession to the throne, talking with those close to him, Alexander III said that he would consider "the constitution very peaceful for himself, but very dangerous for Russia." In fact, he repeated the thought expressed more than once by his father.

Long before his death, Alexander II realized that it was unacceptable to give broad public freedoms, to which some of his most Europeanized compatriots urged him. In the empire of the two-headed eagle, the historical conditions for the establishment of the social order that existed in England or France had not yet developed. More than once he spoke about this both in a narrow circle and outside the royal palaces. In September 1865, accepting in Ilyinsky, near Moscow, the Zvenigorod district marshal of the nobility, P. D. Golokhvastov, Alexander II outlined his political credo:

"I give you my word that now, on this table, I am ready to sign whatever constitution you want, if I were convinced that it is useful for Russia. But I know that if I do it today, and tomorrow Russia will fall to pieces." ... And until his death, he did not change his conviction, although then completely unsubstantiated statements circulated that allegedly Alexander II intended to introduce constitutional rule ...

Alexander III fully shared this conviction and was ready to change and improve a lot, without breaking or rejecting what seemed to be reliable and historically justified. The main political value of Russia was autocracy - a sovereign rule, independent of written norms and state institutions, limited only by the dependence of the earthly king on the Heavenly King.

Talking at the end of March 1881 with the poet's daughter Anna Fedorovna Tyutcheva, the wife of the famous Slavophile I.S. Aksakov, who published the popular newspaper Rus in Moscow, the Tsar said: “I have read all your husband's articles lately. Tell him that I It was in my grief that I was greatly relieved to hear my word of honor. He is an honest and truthful person, and most importantly, he is a real Russian, which, unfortunately, are few, and even these few have been eliminated recently, but this will not happen anymore. " ...

Soon the word of the new Monarch sounded to the whole world. On April 29, 1881, the Imperial Manifesto appeared, thundering like the thunder of an alarm bell.

"In the midst of Our great sorrow, the voice of God commands Us to become cheerfully in the work of government, in hope in Divine Providence, with faith in the power and truth of Autocratic power, which We are called to establish and protect for the good of the people from all encroachments."

Further, the new Tsar called on all the faithful sons of the Fatherland to take courage and help "to eradicate the vile sedition that dishonor the Russian land, to the establishment of faith and morality, to the good upbringing of children, to the extermination of untruth and embezzlement, to the establishment of order and truth in the operation of institutions granted to Russia by her benefactor. , beloved Parent. "

The manifesto was unexpected for many. It became clear that the days of liberal smiles were over. It was only a matter of time before the fall of the political projectors - losers.

Alexander III considered this outcome logical. I wrote to my brother Sergei on June 11, 1881: “Appointing new people almost everywhere, we all started hard work and, thank God, with difficulty and little by little we move forward, and things are going much more successfully than under the previous ministers, who by their behavior forced me to fire They wanted to take me into their clutches and enslave me, but they did not succeed ... I cannot hide that even now we are still far from being in a normal state and there will still be many disappointments and anxieties, but everything has to be ready to go straight and boldly towards the goal, not deviating to the side, and most importantly - not to despair and hope in God! "

Although there were no persecutions, arrests, deportations of objectionable dignitaries (almost all of them were removed with honor, received appointments to the State Council), it seemed to some that at the top of power "an earthquake began." The bureaucratic ear has always subtly caught the impulses and moods in the highest corridors of power, which determined the behavior and diligence of officials.

As soon as Alexander III was on the Throne, it quickly became clear that jokes were bad with the new government, that the young Emperor is a tough man, even harsh, and his will must be obeyed unquestioningly. Immediately everything began to spin, the discussions subsided, and the state machine suddenly began to work with renewed vigor, although in last years the reign of Alexander II, it seemed to many that she no longer had the strength.

Alexander III did not create any emergency bodies (in general, during his reign, few new subdivisions appeared in the system of government), did not carry out any "special cleansing" of the bureaucratic apparatus, but the atmosphere in the country and in the corridors of power changed.

The salon talkers, who had only recently passionately defended freedom-loving principles, suddenly became almost numb and no longer dared to popularize Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite not only at open meetings, but even among their own people, behind the tightly closed doors of the capital's drawing rooms. Gradually, the dignitaries who were reputed to be liberal were replaced by others who were ready to serve the Tsar and the Fatherland unquestioningly, without looking into European cribs and not afraid to be branded as "reactionaries."

Alexander III boldly and decisively began to fight the enemies of the state order. The arrests of the direct perpetrators of the regicide and some other persons who did not personally participate in the first March atrocity, but were preparing other terrorist acts. In total, about fifty people were arrested, and five regicides were hanged by court verdict.

The emperor had no doubt that an irreconcilable struggle should be waged against the enemies of Russia. But not only by police methods, but also by mercy. It is necessary to distinguish where the true, irreconcilable opponents are, and where are the lost souls, who, through thoughtlessness, allowed themselves to be drawn into anti-government actions. The emperor himself always followed the progress of the inquiry in political matters. In the end, all court decisions were left to his discretion, many asked for royal favor, and he should have known the details. Sometimes he decided not to bring the matter to court.

When a circle of revolutionaries was discovered in Kronstadt in 1884, the tsar, having learned from the testimony of the accused that the midshipman of the naval crew Grigory Skvortsov was shedding tears, repented and gave frank testimony, ordered that the midshipman be released and not prosecuted.

Alexander III always had sympathy for those people who professed traditional values. Conformism, conciliation, apostasy did not evoke anything in his soul, except disgust. His political principle was simple and in line with the Russian management tradition. Malfunctions in the state must be corrected, proposals must be heard, but for this it is absolutely not necessary to convene some kind of people's assembly.

It is necessary to invite specialists, experts on a particular issue, listen, discuss, weigh the pros and cons and accept the right decision... Everything should be done according to the law, and if it turns out that the law is outdated, then it must be revised, relying on tradition and only after discussion in the Council of State. This became the rule of state life.

The tsar told his entourage and ministers more than once that "bureaucracy is a strength in the state if it is kept in strict discipline." Indeed, under Alexander III, the administrative apparatus of the empire worked in a tough regime: the decisions of the authorities were strictly carried out, and the tsar personally followed this. He could not stand indifference, neglect of official duties.

The emperor introduced an innovation unprecedented in Russia: he demanded that he be presented with a list of all unfulfilled orders and decisions, indicating the persons responsible for them. This news greatly increased the "labor enthusiasm" of the bureaucracy, and the red tape became much less.

He was especially intransigent towards those who used their official position for personal gain. To such, there was no condescension.

The reign of Alexander III was distinguished by a simply amazing phenomenon: bribery and corruption, which used to be a sad Russian reality, have almost completely disappeared. Russian history of this period did not reveal a single high-profile case of this kind, and numerous professional "exposers of tsarism" did not find a single corruption fact, although they were persistently looking for them for many decades ...

During the reign of Alexander III, strict administrative regulation of social life remained in Russia. Enemies of the state power were subjected to persecution, arrest, and deportation. Such facts existed both before and after Alexander III, however, in justification of the immutable thesis about a certain "course of reaction", it is the period of his reign that is often characterized as a particularly gloomy and hopeless period of history. Nothing of the kind has actually been observed.

In total, 17 people were executed for political crimes (there was no death penalty for criminal acts in Russia) during the "period of reaction". All of them either participated in the regicide, or prepared for it, and none of them repented. In total, less than 4 thousand people were interrogated and detained for anti-state acts (for almost fourteen years). If we take into account that the population of Russia then exceeded 120 million people, then these data convincingly refute the stereotyped thesis of the "regime of terror" that was allegedly established in Russia during the reign of Alexander III.

Forensic and prison "reprisals" are only part of the "gloomy picture of Russian life" that is so often depicted. Its essential moment is the "oppression of censorship", allegedly "strangling" any "freedom of thought".

In the 19th century, censorship existed in Russia, as in all other, even "most" democratic states. In the tsarist empire, she not only protected moral principles, religious traditions and beliefs, but also performed the function of protecting state interests.

Under Alexander III, as a result of an administrative ban or for other reasons, mainly of a financial nature, several dozen newspapers and magazines ceased to exist. However, this did not mean that the voice of the independent press had "died out" in the country. Many new editions appeared, but many old ones continued to be issued.

A number of liberal-oriented publications (the most famous are the newspaper "Russkie vedomosti" and the magazine "Vestnik Evropy"), although they did not allow direct attacks on the authorities and their representatives, did not get rid of the critical ("skeptical") tone and successfully survived the "era of repression" ...

In 1894, the year of the death of Alexander III, 804 periodicals in Russian and other languages ​​were published in Russia. About 15% of them were state ("state"), and the rest belonged to various societies and individuals. There were socio-political, literary, theological, reference, satirical, scientific, educational, sports newspapers and magazines.

During the reign of Alexander III, the number of printing houses grew steadily; the range of published book products also increased annually. In 1894, the list of titles of published books reached almost 11,000 thousand (in 1890 - 8638). Many thousands of books were imported from abroad. During the entire period of his reign, less than 200 books were not allowed to circulate in Russia. (This number included, for example, the notorious "Capital" of Karl Marx.) Most were prohibited not for political, but for spiritual and moral reasons: insulting the feelings of believers, promoting obscenity.

Alexander III died early, not yet an old man. His death was mourned by millions of Russian people, not out of duress, but at the call of the hearts of those who respected and loved this crowned sovereign - a big, strong, Christ-loving, so understandable, just, so "their own".
Alexander Bokhanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences

On March 10 (February 26, old style), 1845 - exactly 165 years ago - the following message was printed in the "Gazette of the St. Petersburg City Police": " On 26 February, Her Imperial Highness the Empress Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna was safely relieved of the burden by the Grand Duke named Alexander. This happy event was announced to the inhabitants of the capital at three o'clock in the afternoon three hundred with one cannon shot from the bastions Peter and Paul Fortress and in the evening the capital was illuminated"This is how the second son of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, who, by the will of fate, was destined to become the Emperor of Russia, Alexander III, entered life.

"In the whole world we have only two loyal allies - our army and navy. All the rest, at the first opportunity, themselves will turn against us. "

"Russia - for Russians and in Russian"

Alexander III

By God's advancing mercy, Alexander the Third, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tavrichesky Chersonis, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuanian, Volynsk, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estland, Livonia, Courland and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Belostok, Korelsky, Tversky, Yugorsky, Perm, Vyatsky, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozersky, Udora, Obdorsky, Kondiysky, Vitebsk, Mstislavsky and all Northern countries Sovereign, and Sovereign Iversky, Kartalinsky and Kabardinsky regions Princes and other hereditary Sovereign and Owner, Sovereign of Turkestan, Heir of Norwegian, Duke of Schleswig-Golstinsky, Stormarnsky, Dietmarsen and Oldenburgsky and others, and so on, and so on

Later, contemporaries and descendants will call Alexander III king Peacemaker: this is due to the fact that during his reign, Russia did not wage a single war. But not only this is his merit, for 13 years of his reign he managed to do a lot for Russia, for which the Russian people were grateful to him and considered him truly theirs. The enemies of Russia still fear and hate this Russian tsar.

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich in childhood

Zaryanko S.K. Portrait of Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich 1867
(State Russian Museum)

Family ... family from early childhood to the end of life was the basis for Emperor Alexander III. " If there is anything good, good and honest in Me, then I owe this solely to our dear dear Mom ... Thanks to Mom, we, all brothers and Mari, have become and remain true Christians and have fallen in love with both the faith and the Church ... "(from a letter from Emperor Alexander III to his wife Maria Feodorovna). Empress Maria Alexandrovna brought up Alexander as a deeply religious and decent person with strong moral principles. To her he also owes his love for art, Russian nature, history. Alexander's training began at the age of eight and lasted twelve years. The obligatory list of lessons was as follows: the Law of God, general history, Russian history, mathematics, geography, Russian language, gymnastics, fencing, languages, etc. The teachers were the best people Russia: historian professor S.M. Soloviev, philologist - Slavist professor F.I.Buslaev, creator of Russian classical orthography Academician Y. K. Grot, General M.I. Alexander considered M. Yu. Lermontov his favorite poet, he knew German, French and English well, but in communication he used only Russian.

Jokers ... the famous Romanov pyramid

In the photo: Prince Albert of Altenburg, Grand Duke Alexander, his brother Vladimir and Prince Nikolai Leuchtenberg

But still, the boy was mainly prepared for a military career and it was not assumed that he would rule the state. On his birthday, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was enlisted by the Highest order in the Life Guards Hussar, Preobrazhensky and Pavlovsky regiments and was appointed chief of the Astrakhan Carabinieri His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich regiment. But ... in April 1865 in Nice, the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, dies from a serious illness and the eternal prince Alexander Alexandrovich, according to the will of Emperor Alexander II, becomes heir to the throne.

Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich

Great Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Photo 1873

V.P. Khudoyarov Portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich

Unknown artist Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna 1880

Mihai Zichy Wedding of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and Maria Feodorovna

On October 28, 1865, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich married the sold-out bride of his older brother Nikolai Alexandrovich, daughter of the Danish king Christian IX, Dagmara, who adopted the name of Maria Feodorovna in Orthodoxy. This marriage was happy, six children were born in love, although the fate of some was very tragic.

Sverchkov N. Alexander III 1881

(State Palace Museum Tsarskoe Selo)

Communion of the Holy Mysteries by the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III during the coronation of 1883

Alexander Alexandrovich ascended the throne on March 14 (March 1, old style), 1881, 36 years old, after the villainous murder of Alexander II by the People's Will. The coronation took place on May 28 (May 15, old style), 1883, after the end of the mourning for his father. And immediately it was necessary to solve important state affairs, and one of them is the one that his father did not manage to carry out. The Dane Beshorn, author of Allexandre III et Nicolas II, says: "... Not a single monarch ascended the throne under such circumstances as Emperor Alexander III. Before he had time to come to his senses from the first horror, he immediately had to solve the most important, most urgent matter - the project presented by Count Loris-Melikov constitution, already approved in principle by Emperor Alexander II.At first impression, Emperor Alexander III wanted to fulfill the last will of his parent, but his inherent prudence stopped him".

Kramskoy I. N. Portrait of Alexander III 1886

The reign of Alexander III was tough, but tough towards those who wanted to destroy Russia. At the very beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander III, it was announced: " The voice of God commands us to become cheerfully in the work of government in hope of Divine Thought, with faith in the power and truth of autocratic power, which we are called to assert and protect for the good of the people from any inclinations against it.". By the mid-1880s, the government, through repression, succeeded in suppressing the revolutionary movement, primarily Narodnaya Volya." , the establishment of the Peasant Land Bank, the introduction of factory inspection, the phased abolition of the poll tax, etc.) Under Alexander III, Russia received the right to keep a fleet in the Black Sea, but the fleet did not exist, it appeared there only after the death of Emperor Alexander III.

Dmitriev-Orenburgsky N. Portrait of Emperor Alexander III 1896

Family of Emperor Alexander III

Alexander III was a connoisseur of art, was very well versed in painting and had a good collection of his own works of Russian and foreign art. On the initiative of the Tsar, the Russian Museum was opened in St. Petersburg. It was officially called the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III. The Tsar handed over his collection, as well as the collection of Russian paintings from the Imperial Hermitage, to the new museum. The Museum of Fine Arts (now the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow) was also named in honor of Emperor Alexander III. Alexander III loved music, played the French horn, patronized PI Tchaikovsky, he himself took part in home concerts. Under him, the first university in Siberia, in Tomsk, was opened, a project was prepared for the creation of a Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople, and the famous Historical Museum was founded in Moscow.

Serov V.A. Emperor Alexander III in the form of the Danish Royal Life Guards regiment against the background of the northern facade of Fredensborg Castle 1899

(Collection of the officer corps of the Danish Royal Life Guard)

As a person, Alexander III was simple, modest and unassuming in everyday life; he did not like social talk and receptions. He was distinguished by frugality. The sovereign was distinguished by tremendous physical strength. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, daughter of the emperor, recalled: " The father possessed the power of Hercules, but he never showed it in the presence of strangers. He said he could bend a horseshoe and knot a spoon, but he didn't dare to do this so as not to anger Mom. Once in his office, he bent and then straightened an iron poker. I remember how he looked at the door, fearing that someone might enter. ".

Makarov I.K. Sermon on the Mount 1889

(the picture depicts the family of Alexander III and was written after the tragedy in Borki)

During the tragic events near the Borki station of the Zmievsky district of the Kharkov province on October 30 (17 according to the old style) October 1888, the Emperor held the roof of the car on his shoulders, while his whole family and other victims got out from under the rubble.

Family of Emperor Alexander III and court entourage after the hunt 1886

Alexander III hunting with his family

Alexander III on the hunt

But the disease did not spare him. Emperor Alexander III did not like to be treated or talk about his illness. In the summer of 1894, hunting in Spala, among the marshes, further weakened the Emperor. On the advice of doctors, he immediately left there for Livadia and here began to fade away quickly, surrounded by the care of the best Russian foreign doctors and close relatives. Emperor Alexander III died on October 20, 1894, at the age of 50, reigning for 13 years, 7 months and 19 days ... remaining in his memory as the most Russian tsar of Russia.

Mihai Zichi Memorial service for Alexander III in his bedroom at the Small Palace in Livadia 1895

(State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)

Emperor Alexander III on his deathbed Photo 1894

Brozh K.O. Funeral of Alexander III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg 1894

(State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)

At the tomb of Emperor Alexander III

With a soul imbued with love and humility,
With the seal of goodness and peace on your forehead,
He was an incarnation sent down from God
Greatness, goodness and truth on earth.
In the days of turmoil, in a dark, joyless time
Rebellious designs, disbelief and threats
He lifted the burden of the Tsarist power on the shoulder
And with faith to the end he bore the burden of God.
But not by pride and the strength of a formidable power,
Not with vain glitter, not with blood and sword -
He is a lie, and dislike, and flattery, and evil passions
He humbled and conquered only with truth and goodness.
He exalted Russia, his feat not a single
Not darkened by enmity, not demanding praise;
And - a quiet righteous man - before a righteous end,
Like the sun in the sky, shone over the world!
Human glory is smoke, and earthly life is perishable.
Greatness, noise and brilliance - everything will cease, everything will pass!
But the glory of God is immortal and incorruptible:
The righteous king in his native traditions will not die.
He is alive - and will live! And to the mountain abode
Exalted from the throne, before the King of kings
He prays - our King, our bright patron -
For the Son, for the Family, for Russia ... for all people.

A. L. Golenishchev-Kutuzov

P.S. Most of the paintings and photographs are clickable and enlarged to a large size.

Facts from articles used

"In everything, always, everywhere, He was a Christian ..." A. Rozhintsev

"Emperor Alexander III. Tsar-Peacemaker" V.A. Teplov

10/20/1894 (2.11). - Tsar Peacemaker Alexander III died in the Livadia Palace in Crimea at the age of 50

King Peacemaker

Alexander III (02.26.1845–20.10.1894) - Russian Emperor since 1881, after the death of his father, who was killed by terrorists.

The future Emperor Alexander III grew up in a large family, in which there were six brothers: Nikolai, Alexander, Vladimir, Alexey, Sergey, Pavel and two sisters (Maria married the son of the English Queen Victoria). Boys, at the insistence of their grandfather, were brought up in a strict spirit. Regular education, which began at the age of eight, continued for 12 years. They were taught: the Law of God, Russian, foreign languages ​​(German, French, English), mathematics, geography, general and Russian history, reading, calligraphy, drawing, military science, gymnastics, horse riding, fencing, music.

The teachers were the most qualified specialists, so in spite of the liberal myths about "ignorance" and "unpreparedness" the future Emperor Alexander III, like all tsarist children, received an excellent education. The law of God was taught to him by the professor of the Petersburg Theological Academy N.P. Christmas. General M.I.Dragomirov taught military history and tactics. Military instructors taught boys marching, rifle techniques and other military skills under the leadership of Major General N.V. Zinoviev. Russian literature was taught by professor, philologist and historian Ya.K. Groth and the future director of the Public Library in St. Petersburg M.A. Corfe; history was taught by a famous historian; classes in jurisprudence were first taught by Professor I.E. Andreevsky, and then a professor who was destined to become one of the people closest to Alexander Alexandrovich.

Alexander Alexandrovich became heir to the throne in 1865 after the death of his elder brother Nikolai. In 1866 he married his bride -. He was an exemplary Orthodox family man, had six children (of which one son died in infancy). The royal children were traditionally brought up in severity and simplicity.

Ascending the Throne, Emperor Alexander III was aware that the murder of His August Parent testified to the internal trouble in the state, which demanded the adoption of decisive measures to combat the corrupters of the state foundations. We read about the beginning of the reign of Alexander III: “His entry into the kingdom was terrible. He sat down on the Throne of his fathers, watered with tears ... in the midst of the horror of the people, in the midst of hissing anger and sedition. " Wanting to support the new Tsar, Pobedonostsev wrote to him:

“The insane villains who have killed your Parent will not be satisfied with any concession and will only rage. And you can calm down, the evil seed can only be pulled out by fighting them to the stomach and to death. It is not difficult to win: until now, everyone wanted to avoid the struggle and deceived the late Tsar, you, yourself, everyone and everything in the world ... No, Your Majesty, there is only one right way to get on your feet and start without falling asleep. for a minute, the most sacred struggle that has ever been in Russia. The entire people are waiting for a decision that is imperious for this, and as soon as they feel the will of the sovereign, everything will rise, everything will revive and freshen up in the air. "

“And now the darkness of turmoil ... began to quickly dissipate,” writes the historian V.V. Nazarevsky. - Cramola, which seemed irresistible, melted like wax in the face of fire ... Confusion in the minds began to quickly give way to Russian sanity, licentiousness and willfulness gave way to order and discipline. Free-thinking no longer trampled on Orthodoxy as a kind of ultramontaneism and our native Church as clericalism. The authority of the indisputable and hereditary national Supreme power has returned to its historical traditional height. " For the general improvement of the atmosphere in the country, it is significant that the number of crimes has sharply decreased and bribery has disappeared.

The guiding rules of his reign were: complete peacefulness in external relations and focus on the internal well-being of God entrusted to him. The Tsar himself, as if a hero who came to us from the Russian epic, encouraged everything Russian both in industry and in culture. He was the creator and the first chairman of the Russian Historical Society, with his active participation and partly at his own expense, created , after the death of Alexander III, who bore his name.

There is no region in which, in the incomplete 14 years of the reign of Alexander III, there was no significant rise. But Alexander III was especially concerned about the Church and the peasantry. To raise the prosperity of the peasants, the Peasant Land Bank was established in 1882. In 1883 the Coronation Manifesto. A rule was issued on the hiring of workers for rural and factory work, and a factory inspection was introduced to protect the interests of workers. But the Emperor was not only concerned with the material situation of the common people: his constant desire was to give public education, about which he also cared a lot, a religious basis, for which purpose the establishment of parish schools in 1884 was adopted. In 1885 the Noble Land Bank was established. In 1890, in order to improve the civil and family life of the common people, Alexander III established the position of zemstvo chiefs. Thanks to a number of measures, despite the great poor harvest in 1891, the financial and economic situation of the country improved significantly by the end of the nineteenth century.

In Soviet historiography, the reign of Alexander III is presented as nothing more than a "rampant grim reaction"; this tradition is continued by many democratic post-Soviet authors. “For more than a hundred years, the figure of the penultimate Russian Tsar has been the target of the most impartial assessments; his personality is the object of unbridled attacks and tendentious criticism ", - writes the historian A. Bokhanov and objects:" In total, 17 people were executed for political crimes (for criminal acts) during the "period of reaction". All of them either participated in the regicide, or prepared for it, and none of them repented. In total, less than 4 thousand people were interrogated and detained for anti-state acts (for almost fourteen years). If we take into account that the population of Russia then exceeded 120 million people, then these data convincingly refute the stereotyped thesis of the "terror regime" that was allegedly established in Russia during the reign of Alexander III. "

The people sincerely loved their Tsar. When, by the grace of God, the Sovereign and the entire August Family remained unharmed, then all of Russia rejoiced and prayed.

The emerging threat of the death of the entire Imperial family. The fact was that his brother Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (the next oldest son of Alexander II) in 1874 married the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who did not accept Orthodoxy before marriage (she converted to Orthodoxy only in 1908, when children became adults). By this he violated Art. 185 of the Fundamental Laws: "The marriage of a male person of the Imperial House, who may have the right to inherit the Throne, with a special different faith, is accomplished only by her acceptance of the Orthodox confession." In 1886, being the chairman of the Imperially approved Commission for the revision of the Institution of the Imperial Family, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich tried to change the wording of this article, limiting its effect: instead of "Marriage of a male person of the Imperial House, who may have the right to inherit the Throne", Vel. Book. Vladimir Aleksandrovich wrote: "The marriage of the Heir to the Throne and the eldest of his generation, a man's face." In such a wording, the article would no longer apply to the family of Grand Duke Vladimir. However, in 1889, Emperor Alexander III restored the article in its previous edition. For if he died with his family in a train crash, then, according to the meaning of the amended article, the throne would go to his brother Vladimir and his non-Orthodox wife (these were the parents of the future violator of family, state and church laws and a traitor-Februaryist brought up in this family) -) ...

The Tsar was deeply moral and honest, an unusually simple, cheerful and very witty person. Many of his resolutions have become classics. There is a known case when in some volost government one man spat on his portrait. Cases of insulting the Majesty were examined in the District Courts and the verdict was necessarily brought to the attention of the Emperor. So it was in this case. The abusive man was sentenced to six months in prison and brought to the attention of the Emperor. Alexander III burst out laughing:

- How! He didn’t give a damn about my portrait, and for that I’ll feed him six months more? You are out of your mind, gentlemen. Send him away and say that I, in turn, did not care about him. And the business is over. What an incredible thing!

Or, the writer Tsebrikova was arrested on some political case and reported to the Emperor. He deigned to write the following resolution on paper: "Let the old fool go!" All Petersburg, including the ultra-revolutionary one here, laughed to tears. Ms. Tsebrikova's career was completely destroyed ...

During the reign of Alexander III, it was completed, which put an end to internecine conflicts and raids on the tribes that became part of the Russian Empire.

Peaceful time has come in Europe as well. Without interfering in European affairs, since they did not affect our interests, Alexander III, with his sincere love of peace, strengthened the military power of Russia, skillfully and firmly created political equilibrium in Europe, becoming the guardian of peace in it. The influence of Russia in Europe during his reign was generally recognized. The famous episode with fishing, which Alexander III was very fond of, is characteristic. Once, when he was fishing on Karpin Pond, the Minister of Foreign Affairs rushed to him and began to persistently ask to immediately receive an ambassador of some Western power on an important European matter. To which Alexander III replied: "When the Russian Tsar is fishing, Europe can wait."

But, unfortunately, the reign of Emperor Alexander III was short-lived. After a short illness, on October 20, 1894, the Tsar, having received Holy Communion three times before his death, departed into eternity, admonished by the great prayer book and miracle worker of the Russian land who was with Him.

The historian put it this way after the death of the Sovereign Peacemaker: “Science will give Emperor Alexander III a proper place not only in the history of Russia and all of Europe, but also in Russian historiography, and will say that He won a victory in the area where it is most difficult to achieve victory, defeated the prejudice of peoples and by this he contributed to their rapprochement, conquered the public conscience in the name of peace and truth, increased the amount of goodness in the moral circulation of mankind, encouraged and raised Russian historical thought, Russian national consciousness, and did all this so quietly and silently that only now, when He is no longer Europe understood what He was for her. "

Monument to Alexander III at the Marble Palace (works by P. Trubetskoy)

Indeed, the whole world reacted to the death of the Russian Tsar - and this respect for him was simply amazing against the background of ordinary European Russophobia. French Foreign Minister Flourens said: “Alexander III was a true Russian Tsar, which Russia had not seen for a long time before him. Of course, all the Romanovs were devoted to the interests and greatness of their people. But prompted by the desire to give their people a Western European culture, they were looking for ideals outside of Russia ... Emperor Alexander III wished Russia to be Russia, to be, first of all, Russian, and he himself set the best examples of this. He showed himself the ideal type of a truly Russian person. " Even the Marquis of Salisbury, hostile to Russia, admitted: “Alexander III saved Europe many times from the horrors of war. According to his deeds, the sovereigns of Europe should learn how to govern their peoples. " This respect of contemporaries for the Russian Emperor is still evidenced by the bridge named after him over the Seine in the very center of Paris.