MOSCOW ACADEMY OF THE MIA OF RUSSIA

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF LAW AND STATE

ABSTRACT on TOPIC:

I .

COMPLETED: Student of the 3rd year of the 311 study group

distance learning

MA of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

lieutenant justice

Trofimov A.A.

MOSCOW 2001

State legal reforms of Alexander I .

The upbringing and views of young Alexander I and young Paul were in many ways similar. Like his father, Alexander was brought up in the spirit of the Enlightenment ideas about a "true", "legitimate" monarchy. Since 1783, his mentor was the Swiss F.-Z. de La Harpe, a professional lawyer, a follower of the encyclopedists. For Alexandre, La Harpe was not just a teacher, but also a moral authority. Documents show that Alexander's views in his youth were quite radical: he sympathized with the French Revolution and the republican form of government, condemned the hereditary monarchy, serfdom, favoritism and bribery that flourished at the St. Petersburg court. There is reason to believe that court life itself with its intrigues, the whole behind-the-scenes side of “big politics”, which Alexander could closely observe even during the life of Catherine, aroused in him indignation, a feeling of disgust for politics as such, a desire not to take part in it. He also treated the rumors about Catherine's plan to transfer the throne to him, bypassing Paul:

“If it is true that they want to encroach on the rights of my father, then I will be able to evade such injustice. My wife and I will escape to America, we will be free and happy there, and they will not hear about us anymore.

And later, already, as it seems, resigned to the need to reign, he wrote:

“But when my turn comes, then it will be necessary to work on, gradually, of course, in order to create a popular representation, which, if directed, would constitute a free constitution, after which my power would completely cease and I ... would retire to some some corner and would live there happy and contented, seeing the prosperity of his fatherland, and would enjoy it.

Cit. on: Likhotkin G. A. Sylvain Maréchal and "The Testament of Catherine I I". L., 1974. S. 12.

Thus, unlike Paul I, Alexander, when he ascended the Russian throne, was apparently not particularly power-hungry and had not yet had time to abandon the ideals of youth (he was 23 at that time). Through the prism of these ideals, he looked at the actions of his father, completely not sympathizing with either his goals or methods. In 1797 he wrote to his teacher La Harpe:

“My father, having ascended the throne, wanted to reform everything ... Everything was immediately turned upside down. This only added to the disorder, which was already too much in business.<...>The welfare of the state plays no part in the administration of affairs; there is only absolute power that creates everything indiscriminately.<...>my unfortunate fatherland is in a position beyond description. The farmer is offended, trade is constrained, freedom and personal well-being are destroyed.

Cit. on: Safonov M. M. The problem of reforms in the government policy of Russia at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. L., 1988. S. 48-49.

In the same letter, Alexander also informs about the change in his plans: first, to carry out a revolution that “would be carried out by legitimate authority,” and only then retire.

Back in the mid-90s, a small circle of like-minded people formed around Alexander. These were, firstly, V.P. Kochubey - the nephew of Catherine's Chancellor Count A.A. Bezborodko, and secondly, Prince A.A. Czartorysky - a wealthy Polish nobleman in the Russian service, then Count A.S. Stroganov - son one of the richest and most distinguished people of that time and, finally, N. N. Novosiltsev - Stroganov's cousin. In this circle of "young friends" the vices of Pavlov's reign were discussed and plans for the future were made.

It should be noted, however, that the life experience of Alexander and the members of his circle was very different. So, Stroganov and Kochubey witnessed the events in revolutionary France. The first was there at the very beginning of the revolution with his tutor Gilbert Romm, attended meetings of the National Assembly, became a Jacobin and was returned home by force in 1790. The second came to France already in 1791-1792. after several years of living abroad and, in particular, in England, where he studied the English state system. Upon his return to Russia, Kochubey was appointed ambassador to Constantinople, where he spent another five years. Prince Adam Czartoryski also visited England for educational purposes, who also had an experience of a completely different kind: he fought against Russia during the second partition of Poland. The oldest member of this circle was N. N. Novosiltsev - by the time of Alexander's accession in 1801, he was already 40 years old. As for Alexander, his life experience was limited only by his knowledge of the St. Petersburg court and the negative perception of the reign, first of his grandmother, and then of his father. In conversations with members of the circle, Alexander admired revolutionary France and expressed a naive belief in the possibility of creating a "true monarchy" through transformation from above. The "young friends" were more skeptical and realistic, but did not disappoint the Grand Duke, hoping to extract certain benefits from their position.

Historians have argued a lot about how much Alexander was privy to the plans of the conspirators against Paul I and, therefore, how much he was responsible for his death. Surviving circumstantial evidence indicates that most likely Alexander hoped that Paul could be persuaded to abdicate in his favor and, thus, the coup would be legal and bloodless. The accomplished assassination of Paul put the young emperor in a completely different situation. With his sensitivity, romantic faith in justice and legality, he could not help but perceive what had happened as a tragedy that overshadowed the very beginning of his reign. At the same time, if Alexander had received power legally, his hands would have been sufficiently untied. Now he was dependent on those who obtained the throne for him by crime and who constantly put pressure on him, reminding him of the possibility of a new coup. In addition, behind the backs of the conspirators stood the party of the old Catherine's nobles ("Catherine's old men", as they were called) - influential, numerous, with strong family ties. The main thing for these people was the preservation of the old order, and it is no coincidence that Alexander's manifesto! On his accession to the throne, he promised "God to rule the people entrusted to us according to the laws and according to the heart in the Bose of the reposed august grandmother of our Empress Catherine the Great."

Indeed, the first decrees of the emperor confirmed this promise. Already on March 13-15, 1801, orders were issued to issue decrees of resignation to all those dismissed from military or civil service without trial, members of the Smolensk circle were amnestied, to whom ranks and nobility were returned;

On March 15, an amnesty was announced for political prisoners and fugitives who had taken refuge abroad, the ban on the import of various industrial goods was lifted; March 31 - the ban on the activities of private printing houses and the importation of books from abroad is lifted. Finally, on April 2, the emperor announced five manifestos in the Senate, restoring in full the effect of letters of grant to the nobility and cities. At the same time, it was announced the liquidation of the Secret Expedition of the Senate and the transfer of the investigation on political cases to institutions in charge of criminal proceedings. One of the manifestos on April 2 was addressed to the peasants; it promised not to increase taxes and allowed the export of agricultural products abroad.

It would seem that the "old people" should be satisfied, but the real meaning of the manifestos turned out to be wider than a simple restoration of Catherine's order. For example, the withdrawal of political affairs from the direct jurisdiction of the sovereign was perceived in principle as a limitation of his power. This revealed the second (no less significant than the first) goal of the conspirators: to create a state system that would legally limit the rights of any despot-sovereign in favor of the top of the aristocracy. Control over the activities of the monarch, the creation of a mechanism that protects against despotic tendencies, fully met Alexander's convictions, and therefore on April 5, 1801, a decree appeared on the creation of an Indispensable Council - a legislative advisory body under the sovereign.

There was nothing fundamentally new in the very fact of creating such a Council: the urgent need for such a body was felt by all emperors and empresses after Peter I. First, during the reign of Catherine I and Peter II, there was a Supreme Privy Council, under Anna Ioannovna - the Cabinet of Ministers, under Elizabeth Petrovna - Conference at the highest court, under Catherine II - the Imperial Council. However, the significance of all these bodies was different and, importantly, their legal status and rights were not usually enshrined in laws. It was different with the Indispensable Council. Although the supreme power in the country continued to remain completely in the hands of the sovereign and he retained the right to legislate without the consent of the Council, the members of the Council received the opportunity to monitor the activities of the monarch and submit representations, i.e., in essence, to protest those actions or decrees of the emperor with which they didn't agree. As the historian M. M. Safonov rightly noted, “the real role of the Council in governing the country had to be determined depending on how the relationship between the members of the Council and the monarch developed in practice” (Safonov M. M. Decree. op. S. 82).

However, in addition to relationships, the attitude of the sovereign to the Council was also important - how seriously he took it and how much he was going to reckon with it. Alexander, who had not yet had time to fully learn the craftiness of which he was later accused, was going to fulfill his obligations exactly, and, as the further development of events showed, this was his mistake. As for the relationship with the Council, they, in turn, depended on the composition of this body of power.

Initially, the Council consisted of 12 people, mostly heads of the most important state institutions. These were the Prosecutor General of the Senate, the Minister of Commerce, the State Treasurer, the heads of the Military and Admiralty Colleges, and the military governor of St. Petersburg. In addition to them, the Council included confidants of the emperor and the main participants in the conspiracy against Paul. Basically, all these were people who had made careers in previous reigns, representatives of the highest aristocracy and bureaucracy - those on whom at first Alexander I depended to the greatest extent. However, such a composition of the Council gave hope to get rid of this dependence, because Catherine's nobles were there next to Pavlov's, and they could not help but compete with each other for influence on the emperor. Quite quickly, the sovereign learned to use this situation to his advantage. One of the memoirists recalled how once Alexander asked him if he paid attention to the expression on the faces of members of the Council A. A. Bekleshov and D. P. Troshchinsky, who had just left his office:

“Isn't it true that they looked like boiled crayfish? continued the emperor. - They, no doubt, by their experience, in the Affairs know more than all other government officials, but there is envy among them; I noticed this, because when one of them explains a case, it seems to be the best; as soon as it touches for execution before another, he completely refutes the opinion of the first, also on the most clear, it seems, evidence. Due to my inexperience in business, I was in great difficulty ... I ordered that ... they both come with a report to me both together and I allow them to argue with me as much as they like, and from this I benefit for myself.

Cit. Quoted from: Notes of Count E.F. Komarovsky. M., 1990. S. 73.

With such a balance of power, the young emperor could hope to find among the members of the Council and supporters of broader reforms, but he was going to develop a plan for these reforms with his "young friends". Alexander saw the main goal of the changes in the creation of a constitution that would guarantee his subjects the rights of a citizen, similar to those formulated in the famous French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. He, however, agreed with the opinion that initially the system of government should be reformed in such a way as to guarantee property rights.

Meanwhile, without waiting for the reform plan to be drawn up, in May 1801 Alexander submitted to the Permanent Council a draft decree prohibiting the sale of serfs without land. According to the emperor, this decree was to be the first step towards the elimination of serfdom. It was followed by the next one - permission to purchase inhabited lands to non-nobles with the condition that the peasants living on these lands would become free. When a certain number of free peasants would appear as a result, it was planned to extend a similar procedure for selling land to the nobles. Thus, Alexander's plan was similar to the plan that Catherine II had at one time (see Chapter 6), which he most likely did not know about. At the same time, the emperor was quite cautious and did not reveal all the details even to the people closest to him, but already at the first stage he had to face the furious resistance of the feudal lords.

Without rejecting the emperor’s proposal in principle, which would have been simply impolite on their part, the members of the Council, however, quite firmly let him know that the adoption of such a decree could cause both unrest among the peasantry and serious dissatisfaction among the nobles. The Council believed that the introduction of such a measure should be included in the system of laws on the rights of owners of estates, which should be developed.

In other words, it was proposed to postpone the adoption of the decree for an indefinite period. It is significant that Alexander's "young friends" - Stroganov and Kochubey - agreed with this opinion of the Council. However, the king did not give up and personally appeared at the meeting of the Council to defend his project. A stormy discussion took place, in which the emperor was supported by only one of the members of the Council. Alexander, who hoped for the enlightenment of the nobility, apparently did not expect such a reaction and was forced to retreat. The only result of his attempt to limit serfdom was the ban on printing advertisements for the sale of serfs in the newspapers, which the landowners soon learned to easily circumvent.

The most important consequence of Alexander's failure in trying to solve the peasant problem was the final transfer of the preparation of reforms to the circle of "young friends", and he agreed with their opinion that this work should be carried out in secret so as not to cause unnecessary rumors, and most importantly, peasant unrest that constantly arose during spreading rumors about changing laws. So the Unofficial Committee was created, which included Stroganov, Kochubey, Czartorysky, Novosiltsev, and later the old Catherine's nobleman Count A. R. Vorontsov.

Already at the first meeting of the Unspoken Committee, a certain divergence in ideas about his tasks became clear between the emperor and his friends, who believed that it was necessary to start first of all with a study of the state of the state, then carry out a reform of the administration, and only then proceed to the creation of a constitution. Alexander, agreeing in principle with this plan, wished to deal directly with the third stage as soon as possible.

As for the official Indispensable Council, the real result of the first months of its work was the project “The most merciful letter. Complained to the Russian people”, which was supposed to be made public on the day of the coronation of the emperor on September 15, 1801. The letter was supposed to reaffirm all the privileges of the nobility, philistinism and merchant class, indicated in the Letters of Complaint of 1785, as well as the rights and guarantees of private property common to all residents of the country , personal security, freedom of speech, press and conscience. A special article of the charter guaranteed the inviolability of these rights. Simultaneously with this document, a new draft on the peasant question was prepared. Its author was the last favorite of Catherine II and one of the leaders of the 1801 coup, P.A. Teeth. According to his project, again (as under Paul I), the sale of peasants without land was prohibited and a procedure was established according to which the state was obliged to redeem the peasants from the landowners if necessary, and also stipulated the conditions under which the peasants could redeem themselves.

The third draft prepared for the coronation was that of the reorganization of the Senate. The document was being prepared for quite a long time, so there were several versions of it. The essence of all of them, however, boiled down to the fact that the Senate was to become the body of the supreme leadership of the country, combining the executive, judicial, control and legislative functions.

In essence, all three acts prepared for the coronation together represented a single program for turning Russia into a “true monarchy”, which Alexander I dreamed of, but their discussion showed that the tsar had practically no like-minded people. In addition, the discussion of projects was hampered by the constant rivalry of the court factions. Thus, members of the Unspoken Committee resolutely rejected Zubov's project on the peasant question as too radical and untimely. The project of reorganization of the Senate caused a whole storm in the tsar's circle. The "young friends" of the emperor, united with La Harpe, who arrived in Russia, proved to Alexander the impossibility and harmfulness of any restriction of autocracy. In a letter to the king, La Harpe wrote:

“In the name of your people, sovereign, keep intact the power vested in you, which you wish to use only for its greatest good. Don't let yourself be led astray because of the disgust that unlimited power inspires you. Have the courage to preserve it entirely and indivisibly until the moment when, under your leadership, the necessary work is completed and you can reserve exactly as much power as is necessary for an energetic government.

Cit. on: Safonov M. M. Decree. op. S. 163.

Thus, people from the inner circle of the king, those on whom he placed his hopes, turned out to be greater monarchists than he himself. As a result, the only document published on the day of the coronation was a manifesto, the entire content of which was reduced to the abolition of recruitment for the current year and the payment of 25 kopecks per capita tax.

Why did it happen that the tsar-reformer actually found himself alone, that is, in a situation where no serious reforms were already possible? The first reason is the same as several decades earlier, when Catherine II carried out her reform plan: the nobility - the main support and guarantor of the stability of the throne, and, consequently, of the political regime in general - did not want to give up even a fraction of its privileges, in the protection of which it was ready go till the end. When, after the Pugachev uprising, the nobility rallied around the imperial throne and Catherine realized that she could not be afraid of a coup, she managed to carry out a series of transformations that were as decisive as possible without fear of disturbing political stability. At the beginning of the XIX century. there was a certain decline in the peasant movement, which strengthened the position of Alexander's opponents and gave them the opportunity to frighten the young tsar with major upheavals. The second most important reason was connected with the disappointment of a significant part of educated people, not only in Russia, but throughout Europe, in the effectiveness of the ideas of the Enlightenment. The bloody horrors of the French Revolution have become for many a kind of sobering cold shower. There was a fear that any changes, reforms, and especially those leading to a weakening of the tsarist power, could ultimately turn into a revolution.

There is another question that cannot be ignored: why did Alexander I not dare to publish at least one of the three prepared documents on the day of his coronation - the one about which, as it seems, there was no particular controversy - the Letter to the Russian people? Probably, the emperor was aware that the Letter, not being backed up by other legislative acts, would have remained a mere declaration. That is why she did not raise objections. It was necessary either to publish all three documents together, or not to publish anything. Alexander chose the second path, and this, of course, was his defeat. However, the undoubted positive result of the first months of his reign was the political experience acquired by the young emperor. He resigned himself to the need to reign, but he did not abandon his reform plans either.

Upon his return from Moscow from the coronation celebrations at meetings of the Unspoken Committee, the tsar again returned to the peasant question, insisting on the issuance of a decree prohibiting the sale of peasants without land. The king decided to reveal the second point of the plan - to allow the sale of populated lands to non-nobles. Once again, these proposals aroused strong objections from the "young friends". In words, they fully agreed with the condemnation of the practice of selling peasants without land, but they still frightened the tsar with a noble rebellion. It was a strong argument that could not help but work. As a result, this round of Alexander's reform attempts ended with a minimal result: on December 12, 1801, a decree appeared that allowed non-nobles to buy land, but without peasants. Thus, the nobility's monopoly on land ownership was broken, but so insensitively that an explosion of discontent could not be feared. As M. M. Safonov notes, this was “the first gap in the body of unshakable noble privileges.”

The next steps of Alexander I were associated with the reorganization of state administration and corresponded to the practice of previous reigns that had developed in this area. In September 1802, a series of decrees created a system of eight ministries: Military, Naval, Foreign Affairs. Internal Affairs. Commerce, Finance, Public Education and Justice, as well as the State Treasury as a ministry. The ministers and chief executives, as ministers, formed the Committee of Ministers, in which each of them undertook to submit for discussion their most submissive reports to the emperor. Initially, the status of the Committee of Ministers was uncertain, and only in 1812 did the corresponding document appear.

Simultaneously with the creation of the ministries, the Senate reform was also carried out. Decree on the rights of the Senate, he was defined as "the supreme seat of the empire", whose power was limited only by the power of the emperor. Ministers had to submit annual reports to the Senate, which he could protest before the sovereign. It was this point, enthusiastically greeted by the top of the aristocracy, that a few months later became the cause of the conflict between the tsar and the Senate, when an attempt was made to protest the report of the Minister of War, already approved by the emperor, and it was about setting the terms of compulsory service for nobles who had not completed the officer rank. The Senate saw this as a violation of noble privileges. As a result of the conflict, a decree of March 21, 1803, followed, forbidding the Senate to make submissions on newly issued laws. Thus the Senate was effectively reduced to its former position. In 1805 it was again transformed, this time into a purely judicial institution with some administrative functions. The main governing body was, in fact, the Committee of Ministers.

The incident with the Senate largely predetermined the further development of events and plans of the emperor. By turning the Senate into a representative body with broad rights, Alexander did what he had abandoned a year earlier. Now he was convinced that exclusively noble representation without legal guarantees to other estates becomes only an obstacle for him, something can be achieved only by concentrating all power in his hands. In fact, Alexander took the path that his “young friends” and old mentor La Harpe pushed him from the very beginning. Apparently, by this time the emperor himself felt the taste of power, he was tired of the constant teachings and lectures, the incessant disputes of his entourage, behind which the struggle for power and influence was easily guessed. So, in 1803, in a dispute with G. R. Derzhavin, who at that time was the Prosecutor General of the Senate, Alexander uttered significant words that could hardly be heard from him before: “You always want to teach me, I am a sovereign sovereign and I want so" (Derzhavin G. R. Decree. op. S. 465).

The beginning of 1803 was also marked by some shifts in the solution of the peasant question. This time the initiative came from the camp of the high-ranking aristocracy from Count S.P. Rumyantsev, who wished to set his peasants free and asked to establish a legal order for this. The count's appeal was used as a pretext for issuing the Decree on free cultivators on February 20, 1803:

“Decree of His Imperial Majesty the Autocrat of All Russia from the Governing Senate.

According to the nominal decree of His Imperial Majesty, given to the Governing Senate last February on the 20th day, signed by His Majesty in his own hand, which depicts:

Acting Privy Councilor Count Sergei Rumyantsev, expressing a desire to some of his serfs, when they were dismissed, to confirm ownership of plots from the lands belonging to him by sale or on other voluntary conditions, asked that such conditions, voluntarily concluded, have the same legal effect and force, what was assigned to other serf obligations, and so that the peasants, thus dismissed, could remain in the state of free farmers, without being obliged to enter into another kind of life.

Finding, on the one hand, that according to the force of existing laws, such as: according to the manifesto of 1775 "and the decree of December 12, 1801 2, the dismissal of peasants and the ownership of land by the dismissed in the property is allowed, and on the other hand, that the approval of such land ownership can in many occasions to present various benefits to the landlords and have a beneficial effect on encouraging agriculture and other parts of the state economy, we consider it fair and useful both for him, Count Rumyantsev, and for all who among the landowners wish to follow his example, to allow such an order; and in order for it to have a legitimate its power, we find it necessary to decree the following:

1) If any of the landowners wishes to release their acquired or ancestral peasants one by one or as a whole village to freedom and at the same time approve a piece of land or a whole dacha for them, then having made conditions with them, which by mutual agreement are recognized as the best, has to present them at the request his through the provincial noble leader to the Minister of the Interior for consideration and presentation to us; and if a decision follows from us, according to his desire, then these conditions will be presented in the Civil Chamber and recorded at the serf deeds with the payment of legal duties.

2) Such conditions, made by the landowner with his peasants and recorded in serf affairs, are preserved as serf obligations sacredly and inviolably. Upon the death of a landowner, his legal heir or heirs shall assume all the duties and rights referred to in these conditions.<...>

4) Peasants and villages, released from the landlords under such conditions with land, if they do not wish to enter into other states, can remain farmers on their own lands and in themselves constitute a special state of free cultivators.

5) Household people and peasants, who hitherto were personally set free with the obligation to choose a kind of life, can enter into this state of free farmers within the period prescribed by laws, if they acquire land for themselves. This also applies to those of them who are already in other states and wish to go into agriculture, accepting all the duties of it.

Cit. Quoted from: Russian legislation of the X-XX centuries. M., 1988. T. 6. S. 32-33.

Notes

1 The manifesto of March 17, 1775 allowed the peasants who were set free to remain free and enroll in the estate of the philistines and merchants.

COMMENTS

The initial part of the decree is deliberately structured in such a way as to show that the publication initiative comes from the nobility, meets their interests and does not contradict existing legislation. Indeed, a peasant who received a free trade could have previously enrolled in the bourgeoisie and after that become the owner of the land, but then he ceased to be a farmer. The decree of 1803 actually created a new social category of free cultivators, who own the land under the right of private ownership (in this they differed from state peasants). The conditions under which the release was to take place were determined by a mutual agreement between the peasants and the landowner - it could be either free or for a ransom. Noting the usefulness of Rumyantsev's undertaking, the tsar tried to encourage other landlords to do the same.

The decree on free cultivators had an important ideological significance: for the first time it approved the possibility of freeing the peasants with land for a ransom. This provision then formed the basis of the reform of 1861. While approving Rumyantsev's intentions, the government also expressed its attitude to the peasant problem as a whole. Apparently, Alexander had high hopes for the decree: every year, statements were submitted to his office about the number of peasants transferred to this category. The practical application of the decree was to show how ready the nobility really was to give up their privileges. The results were discouraging: according to the latest data, during the entire period of the decree, 111,829 male souls were released, that is, approximately 2% of all serfs.

A year later, the government took another step: on February 20, 1804, the “Regulations on the Livonian Peasants” appeared. The situation with the peasant question in the Baltics was somewhat different than in Russia, since the sale of peasants without land was prohibited there. The new provision consolidated the status of "householders" as lifelong and hereditary tenants of land and gave them the right to buy their land into their property. According to the provision, the "housekeepers" were exempted from recruitment duty, and they could be subjected to corporal punishment only by a court verdict. Soon the main provisions of the new law were extended to Estonia. Thus, a layer of prosperous peasantry was created in the Baltic countryside.

In October 1804, another innovation was introduced here by decree: merchants who had risen to the rank of 8th grade were allowed to buy populated lands and own them on the basis of an agreement with the peasants. In other words, the peasants bought in this way ceased to be serfs and became free. It was, as it were, a truncated version of the original program for the elimination of serfdom. However, such half-measures could not achieve the ultimate goal. Speaking about attempts to resolve the peasant issue in the early years of the reign of Alexander I, it should be mentioned that at that time the practice of granting state peasants to landowners ceased. True, about 350,000 state-owned peasants were put on temporary lease.

Along with attempts to resolve the most important issues in the life of Russia, the government of Alexander I carried out major reforms in the field of public education. On January 24, 1803, the tsar approved a new regulation on the organization of educational institutions. The territory of Russia was divided into six educational districts, in which four categories of educational institutions were created:

parish, district, provincial schools, as well as gymnasiums and universities. It was assumed that all these educational institutions would use uniform curricula, and the university in each educational district would represent the highest level of education. If before that there was only one university in Russia - Moscow, founded in 1755, then in 1802 the University of Dorpat (now the University of Tartu in Estonia) was restored, and in 1803 a university was opened on the basis of a university that had existed since the 16th century. . The main school of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Vilna (now the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius). In 1804 Kharkov and Kazan universities were founded. At the same time, the Pedagogical Institute was opened in St. Petersburg, later renamed the Main Pedagogical Institute, and since 1819 transformed into a university. In addition, privileged educational institutions were opened: in 1805 - the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl, and in 1811 - the famous Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, among the first pupils of which was A. S. Pushkin. Specialized higher educational institutions were also created - the Moscow Commercial School (1804). Institute of Communications (1810). Thus, under Alexander I, the work begun by Catherine II to create a system of public education was continued and corrected. As before, however, education remained inaccessible to a significant part of the population, especially the peasants. But the continuation of the reform in this area objectively met the needs of society in competent, qualified specialists.

The first stage of the reforms of Alexander I ended in 1803, when it became clear that it was necessary to look for new ways and forms of their implementation. The emperor also needed new people who were not so closely connected with the top of the aristocracy and wholly devoted only to him personally. The choice of the king (as it turned out later, fatal) settled on A. A. Arakcheev, the son of a poor and humble landowner, a former favorite of Paul I, known for his devotion “without flattery”, which was indicated on his coat of arms.

In the reign of Pavel Arakcheev was the St. Petersburg city commandant and dealt mainly with issues related to the reorganization of the army, zealously planting Prussian orders in it; however, after 1799, falling into disgrace, he settled on his estate. Alexander, apparently, considered Arakcheev an experienced military organizer (Arakcheev graduated from the Land Gentry and Artillery Corps - the highest military educational institutions of that time) and, in any case, an excellent performer. And since foreign policy problems came to the fore at that time and Russia began to prepare for war with France, the tsar needed such a person. Having called Arakcheev to Petersburg, the emperor appointed him an artillery inspector, instructing him to prepare this branch of the army for war; and he was quite successful in this task. Gradually, the role of Arakcheev became more and more significant, he became a confidant of the emperor, and in 1807 an imperial decree followed, according to which the orders announced by Arakcheev were equated with nominal imperial decrees. But if the main activity of Arakcheev was the military-police, then a different person was needed to develop plans for new reforms. They became M. M. Speransky.

The son of a village priest, Speransky, not only, like Arakcheev, did not belong to the aristocracy, but was not even a nobleman. He was born in 1771 in the village of Cherkutino, Vladimir province, studied first at Vladimir, then at Suzdal, and finally at the St. Petersburg seminary. Upon graduation, he was left there as a teacher and only in 1797 began his career as a titular adviser in the office of the Prosecutor General of the Senate, Prince A. B. Kurakin. This career was in the full sense of the word swift: already four and a half years later Speransky had the rank of a real state councilor, equal to the rank of general in the army and giving the right to hereditary nobility.

In the first years of the reign of Alexander I, Speransky still remained in the shadows, although he was already preparing some documents and projects for members of the Unofficial Committee, in particular, on ministerial reform. After the implementation of the reform, he was transferred to serve in the Ministry of the Interior. In 1803, on behalf of the emperor, Speransky compiled a “Note on the Structure of Judicial and Government Institutions in Russia”, in which he showed himself to be a supporter of a constitutional monarchy, created by gradually reforming society on the basis of a carefully developed plan. However, the Note had no practical value. Only in 1807, after unsuccessful wars with France and the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit, in the conditions of an internal political crisis, Alexander I again turned to reform plans.

Many years later, in 1834, A. S. Pushkin wrote in his diary:

“Last Sunday I dined at Speransky's.<...>I told him about the beautiful beginning of Alexander's reign: You and Arakcheev, you stand at the door opposite this reign, as the geniuses of Evil and Good. He responded with compliments and advised me to write the history of my time.”

Cit. on: Pushkin A. S. Decree. op. T. VIII. S. 33.

Pushkin's view reflects the general opinion of that time. But why did the choice of the emperor fall on Arakcheev and Speransky, and what were they for him? First of all, they were obedient executors of the will of the monarch, who wished to turn two not noble, but personally devoted to him people into all-powerful ministers, with whose help he hoped to carry out his plans. Both of them were, in essence, zealous and diligent officials, independent by virtue of their origin from one or another group of high-ranking aristocracy. Arakcheev was supposed to protect the throne from a noble conspiracy, Speransky - to develop and implement a reform plan based on the ideas and principles suggested by the emperor.

Speransky did not receive a new role immediately. At first, as he himself testified, the emperor entrusted him with some "private matters." Already in 1807, Speransky was invited several times to dinner at the court, in the autumn of this year he accompanied Alexander to Vitebsk for a military review, and a year later - to Erfurt to meet with Napoleon. It was already a sign of high confidence. Subsequently, in a letter to Alexander Speransky recalled:

“At the end of 1808, after various private affairs, Your Majesty began to occupy me more constantly with subjects of higher administration, to acquaint me more closely with the way of your thoughts ... and often deigning to spend whole evenings with me reading various works related to this. Out of all these exercises, out of perhaps a hundred times your Majesty's conversations and reasoning, it was finally necessary to make up one whole. From this came the plan for universal public education.

Cit. on: Korf M. A. Life of Count Speransky. SPb., 1861. T. 1. Part 2. S. 191.

Thus, the reform plan compiled by Speransky in the form of an extensive document called "Introduction to the Code of State Laws" was, as it were, a statement of the thoughts, ideas and intentions of the sovereign himself. As S. V. Mironenko, a modern researcher of this problem, rightly notes, “on his own, without the sanction of the tsar and his approval, Speransky would never have dared to propose measures that were extremely radical in the conditions of Russia at that time” (Mironenko S. V. Autocracy and Reforms: Political Struggle in Russia at the Beginning of the 19th Century. M., 1989. S. 29). What were these measures?

First of all, Speransky insisted on the identity of the historical destinies of Russia and Europe, the processes that took place in them; since the establishment of autocracy in Russia under Ivan the Terrible, "the tension of the public mind towards political freedom has always, more or less, been noticeable." The first attempts to change the political system took place during the accession to the throne of Anna Ioannovna (“the trick of the leaders”, see Chapter 3) and in the reign of Catherine II, when she convened the Legislative Commission. But “the crowd of these legislators did not understand either the goal or the measure of their destiny, but there was hardly one person between them, one mind that could rise to the height of this title”, and as a result, only “letters to the nobility and cities remained the only monuments of the great her intentions." Why did this happen? Yes, because "undertakings under Empress Anna and Catherine II, obviously, were premature." Now it's time for a major change. This is evidenced by the state of society, in which respect for ranks and titles has disappeared, the authority of power has been undermined, and “all measures of the government that require not physical, but moral obedience cannot have effect,” and “the spirit of the people suffers in anxiety.” The reason for these phenomena is not in the deterioration of the situation of the people, for "all things have remained almost the same as before", but in the fact that "an expression of satiety and boredom from the present order of things" reigns. What to do? There are two ways out.

The first is to “cloth the autocratic government with all ... external forms of the law, leaving the same force in its essence”, and then “all the regulations should be considered in such a way that they seem to be active in the opinion of the people, but would never act in fact". This path leads to "autocracy", that is, to despotism, which is doomed to perish.

Another way is to "establish sovereign power on the law, not in words, but in deeds." To do this, it is necessary to implement a genuine separation of powers, creating independent legislative, judicial and executive powers. Legislative power is exercised through a system of elected bodies - dumas, starting with the volost and up to the State Duma, without the consent of which the autocrat should not have the right to legislate, except when it comes to saving the fatherland. The State Duma exercises control over the executive power - the government, whose ministers are responsible to it for their actions. The absence of such responsibility is the main shortcoming of the ministerial reform of 1802. The emperor retains the right to dissolve the Duma and call new elections. Members of provincial dumas elect the highest judicial body of the country - the Senate. The pinnacle of the state system is the State Council, where "all the actions of the legislative, judicial and executive parts in their main relations are combined and through it ascend to the sovereign power and pour out from it." The members of the Council of State are appointed by the sovereign, who himself presides over it. The Council includes ministers and other senior officials.

Speransky did not bypass the issue of civil rights either. He believed that the entire population of the country, including serfs, should be endowed with them. Among such rights, he attributed the impossibility of punishing someone without a court decision. However, political rights, that is, the right to participate in elections, were supposed to be endowed only with the first two estates of the state - the nobility and the merchant class. The right to be elected to representative bodies was limited by a property qualification.

Already from this it is clear that Speransky's project did not involve the abolition of serfdom. No matter how the author himself felt about it, he could not help but understand that, according to the remark of the historian S. B. Okun, “the preservation of serfdom was at that moment the starting point of any project designed not for an afternoon reading of the monarch, but for the practical implementation » (Okun S. B. Decree. op. S. 192). Speransky believed that it was impossible to abolish serfdom by a single legislative act, but conditions should be created under which it would be beneficial for the landlords themselves to let the peasants go free.

Speransky's proposals also contained a plan for the phased implementation of reforms. The first step was the establishment at the beginning of 1810 of the Council of State, which was to be entrusted with the discussion of the previously drawn up "Civil Code", that is, laws on the fundamental rights of the estates, as well as the financial system of the state. After discussing the "Civil Code", the Council would begin to study the laws on the executive and judiciary. All these documents in the aggregate were supposed to draw up by May 1810 the "State Code", that is, the actual constitution, after which it would be possible to proceed with the election of deputies. Thus, Speransky concluded: “If God blesses all these undertakings, then by 1811, by the end of the decade of this reign, Russia will take on a new existence and will be completely transformed in all parts” (Speransky M.M. Projects and notes. M.; L., 1961. S. 144-237).

The implementation of Speransky's plan was to turn Russia into a constitutional monarchy, where the sovereign's power would be limited by a bicameral legislature of a parliamentary type. Some historians even consider it possible to talk about the transition to a bourgeois monarchy, however, since the project retained the class organization of society, and even more so serfdom, this is not true.

The implementation of Speransky's plan began already in 1809. In April and October, decrees appeared, according to which, firstly, the practice of equating court ranks with civil ones, which allowed dignitaries to move from court service to higher positions in the state apparatus, ceased, and secondly , introduced a mandatory educational qualification for civil ranks. This was supposed to streamline the activities of the state apparatus, make it more professional.

In accordance with the plan already in the first months of 1810, a discussion of the problem of regulating state finances took place. Speransky drew up a "Finance Plan", which formed the basis of the tsar's manifesto on February 2. The main purpose of the document was to eliminate the budget deficit, stop issuing depreciated banknotes and increase taxes, including on noble estates. These measures gave a result, and already next year the budget deficit was reduced, and state revenues increased.

At the same time, during 1810, the State Council discussed the draft Code of Civil Laws prepared by Speransky and even approved the first two parts of it. However, the implementation of the next stages of the reform was delayed. Only in the summer of 1810 did the transformation of the ministries begin, which was completed by June 1811: the Ministry of Commerce was liquidated, the ministries of police and communications were created, as well as a number of new Main Directorates.

At the beginning of 1811, Speransky presented a new draft of the reorganization of the Senate. The essence of this project was significantly different from what was originally planned. This time Speransky suggested dividing the Senate into two - government and judicial, that is, to separate its administrative and judicial functions. It was assumed that the members of the Judicial Senate were to be partly appointed by the sovereign, and partly elected from the nobility. But even this very moderate project was rejected by the majority of the members of the State Council, and although the tsar approved it anyway, it was never implemented. as for the creation of the State Duma, then, as it seems, in 1810-1811. and there was no speech. Thus, almost from the very beginning of the reforms, a deviation from their original plan was discovered, and it was not by chance that in February 1811 Speransky turned to Alexander I with a request for his resignation.

What are the reasons for the new failure of reforms? Why, as S. V. Mironenko writes, “the supreme power was not able to carry out fundamental reforms that were clearly overdue and the need for which was quite obvious to the most far-sighted politicians”? (Mironenko S. V. Decree. op. S. 32).

The reasons are essentially the same as in the previous stage. The very rise of Speransky, his transformation - an upstart, a "priest" - into the first minister aroused envy and anger in court circles. In 1809, after the decrees regulating the civil service, hatred for Speransky intensified even more and, by his own admission, he became the object of ridicule, caricatures and vicious attacks: after all, the decrees prepared by him encroached on the long-established and very convenient order for the nobility and bureaucracy . When the State Council was created, general discontent reached its climax. In a letter to the emperor, Speransky wrote:

“... Too often and on almost all paths I meet with passions, and pride, and envy, and even more so with unreason.<...>A crowd of nobles, with all their retinue, with their wives and children, me, imprisoned in my study, alone, without any connections, me, neither by my kind, nor by property not belonging to their estate, are persecuted by whole clans as a dangerous innovator. I know that most of them do not themselves believe these absurdities; but, hiding their own passions under the guise of public good, they try to decorate their personal enmity with the name of state enmity; I know that the same people extolled me and my rules to the skies when they assumed that I would agree with them in everything ... "

Cit. on: Tomsinov V. A. The Luminary of the Russian Bureaucracy: A Historical Portrait of M. M. Speransky. M., 1991. S.168-169.

And here is another testimony - a contemporary of Speransky D.P. Runich:

“The most short-sighted person understood that new orders would soon come, which would turn the entire existing system upside down. This has already been discussed openly, without yet knowing what the menacing danger is. Wealthy landowners who had serfs lost their heads at the thought that the constitution would abolish serfdom and that the nobility would have to give way to the plebeians. The dissatisfaction of the upper class was all-encompassing.”

Cit. on: Mironenko S.V. Decree. op. S. 36.

Runich's statement clearly shows to what extent the nobility was afraid of any changes, rightly suspecting that in the end these changes could lead to the elimination of serfdom. Even the phased nature of the reforms and the fact that they did not in fact encroach on the main privilege of the nobility, and indeed their details were kept secret, did not save the situation. The result was general discontent;

in other words, as in 1801-1803, Alexander I faced the danger of a noble rebellion. The matter was complicated by foreign policy circumstances - a new war with Napoleon was approaching.

It is possible that the desperate resistance of the elite of the nobility, intrigues and denunciations against Speransky (he was accused of Freemasonry, of revolutionary convictions, that he was a French spy, reported all careless statements addressed to the sovereign) in the end, however, would not have had an effect on the emperor if in the spring of 1811 the camp of opponents of the reforms had not suddenly received ideological and theoretical reinforcement from a completely unexpected quarter. In March of this year, Alexander visited Tver, where his sister Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna lived. Here, in Tver, around the Grand Duchess, an intelligent and educated woman, there was a circle of people dissatisfied with the liberalism of Alexander and, in particular, the activities of Speransky. Among the visitors to the salon of Ekaterina Pavlovna was N. M. Karamzin, a remarkable Russian historian, who read here the first volumes of his History of the Russian State. The Grand Duchess introduced Karamzin to the sovereign, and the writer handed him the “Note on Ancient and New Russia” - a kind of manifesto of the opponents of change, a generalized expression of the views of the conservative direction of Russian social thought.

According to Karamzin, autocracy is the only possible form of political structure for Russia. To the question whether it is possible to limit autocracy in Russia in any way without weakening the saving royal power, he answered in the negative. Any changes, "any news in the state order is an evil, which should be resorted to only when necessary." However, Karamzin admitted, “so much new has been done that even the old would now seem to us dangerous news: we have already lost the habit of it, and it’s harmful for the glory of the sovereign to solemnly admit ten years of delusions produced by the vanity of his very shallow advisers ... we must look for means most suitable for the present. The author saw salvation in the traditions and customs of Russia and its people, who do not need to take an example from Western Europe and, above all, France. One of these traditional features of Russia is serfdom, which arose as a result of "natural law". Karamzin asked:

“And will the farmers be happy, freed from the power of the master, but betrayed as a sacrifice to their own vices, tax-farmers and unscrupulous judges? There is no doubt that the peasants of a prudent landowner, who is content with a moderate quitrent or a tithe of arable land for tax, are happier than state-owned ones, having in him a vigilant trustee and supporter.

Cit. on: Karamzin N. M. A note about ancient and new Russia. M., 1991. S. 73.

As we can see, Karamzin's Note contained nothing fundamentally new: many of his arguments and principles were already known in the previous century. Repeatedly heard them, apparently, and the sovereign. However, this time these views were concentrated in one document, written vividly, vividly, convincingly, on the basis of historical facts and (which, perhaps, was the most important thing for the emperor) by a person not close to the court, not invested with power that he would afraid to lose. To what extent all this actually affected Alexander is unknown. He bade farewell to Karamzin coldly and did not even take the text of the Note with him. True, when he returned to St. Petersburg, in a conversation with the French ambassador, he mentioned that he met very reasonable people in Tver, but such an assessment did not yet mean agreement. Another thing was more important: Alexander, of course, understood that the rejection of his policy embraced broad sections of society and Karamzin's voice was the voice of public opinion.

The denouement came in March 1812, when Alexander I announced to Speransky the termination of his official duties, and he was exiled to Nizhny Novgorod. Apparently, by this time the pressure on the emperor had intensified, and the denunciations he received about Speransky had acquired such a character that it was simply impossible to continue to ignore them. Alexander was forced to appoint an official investigation into the activities of his closest collaborator, and he probably would have done just that if he had believed the slander a little. At the same time, Speransky's self-confidence, his careless statements, which immediately became known to the emperor, his desire to independently resolve all issues, pushing the sovereign into the background - all this overflowed the cup of patience and caused Speransky's resignation and exile.

Thus ended another stage of the reign of Alexander I, and with it one of the most significant attempts in Russian history to carry out a radical state reform. A few months after these events, the Patriotic War with Napoleon began, ending with the expulsion of the French from Russia, followed by foreign campaigns of the Russian army. Several years passed before the problems of domestic politics again attracted the attention of the emperor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Reader on the history of state and law. Ed. Chernilovsky Z.M. M., 1994.

2. Karamzin N. M. Note on ancient and new Russia. M., 1991.

3. Tomsinov V. A. Luminary of the Russian bureaucracy: Historical portrait of M. M. Speransky. M., 1991.

4. Russian legislation of the X-XX centuries. M., 1988 T. 6.

5. Likhotkin G. A. Sylvain Marechal and "The Testament of Catherine I I". L., 1974.

However, it is difficult to imagine that Alexander, a man not stupid and not devoid of a moral sense, could not see the low and dark features of the Arakcheev nature. After all, once at the watch parade, when Pavel forced Arakcheev to resign, the Tsarevich, asking Major General P. A. Tuchkov about this news, called his future favorite a “bastard”. And yet, this "bastard" was necessary for Alexander. So, it must be, they love watchdogs, jealously guarding the master's property. And, however, Alexander was not a blind zealot of the Pavlovian and Arakcheev orders. In 1797, he secretly sent a letter to La Harpe, in which, among other things, he wrote: “The welfare of states plays no role in the management of affairs. There is only unlimited power, which creates everything topsy-turvy. It is impossible to convey all these recklessness that was committed here. Add to this severity, devoid of the slightest justice, a considerable amount of partiality and complete inexperience in business. The choice of performers is based on favoritism; merit has nothing to do with it, in a word, my unfortunate fatherland is in a position beyond description. The farmer is offended, trade is constrained, freedom and personal well-being are destroyed. Here is a picture of modern Russia, and judge by it how much my heart must suffer. I myself, obliged to obey all the little things of military service, lose all my time to fulfill the duties of a non-commissioned officer, having absolutely no opportunity to devote myself to my scientific studies, which were my favorite pastime ... I have now become the most unhappy person.

VI

And finally, Alexander himself took power in his hands. Now he himself could autocratically control the fate of a multi-million people. Once, in one of his rescripts, Paul announced that in the French Republic “perverse rules and violent inflammation of the mind” trampled on the law of morality ... Alexander was sure that he would not have to write such gloomy rescripts. His friend P. A. Stroganov told how the French people had fun when the Bastille fell. True, the same Gilbert Romm, who taught Stroganov the cheerful Jacobin philosophy, subsequently stabbed himself with a dagger, because he himself was threatened by the guillotine, but such episodes further shade the sound ideology of real republicans. Alexander and his closest friends, who were certainly called to St. Petersburg, were "republicans". In May 1801, Stroganov invited the young tsar to form a secret committee and discuss plans for state reform in it. Alexander readily agreed, and friends, jokingly, called their secret committee the Committee of Public Safety. In the meantime, liberal decrees were hastily published.

Already on March 17, when the mutilated body of Paul, covered with purple, lay in the throne room of the Mikhailovsky Castle and the curious could see the soles of the emperor’s over the knee boots and the brim of a wide hat pulled over the face of the strangled man, a number of decrees were issued that greatly facilitated philistine life. The Secret Expedition has been destroyed. Our St. Petersburg Bastille - the Peter and Paul Fortress - was empty: many prisoners in it were released. Those who were in exile began to gather in the capital, which had recently been inaccessible to them. Returned to St. Petersburg from the village and Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev. The number of persons who received again the rights they had lost under Paul was, I think, twelve thousand people. On March 15, a manifesto was published with an amnesty for emigrants. A special decree was issued to the chief police chief, where it was proposed to the police "not to cause any harm to anyone." The import of books from abroad was allowed, which was prohibited by the late emperor. Private printing houses, sealed under Paul, began to work again. The charter granted to the nobility was restored, as well as the city position. In April, the gallows were destroyed, which stood in the squares with the names of the guilty nailed to them. They changed the military uniform, and although the new uniforms with excessively high and hard collars were also very uncomfortable, everyone admired them only because the hated uniforms of the Prussian model were destroyed.

More serious reforms had to be considered and discussed thoroughly. The main thing was to get acquainted with the state of affairs in the country. The young emperor had very vague ideas about certain things of paramount importance. The peasant question, for example, seemed to him easily resolved until he became a crowned bearer. Now everything that seemed simple suddenly became difficult and complex. In addition, there was something the Emperor did not know at all. In May, an order was made on his behalf - not to print advertisements in the official journals about the sale of peasants without land by landlords. Whether the emperor forgot this order, or he somehow passed unnoticed by him, only later it turned out that Alexander did not know at all that the nobles had such a right to sell people like cattle, separating wives, husbands and children. While abroad, the tsar indignantly denied that such a right existed in Russia. However, having been convinced from one accidental complaint that Russian slavery was indeed slavery, and not a rural idyll, the tsar raised this issue in the State Council, astonishing the honorable members of the highest government institution with his ingenuous ignorance of our then order. The student of La Harpe had to learn something late that he should have thought about earlier.

The secret committee consisted of Count V.P. Kochubey, P.A. Stroganov, N.N. Novosiltsev and Prince Adam Chartorizhsky. Alexander was the youngest. Freethinkers and Republicans, as soon as they had to get involved in real politics, suddenly became very cautious and slow. It was decided that Nilo first study Russia, and then proceed to reforms. Something, however, had to be done immediately. The idea of ​​La Harpe that the law should be higher than the monarch was well understood by Alexander. Therefore, in the summer, a decree was issued on the establishment of a special commission for drawing up injections. In one of the private letters of that time, Alexander wrote: “As soon as I allow myself to break the laws, who then will consider it a duty to observe them? To be higher than them, if I could, then, of course, I would not want to, because I do not recognize a just power on earth that would not flow from the law ... ”All these well-intentioned words did not quite, however, fit in with the practice of the young sovereign. Julitta is going, someday he will, but for now he had to decide everything himself, because there were no immutable laws yet, and from all sides people are rushing, achieving something, offering their services, but you can’t trust anyone, because these are all the same people, what he, Alexander, did not want to have even as lackeys.

The military lose almost all their time exclusively in parades. In everything else, there is absolutely no strictly defined plan. Today they are ordering what will be canceled in a month... The well-being of the state does not play any role in the management of affairs: there is only unlimited power that does everything topsy-turvy. It is impossible to enumerate all the recklessness that was committed here ... My unfortunate fatherland is in a position that defies description. The farmer is offended, trade is constrained, freedom and personal well-being are destroyed. Here is a picture of modern Russia, and judge by it how much my heart must suffer ... ".

Alexander's wife Elizaveta wrote to her mother that Paul I ordered the flogging of the officer responsible for supplying the royal kitchen, because the porridge seemed bad to him; he was beaten in front of their eyes with a rather thick stick chosen by the king himself. It hurt, it hurt terribly to see so much injustice and rudeness every day, she complained.

Count Steding wrote to Stockholm: "The fear of the people was added to the anxiety of the nobility ..." And Prince Adam Czartoryski, who spent many years next to Paul and his family, shows us his extremely changeable character: "... the emperor for the rest of the day became pleased or irritated, condescending or strict and even terrible.

The remarkable historian Boris Muravyov wrote: “Every day, Pavel was present at the parade of the horse guards. And if any officer made a mistake, the tsar whipped him with his cane, degraded him, exiled him to Siberia, or immediately and forever forced him to put on the uniform of a simple soldier!. For a slip they were punished with a whip, a prison, and they even pulled out their nostrils, cut off their tongue or ears, and subjected them to other tortures ... ".

At last Paul held the much-desired scepter in his hands and had the absolute, limitless power to settle scores with all who despised or shunned him! Finally, the hour of revenge has struck! .. He exiled his opponents and the last favorite of Catherine II; he summoned the people of his late father to the capital. From all over the Empire, as on the day of the Resurrection, the elders who died 35 years ago a civil death, alien to the mores of the court, showed up, all manners of which consisted in an impudent gait and look ...

The tsar dismissed 7 marshals and more than 300 senior officers for petty offenses or simply because he did not like them. Hundreds of civilians thought to be "Jacobins" were persecuted. Pavel reduced the number of "governorships", restored the "colleges". He again declared the nobles subject to corporal punishment, from which Catherine II delivered them in 1785; he reduced corvee and dues, thereby limiting their rights to serfs. Were these decisions prompted by a sense of justice or a display of generosity towards the peasants? Not! Exclusively by the hatred he had for the nobility. Even after returning Radishchev and his ilk from exile, he nevertheless sent hundreds of unfortunates to Siberia and reduced half a million Ukrainian tillers to the status of serfs, some of whom he distributed to his supporters. In the newspapers of that time one could read: "... courtyard people are for sale: a girl of 18 years old, who knows how to sew flowers and mend linen, from peasants; a man of 40 years old, a woman of 35 years old, a son of 14 and a girl of 16 years old; they are all of good behavior ; a gray parrot who speaks pure Russian and sings songs, and a bay trotter ... The footman and his wife are immediately given into the service, the footman is a tailor, and the wife is a good washerwoman and sews flowers in the vestibule and weaves blonds; both are of good behavior ..".

Paul I withdrew from circulation the famous "Instruction" of the late empress, which she was inspired by the works of Montesquieu and Beccaria. Everything that his mother created during the 34 years of her reign was consigned to oblivion. One faster than the other followed more than 500 contradictory and mostly unenforceable laws of the new king. He, who considered himself the vicar of God on earth, behaved like a tyrant. Under the blows of his club, Russia became hell.

Passionately carried away, like his father, by the army, Paul I especially followed what is called "drill" (drilling), and the uniforms of his soldiers. In less than 5 years, he changed the uniforms of the Horse Guards nine times! Old Marshal Suvorov did not care about the new uniforms, cocked hats, wigs, pigtails in the Prussian style, which the soldiers were required to wear. "Powder is not gunpowder, a buckle is not a cannon, a scythe is not a cleaver, and I am not a German, but a natural hare," he said. For expressing dissatisfaction, he was exiled to his village.

The new despot, who, along with everyone else, beat off a step at public ceremonies, extended his "care" to civilians: he forced them to cut their hair, lengthen too short a dress, banned vests that reminded him of the hated French Revolution. Everyone - men and women - had to immediately get out of their carriages when they had the unprecedented honor of meeting His Royal Majesty, and greet Him in a deep bow, standing even in the mud, even in a puddle, even in the snow. And woe to the disobedient or absent-minded - the police grabbed them and severely punished them. Soon the streets of the capital began to empty at the hour of the royal walk. But the soldiers began to distribute bread, meat, vodka, money more often. Punishments, floggings, arrests, and even exile hit mainly the officers; for this, a dull button was enough, the leg raised out of tune when marching!

Like a real theater director, Paul I led numerous rehearsals for official ceremonies. At the same time, in order to save money, he canceled balls and ordered the replacement of chandeliers in palaces with candles. In order for the order to be absolutely impeccable, he resorted to the secular talents and experience of his servant-barber, raising him to the dignity of a count and appointing him a personal adviser, and then a chief master of the horse! During rare receptions at court, the despot showed his tongue to someone he did not like, sent a marshal, officer or footman to deliver an insulting curse to him. Once he "kindly" informed the Minister of Bavaria that he was a "brute"! Punishments rained down. Those who dared to defend themselves faced resignation, exile, exile to Siberia...

The number of exiles increased with frightening speed, everywhere - at court, in cities, in the army, in the most remote corners of the Empire - fear reigned. No one knew what awaited him tomorrow. Siberia was inhabited by extraordinary people. Fyodor Golovkin wrote that Pavel exiled not those who were most guilty - no one even thought of becoming disobedient - but the calmest, least servile. A few years later, not a single person, not a single family would be found in St. Petersburg in the state in which Catherine left them when she died.

Did the foreign policy of Paul I differ in the same features as the domestic one?.. He stopped the war against Persia, which he received as a "legacy" from Catherine II. He informed the foreign courts about Russia's commitment to peace, and offered to restore the thrones overturned by the French Revolution. Foreign books and clothes were forbidden to them, and the border was closed. In December 1798 he created a "second coalition" with England, Austria and Turkey. He published in the newspapers a challenge to other sovereigns: let him who refuses to enter into an alliance with Russia come to settle the dispute in a joust! He sent the Black Sea squadron of Admiral Ushakov to the Aegean Sea, which occupied the Ionian Islands, landed troops in southern Italy and captured Rome, occupied by the French, in 1799. Suvorov, eager to measure his strength with Bonaparte, was returned from exile. At the head of the Russian and Austrian troops, he occupied Turin and Milan, defeated the French generals Moreau, Joubert and MacDonald. He then crossed the Alps at St. Gotthard, but the defeat of the armies of Korsakov and the Prince de Conde forced him to retreat and take up winter quarters in Bavaria.

Meanwhile, disputes arose between Russia and Austria. In addition, the British refused to transfer the island of Malta to Russia, which caused the fury of Paul I, who by that time had accepted the title of Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. And then, abruptly changing course, the tsar withdrew his armies and concluded the “Act of Armed Neutrality” with Sweden, Prussia and Denmark (January 1801) in order to block the British from entering the Baltic Sea and preserve the inviolability of ships flying a neutral flag. He expelled Louis XVIII and his small court from Mitava (Jelgava), the then capital of Russian Courland, and canceled the payment of a pension of 200 thousand rubles assigned to him. His wild hatred of Bonaparte turned into passionate adoration; complete contempt gave way to ardent admiration! .. Deftly taking advantage of this, Bonaparte, without demanding payment of expenses and without setting any conditions, sent the Russian officers and soldiers held in French captivity to their homeland.

Reign of Paul

Observing the activities of his father, Alexander soon identifies two lines in the policy of the new emperor: to eradicate what was created by his mother, the very memory of which he hates, and to remake Russia according to the model of Gatchina. The strict order introduced in his personal residence near St. Petersburg, Pavel wants to plant throughout the Russian Empire. Alexander, although a liberal, is not opposed to some discipline: the nation will only benefit if all his compatriots wear a uniform. With enthusiasm, he accompanies his father to Moscow for the coronation, scheduled for April 5, 1797. During this journey, Alexander discovers the real Russia: when they pass through cities and villages, they are met by peasants, not courtiers.

In Moscow, the streets are still covered with snow. A piercing wind hits the cortege as it slowly enters the city. Higher ranks and dignitaries curse the hardships of service. Despite the frost, the people poured into the streets and welcomed the new sovereign. In front of the procession, riders gallop with shouts, ordering them to bare their heads and remove gloves and mittens. At the approach of the emperor, all fall on their faces. Pavel returns the greetings with his hat in his hand. When Alexander appears, a reverent whisper is heard from the crowd. Alexander rides, looks around the people and eagerly listens to the music of praise. He knows that he is handsome, he understands that he excites general admiration and love. He is flattered by popularity. After all, the sympathy of the masses comes from the type of wine that easily hits the head. Once you tasted such a drink, how can you do without it?

On the days of the coronation celebrations, Paul announces a new law on succession to the throne, establishing inheritance through the male line by birthright. This act strengthens the position of the Grand Duke-Heir. Precisely in order to kindle his thirst for power, the king showers him with honors. He appoints him commander of the famous Semyonovsky regiment, cavalry inspector, military governor of St. Petersburg, and chairman of the military department. Soon Alexander will also sit in the Senate. The young man, satisfied with the honors he receives, little by little forgets his dream of withdrawing from the world and settling with his wife in some secluded corner of Switzerland or Germany. Some innovations of the emperor cause his approval. It seems to him that the dawn of justice has dawned: his father is reorganizing the Senate, creating reserves of provisions in case of lean years, providing subsidies to entrepreneurs, prohibiting the import of luxury goods, founding a Higher Medical School, issuing a decree according to which the peasants are not the property of the landowners, but "attached to the land serfs", which, however, does not in the least shake the very principle of serfdom, limits corvée to three days a week, forbids landowners to force peasants to work on Sundays, lowers the price of salt, and, finally, orders a mailbox to be nailed to the door of the palace, where each subject may omit petition or complaint. The king keeps the key to the box. He expects to draw a lot of information about what is happening in the country from this intimate correspondence with his empire. But not even a year passes, when he is disappointed, and he orders to remove the box: too many offensive libels, satirical pamphlets and cartoons were thrown into it every day. Let Russia open its mouth, and instead of thanking you, it will spit on you. This nation cannot be consulted - it must be dictated to its will.

The honeymoon with the empire dragged on a little, and irritation accumulates in Pavel from the inability to please everyone, to satisfy both the nobles and the peasants. His confused mind is shattered. The subjects appear to him as puppets, which he can control as he pleases. Overly suspicious, he senses a treacherous spirit even in fashionable clothes and, by decree of January 13, 1797, forbids the wearing of round hats, long trousers, shoes with bows and boots with lapels. Two hundred dragoons, divided into pickets, rush through the streets of St. Petersburg, raid passers-by whose costume does not comply with the order of the emperor, rip off hats, cut waistcoats, and confiscate shoes. The offenders, and almost all of them belong to high society, return home in tattered clothes, change clothes and walk around the city transformed: in kaftans with a stiff collar, short trousers, shoes with buckles and cocked hats on powdered hair. Officials are ordered to appear everywhere only in uniform.

Having established supervision over the cut of the dress of his subjects, Paul naturally wants to control their reading as well. By decree of February 16, 1797, he introduces secular and ecclesiastical censorship in St. Petersburg and Moscow and orders private printing houses to be sealed. Banishes the waltz as a French and, therefore, Jacobin dance. Deletes the words "citizen", "club", "society" from the dictionaries. At nine o'clock in the evening, after the evening dawn, it closes the main streets of the capital for pedestrians and allows outposts to open only for doctors and midwives.

The specter of revolution relentlessly haunts Paul, Freemasons and Martinists seem to him everywhere, although, being the Grand Duke, he himself spoke approvingly of their humane goals. Some nobles and high-ranking courtiers, to whom he was friendly, suddenly fall out of favor. However, any independent thought that has arisen in one of his close associates irritates Paul, as if it is an encroachment on his genius.

Overwhelmed by a thirst for activity, wanting to delve into everything and do everything himself, he sets to work at six o'clock in the morning and forces all government officials to comply with this routine. It is still dark in the predawn fog of St. Petersburg officials of all ranks, clutching briefcases under their arms, hurrying to their offices and colleges, where chandeliers and kenkets are already lit. At the end of the morning, Pavel, dressed in a dark green uniform and boots, goes, accompanied by his sons and adjutants, to the parade ground. A garnet-colored velvet dalmatic dalmatic embroidered with pearls is thrown over the uniform, so that His Majesty does not get lost in the crowd of generals. His balding head is uncovered, his brows furrowed; he holds one hand behind his back, the other raises and lowers his cane, beating time. In the most severe frost, he does not wear a fur hat - this is a matter of honor for him. “Soon,” says Masson, “not a single military man dared to appear in a fur coat, and the old generals, tormented by coughs, gout and rheumatism, were dressed in the same way as he was in the presence of their master.” Pavel, as the commander-in-chief of the army, makes promotions and appointments at his own discretion, he himself dismisses officers on leave and himself gives them permission to marry. He drives out honored, but not pleasing generals, and replaces them with obscure and uneducated, but ready to fulfill the most ridiculous whim people. Demotion is made publicly, before the ranks. Somehow, angry at the regiment, which failed to clearly fulfill its command, Pavel orders him to march straight from the parade to Siberia. The punished regiment, together with the officers, marches into exile, and the tsar's close associates beg him to have mercy. Finally, he reluctantly gives in to persuasion and sends an order to return in pursuit. The soldiers, already far removed from the capital, obediently obey the order, turn around and march back to Petersburg.

One of Paul's first measures was to re-equip the entire army into the Prussian military uniform introduced in Gatchina. Before each exercise, barbers work diligently on the hairstyles of officers and soldiers, lubricating the hair with a mixture of flour and lard to make it easier to braid. Everyone knows: for the slightest omission in the service, imprisonment or exile threatens. The fate of people in the literal sense of the word hangs by a thread or a belt buckle, and officers, going to the review, say goodbye to their loved ones and stock up on money.

In the hearts of young guardsmen from noble families, hatred for the Gatchina "scoundrels", rootless and cruel people, from whom, according to Paul's will, they should take an example, seethes. They regretfully recall the beautiful uniforms with magnificent epaulettes that they wore under Catherine, the smart scarves and sword belts, and are ashamed to look like "Prussian monkeys." By a new circular dated November 29, 1796, the accuracy of construction, the alignment of intervals and the goose step were elevated to the main principles of military affairs. From mouth to mouth, from the salons to the barracks, fearsome replicas of the emperor are transmitted. He likes to repeat: "A nobleman in Russia is only the one with whom I speak and while I speak with him." To Prince Repnin, who had decided to give him some advice, he shouted: “Mr. Field Marshal, do you see this guardhouse? There are four hundred people here. One word from me and they will all become marshals.” And his sons, Alexander and Konstantin, he teaches: "Haven't you convinced yourself, my children, that people should be treated like dogs." In fact, Paul unreasonably punishes and unreasonably pardons out of the mere pleasure of being convinced again and again of his omnipotence.

Alexandra, like the others, is affected by the emperor's sudden mood swings. Despite all his honorary titles, he is under his father's shoe. Contrary to appearances, he does not have any power and cannot make a single independent decision. Nothing depends on him, all his time is strictly regulated. For any reason, his father calls him to the office, Alexander reports in detail about the changing of the guard and in one case out of two he is scolded for a malfunction. He, the twenty-year-old heir to the throne, trembles with fear of the formidable ruler, like a feeble-minded child who constantly feels guilty, not understanding how to act in order to please his teacher. Once, having irritated his father with some petty omission, he asks his mother, Maria Fedorovna, to sketch a letter of apology in French, which he will then rewrite: “The reproach that you made me, dear father, struck me in the very heart. During my upbringing, I was instilled with a deep sense of ... respect, tenderness and obedience to the one who gave me life. As long as I live, I will keep in my heart this creed, which I am ready to sign with my blood.”

Maria Fedorovna rarely manages to protect her sons from her husband's wrath. It is quite natural that Alexander is looking for a more powerful ally and chooses Arakcheev, the "Corporal of Gatchina". This lightning rod, Alexander calculates, will deflect the lightning bolts of imperial wrath from him. Indeed, Pavel appreciates Arakcheev very much. Promoted first to colonel, then to major general of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Arakcheev receives the title of baron, the ribbon of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Gruzino estate with two thousand peasants as a gift and ends his career as commander of the Order of Malta and count. Alexander, in order to protect himself from his father's chicanery in advance, makes this exemplary servant, who enjoys the unlimited confidence of the king, sign all his orders. Arakcheev's cruelty towards his subordinates does not disturb the conscience of the heir to the throne, who is completely absorbed in how to protect his peace. He knows that Arakcheev beats the soldiers, twists their noses, pulls out their mustaches, that he beats officers in the face, that he drove Suvorov's associate to suicide. Despite all this, Alexander opens his heart to him, asks him for advice and feels lost when this beast is not next to him. Separated from Arakcheev, he writes him short notes full of humility and love: “I received an abyss of cases, of which I send you those for which I don’t know what decisions to make, considering it’s better to ask for good advice than to do nonsense” ... “ Forgive me, my friend, that I disturb you, but I am young, and I need much more advice, and so I hope that you will not leave me with them ... "Take care of yourself, if not for yourself, then at least for me . I am very pleased to see your affection for me. I think that you do not doubt mine and know how much I love you sincerely.

So the meek student of La Harpe effortlessly adapts himself to this monster in uniform for the benefit that he derives from his friendship with him. True, he rewards himself by associating with friends of a different kind, young intellectuals inspired by the ideas of progress. At the center of this community is Prince Adam Czartoryski. The whole court admires the beauty, elegance, European education of the twenty-seven-year-old Polish magnate, a native of the regions annexed to Russia after the partition of Poland. Czartoryski is worried about the fate of the humiliated homeland, and he has the courage not to hide his freedom-loving convictions. Alexander renews a trusting friendship with Viktor Kochubey, who returned to St. Petersburg, with whom he exchanged letters when he was his ambassador in Constantinople. Kochubey is eager to put things in order and give fair laws to society. Nikolai Novosiltsev in this group is "almost a scientist." He has acquired a thorough knowledge of jurisprudence, political economy, and general history, and often prevails in discussions. The fourth member of the friendly circle is Pavel Stroganov. His father, the richest Russian Freemason, does not remember exactly how much land and serfs he has; owns the largest collection of paintings in Russia; having traveled all over Europe, he strikes up friendship with the most brilliant minds of his time; obeying his own whim, he entrusts the education of his son to the French teacher Gilbert Romm, a future member of the Convention, and allows him to take the young man to France. Teacher and student arrive in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. Pavel, or Popo, as his friends call him, infected with revolutionary ideas, renounces his title, takes the name "Citizen Paul Aucher", attends the Jacobin Club, joins the "Friends of the Law" society founded by Gilbert Romm, generously supplies French friends with Russian gold, becomes the lover of the "shameless Judith" - Theroigne de Mericourt - and walks the streets of Paris in a red Phrygian cap. Simolin, the Russian ambassador in Paris, having lost his head from Popo's antics, notifies Ekaterina. She orders Nikolai Novosiltsev to be immediately sent to France with an order to return the Popo to the bosom of the family by any means and, as punishment, exiles this brilliant Russian sans-culotte to his estate near Moscow. He spends several years there and, having come to his senses, again enters favor, shines in St. Petersburg drawing rooms and marries Princess Sofya Golitsyna. Meanwhile, his teacher Gilbert Romm votes for the execution of the king, submits to the Convention a project for an optical telegraph, invents a revolutionary calendar, demands that the ashes of Jean-Paul Marat be transferred to the Pantheon, fights against the Thermidorian reaction, and after the fall of the Jacobins ends his days by stabbing himself with a dagger. Pavel Stroganov, who safely emerged from the whirlpool of these tragic events, writes: “I saw a people raising the banner of freedom and throwing off the shackles of slavery; No, I will never forget those moments. Yes, I do not close my eyes to the fact that despotism exists in my country, and I look with horror at his ugly face ... All my blood and all my fortune belong to my fellow citizens. Pavel Stroganov never tires of repeating these generous words to his Russian friends. But soon the refined entertainments of the capital's secular life capture him. He marries the smartest and most educated woman in St. Petersburg and leads with her the life of an enlightened and idle nobleman. He does not know Russia at all, speaks Russian with difficulty, and regains his former revolutionary fervor only in the company of Alexander. Alexander wants to know the views of his liberal-minded friends on the possibility of change in Russia. Secretly, they draw up notes where they set out their projects in the most general form: the introduction of civil liberties, the equality of citizens before the law, a society based on the principles of justice and brotherhood, and pass them on to the heir to the throne. Warmly approving the noble views of his like-minded people, Alexander hides their notes in a drawer and never thinks about them again. His kingdom is a dream, not a reality. Czartoryski, offended by the disdain with which the project, which cost him such labor, was treated, writes: “I do not know the further fate of this paper. I think Alexander did not show it to anyone, but he never spoke about it to me again. He must have burned it."

Secret meetings, where Alexander confers with his too smart friends, displease the king. He smells, as it were, the smell of a democratic conspiracy emanating from them. All revolutions start with childish games. It is necessary to separate these talkers before they decide to move from words to deeds. However, the emperor is in no hurry to act, preferring to let the abscess ripen. Father and son live in an atmosphere of mutual distrust and hidden hatred. Worried Alexander on September 27, 1797 writes a long message to La Harpe - a real confession - and instructs Novosiltsev, who is leaving abroad, to convey a letter to his beloved teacher: “My father, upon accession to the throne, wanted to change everything decisively. His first steps were brilliant, but subsequent events did not match them. Everything is turned upside down at once, and therefore the disorder, which already dominated affairs to a too great extent, only increased even more. The military lose almost all their time exclusively in parades. In everything else, there is absolutely no strictly defined plan. Today they are ordering something that will be canceled in a month. No arguments are allowed, except when all the evil has happened. Finally, to say in one word - the welfare of the state does not play any role in the management of affairs: there is only unlimited power that does everything topsy-turvy. It is impossible to enumerate all the recklessness that was committed here ... My unfortunate fatherland is in a position that defies description. The farmer is offended, trade is constrained, freedom and personal well-being are destroyed. Here is a picture of modern Russia, and judge by it how much my heart must suffer. I myself, obliged to obey all the little things of military service, lose all my time in fulfilling the duties of a non-commissioned officer, having absolutely no opportunity to devote myself to my scientific studies, which are my favorite pastime: I have now become the most unhappy person.

Having described the chaos to which the extravagant rule of Paul brought the country, Alexander comes to the most delicate part of the letter. For the first time, he, always weighed down by the thought of power, admits that, perhaps, the day will come when he will have to rule Russia. His youthful dream of an obscure existence "in a hut on the banks of the Rhine" is replaced by a new one - the dream of the fate of the emperor, who devoted his life to serving the Fatherland, bringing goodness and enlightenment to his people. He is aware of the full weight of the responsibility that such a goal imposes, and evaluates his strength. He does not reject the monarchical principle, but intends to limit it with a constitution. It seems to him that the very word "constitution", brought to Russia from France, contains a magical power that strengthens the virtues of the monarch. With absolute sincerity, he continues: “You have long known my thoughts, tending to leave my homeland. At present, I do not foresee the slightest possibility of carrying them out, and then the unfortunate situation of my fatherland forces me to give my thoughts a different direction. I thought that if my turn to reign ever came, instead of voluntarily exiling myself, I would do incomparably better, devoting myself to the task of granting freedom to the country and thereby preventing it from becoming in the future the plaything in the hands of some madmen. This made me change my mind about many things, and it seems to me that this would be the best example of a revolution, since it would be produced by a legitimate authority, which would cease to exist as soon as the constitution was completed and the nation had elected its representatives. Here is my thought. I shared it with enlightened people, who, for their part, thought a lot about it. In total, there are only four of us, namely: Novosiltsev, Count Stroganov, the young prince Czartorysky - my adjutant, an outstanding young man, and me!

When my turn comes, then it will be necessary to endeavor, of course, gradually to form a representative body of the people, which, properly directed, would constitute a free constitution, after which my power would completely cease, and I, if Providence would bless our work, retired. to some corner and live there happy and contented, seeing the prosperity of his fatherland and enjoying it. These are my thoughts, my dear friend. How happy I would be if it were possible to have you next to me then!.. God only grant that we could ever achieve our goal - to grant freedom to Russia and protect it from the encroachments of despotism and tyranny.

Until this new political dawn dawns, Alexander, suppressing his revulsion, performs the many small tasks that his father entrusts him with. He spends the whole day outside the house, busy with the service, he returns exhausted, haggard and shows his wife neither the tenderness nor the attention that she so expects. She suffers from the indifference of her husband and gradually cools off towards him. Rare meetings alone leave only bitterness and disappointment in their souls. They are seen in snatches in the evenings, when, dressed in court toilets, they attend official receptions, dinners, balls, performances, and concerts. These duties imposed by etiquette burden Elizabeth all the more because she has to endure in public the treatment of her father-in-law, humiliating for her dignity. At first he treated her courteously, but now he insults her with harsh words, rude antics. “The day is going well if you have the honor of not seeing the emperor,” she writes to her mother. - I confess, mother, this man is widerw "artig to me. The very sound of his voice is unpleasant to me and his presence in society is even more unpleasant, when anyone, no matter who he is and no matter what he says, may not please His Majesty and run into a rude cry. I assure you, everyone except a few of his supporters hate him: they say that even the peasants begin to grumble. Abuses are twice as much as a year ago, and cruel massacres are carried out right in front of the emperor. Imagine, mother, one day he ordered to beat the officer in charge of the imperial kitchen, because he did not like the meat served for dinner, he ordered to choose the strongest cane and beat him right there, in front of him, he put an innocent man under arrest, and when my husband said that he was guilty the other, replied: “It doesn’t matter, they are together.” Oh, mother, how hard it is to look at the injustice and violence that are happening around, to see so many unfortunates (how many of them are already on his conscience?) and pretend that you respect and honor p the same person. If I behave like the most respectful daughter-in-law, then I harbor other feelings in my soul. However, it does not matter to him whether they love him, as long as they are afraid, he himself said so. And this will of his is completely fulfilled: he is feared and hated.

Elizabeth is outraged by the humiliation to which, by order of the emperor, the best officers, the bravest soldiers are subjected, and secretly she hopes that one day they will rebel. “There has never been a better opportunity,” she writes, “but here they are too accustomed to the yoke and will not try to throw it off. At the first firmly given order, they become quieter than water, lower than grass. Oh, if there were someone who would stand at the head of them!

By sketching these lines, does she mean her husband? Yes, without a doubt, although it is only matrimonial habit that binds her to him. Elizabeth’s feelings are looking for a way out, and at first she rushes into a childishly passionate friendship with the beautiful Countess Golovina, to whom she sends tender notes written in French: “I’m sad away from you ... I constantly think about you, my thoughts scatter, and I can get busy…” “I love you… Ah, if this continues, I'll go crazy. Thoughts of you fill my entire day until the minute I fall asleep. If I wake up at night, my thoughts again turn to you ... "" My God, the memory of those two moments thrills all my feelings! .. Ah, I hope you understand how dear to me is the day when I gave myself all to you " . Alexander is aware of this ambiguous intimacy between his wife and Countess Golovina and encourages her. Elizabeth confesses this to a young woman in a letter dated December 12, 1794: “I will love you no matter what happens. No one can forbid me to love you, and the one who has the right to do so ordered me to love you. You understand me, I hope." This half-love, half-friendship with a twenty-five-year-old woman cannot fill Elizabeth's feelings. By her own admission, she does not have an ardent temperament, but is too nervous. When her hair is combed, sparks fly out of it: “It’s better not to touch my hair,” she says, “it’s so electrified.” In the dark, when the chandeliers are extinguished, it seems that a luminous halo surrounds her head. Elizabeth yearns for male love, exciting, all-consuming, which she dreamed about in the first days of her marriage. I didn’t have to wait long - the comforter of the abandoned wife was found nearby. This is Alexander's best friend, the seductive prince Adam Czartoryski, with a mind as sharp as a blow of a sword and a velvet gaze. She succumbs to the charms of a Polish nobleman. Alexander is amused by this love affair and helps her characters bond. Since the courtship of Platon Zubov, he was convinced that he was not jealous of his wife: then she remained faithful to him, but this time, drunk with happiness and gratitude, she would not resist. Let it be so, Alexander turns a blind eye to everything. Does he really care about his wife's infidelity, or does he experience perverse pleasure in sharing Elizabeth with his favorite? He closely follows the development of their connection, which the whole court is talking about. The betrayal of his wife frees him from any duty towards her, and, while not using his freedom, he simply rejoices in her. For three years, with the indulgence of an outsider, he has been watching the ups and downs of this love story. However, court licentiousness justified the lightness of morals. Paul himself sets the example. After many years of marital fidelity, this devoted spouse is immediately freed from both his wife Maria Feodorovna and the favorite Ekaterina Nelidova. After the birth of the tenth child (Grand Duke Mikhail), the doctors forbade the empress to perform marital duties, and immediately Kutaisov, formerly a barber and valet, and now His Majesty's pimp and chief equerry, introduces the forty-four-year-old sovereign to the sixteen-year-old girl Anna Lopukhina, whose freshness enchants the eyes of the monarch. Ekaterina Nelidova is dismissed without ceremony, and the newcomer, "not beautiful and not kind", but simple-hearted, like a child, takes possession of Paul's heart. He showers her with gifts, elevates the people for whom she fusses, disgraces those who are objectionable to her, and, protecting her from court gossip, marries her to Prince Gagarin, who is destined for the role of a screen. At the end of the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle, he arranges a favorite in the apartments located under his own chambers, and in the evenings he goes down a secret staircase to her, unnoticed by anyone. But in vain he surrounds his visits to the beauty with a veil of secrecy: the whole court knows where the emperor disappears. Who dares to condemn him? In any case, not Elizaveta, whose affair with Adam Czartoryski is slandered by the whole court.

On May 18, 1799, she gives birth to a black-haired and black-eyed girl, little Mary. This is an occasion for the outright gloating of the courtiers. During the christening, the emperor, turning to Countess Lieven, who showed him the newborn, remarks dryly: “Madame, do you believe that a blonde wife and a blonde husband can have a brunette child?” For a moment confused, Countess Lieven replies: "Sir, God is omnipotent."

This time, Adam Czartoryski is finally compromised, his career in Russia is interrupted. Paul entrusts him with a diplomatic mission at the court of the king of Sardinia. “Send immediately,” he orders Rostopchin, who enters his words in the Diary of the verbal commands of Emperor Paul. The farewell of Adam Czartoryski and Alexander was heartbreaking.

Shortly after the departure of her beloved, Elizabeth suffers a new blow: she loses her child. “This morning I lost my child, she died,” she wrote to her mother on July 27, 1800. “I cannot express how terrible it is to lose a child, I am unable to write to you today about this misfortune.” And a little later: “For a long time I have not written to you about Mauschen, every hour I think about her, every day I mourn her. It cannot be otherwise as long as I live, even if I have two dozen other children.”

Alexander also feels lost, but more because of the separation from the irreplaceable Adam Czartoryski than because of the death of a child. Meanwhile, a group of his friends was dispersed: Kochubey, suspected of liberalism, fell out of favor; Novosiltsev, who was in bad standing with the emperor, left Russia himself and went to England; Stroganov is removed from the court. Left alone, Alexander draws closer to his wife. Elizabeth, a target for ridicule of court scoffers, writes to her mother: “I don’t like to be indebted to the emperor ... Or to be an instrument of revenge for some people on the Grand Duke and his friends. These people are doing everything to ruin my reputation; I don't know what they are trying to achieve, and I don't care, as it should be when there is nothing to reproach myself with. If they want to quarrel me with the Grand Duke, then they are trying in vain: he knows my thoughts, and no act of mine will ever embroil us.

Alexander and Elizabeth have not been attracted to each other for a long time. “Yes, Mom, I like him,” she confidingly writes to her mother. “Once I liked him to the point of madness, but now, as I get to know him better, I notice small features, really small ones ... And some of these small features are not to my taste ... they cooled my excessive love to him. I still love him a lot, but in a different way." Young people are connected not by love, but by friendship, common interests, mutual trust. Left alone behind closed doors, away from prying eyes and ears, they discuss in an undertone what surprises and trials the future has in store for them.

Paul's foreign policy is even more inconsistent than his domestic one. He stopped the war started by Catherine with Persia, but, angry with Bonaparte, who suddenly seized the island of Malta, he proclaimed himself Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of Malta, declared war on France and sent three armies against her: one to Italy, another to Holland, the third to Switzerland. Despite the brilliant victories of Suvorov in Italy, the expedition failed. Beside himself with rage, Paul quarreled with his Austrian allies, who did not support Suvorov, and changed his mind about eradicating the legacy of the revolution in Europe. He abruptly changes the course of foreign policy, and the hated Bonaparte, like Frederick II, becomes for him an example to follow and an enlightened friend. Isn't the First Consul going to rein in the sans-culottes? Paul, without hesitation, expels the Bourbons from Mitava, where he himself allowed them to settle, seeks ways of rapprochement with France and breaks off diplomatic relations with England, which did not want, contrary to its promise, to cede Malta to the Knights of Malta dear to his heart. British ships anchored in Russian waters are captured, the crew is taken into custody. But this is not enough for Paul. In order to break the pride of the arrogant Albion, the emperor gives the troops a fantastic order - to immediately move on a marching march to Orenburg, from there to Khiva and Bukhara and, having traveled thousands of miles across the deserted steppes, begin the conquest of India. The regiments that came out first were placed under the command of Major General Platov, who on this occasion was released from the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was imprisoned for some petty offense.

The extravagant policy of His Majesty causes acute discontent in court circles. A small group of conspirators gather in the salon of the beautiful Olga Zherebtsova, Platon Zubov's sister, and discuss plans to overthrow the mad sovereign and replace him with Alexander. Lord Charles Whitworth, the British ambassador to St. Petersburg and Olga Zherebtsova's lover, willingly helps them: the St. James cabinet is extremely interested in the speedy overthrow of the monarch, who is disrupting British projects. The main roles in the conspiracy are played by Vice-Chancellor Nikita Panin, a brilliant nobleman and dexterous diplomat, the Zubov brothers and the Neapolitan adventurer Iosif Ribas, an admiral in the Russian service. Despite their best efforts, the conspirators do not have enough time to develop their plan in detail. After breaking off diplomatic relations with England, Whitworth was ordered to leave the capital along with the entire staff of the British embassy. Soon Nikita Panin is disgraced, the Zubov brothers are sent into exile, Ribas dies of a serious illness, and Olga Zherebtsova prudently goes into the shadows.

It seemed that the very idea of ​​​​a conspiracy was under threat, but then the sophisticated courtier Count Pyotr Alekseevich Palen, cold, energetic, purposeful, and also endowed with a disposable appearance, appears on the stage and takes matters into his own hands. Returning to the capital from the army, where he carried out the orders of the king, he again takes the post of governor-general of St. Petersburg and decides to act without delay. Pavel, he argues, is about to plunge the country into a disastrous war with England, the British fleet, vastly superior to the Russian one, will appear in Kronstadt and force Russia to a shameful capitulation. Paul's repressive measures against the United Kingdom hit the Russian landlords by closing the main market for grain and timber. During the four years of Paul's reign, the oppression over the people trembling with fear intensified; both the most downtrodden of serfs and the most exalted lord alike dread the unpredictable vagaries of this crowned despot. Harassment, nit-picking, humiliation are multiplying every day. Having become morbidly suspicious, Pavel strengthens postal censorship and extends it even to the correspondence of his family members. He brings the Jesuit Pater Gruber closer to him and, to the great indignation of church and court circles, is thinking about the reunification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Police agents enter private homes, receptions, musical evenings, balls. One of the decrees orders everyone, not excluding ladies, to get out of the carriage and fall on their faces when meeting with the emperor in any weather, and people scatter as soon as they see him approaching. Count F. Golovkin writes: “Our beautiful capital, through which we walked as freely as the air circulates through it, having no gates, no sentries, no customs guards, has turned into a huge prison, where you can only penetrate through the gates; fear settled in the palace, and even in the absence of the monarch, one cannot pass by without finding the head; beautiful and wide streets were deserted; old dignitaries are allowed into the palace for service, only by presenting police passes in seven different places.

Countess Lieven laments: “The fortress is overcrowded; Over the past six weeks, more than a hundred Guards officers have been thrown into prison. Prince Eugene of Württemberg will say a few years later: “The Emperor was not mentally ill in the full sense of the word, but he was constantly in a tense and exalted state, which is more dangerous than real madness, because every day he arbitrarily disposed of the welfare and lives of millions of people.” The memoirist Vigel notes: “Suddenly we have been transferred to the very depths of Asia and should tremble before the eastern ruler, dressed, however, in a Prussian-style uniform, with claims to the latest French courtesy and the chivalrous spirit of the Middle Ages.” Young Osten-Sacken argues that "there was only one way out for a reasonable person - death." And according to Adam Czartoryski, the whole country is in a conspiracy, without realizing it, “out of fear, out of conviction or with hope.”

Palen, confident that he will find wide support for his plans, uses all his cunning to sneak into the confidence of the victim. He supports any actions of the emperor and zealously carries out his most absurd orders. When his son, who served in the army, was put under arrest, he does not ask Paul to pardon him, he says: “Sir, your fair decision will benefit the young man.” With such tactics, he soon wins the respect of his master. Moving from manic suspicion to excessive gullibility, Pavel dedicates his new adviser to the most important affairs of state. On February 18, 1801, he made him director of the postal department, and two days later, president of the College of Foreign Affairs. Honors did not turn Palen's head and did not force him to retreat from the goal that he had set for himself. After waiting for a favorable moment, he gives Paul the idea to amaze the world with generosity by declaring a general amnesty and returning to the capital the officials and officers who were dismissed or exiled over the past four years. Excited that he can appear as merciful as he is formidable, Paul accepts the offer. Soon, hundreds of different people return to the capital one after another, some in a carriage, some in a wagon, some on foot, depending on the means. The king believes that he can count on their gratitude, but in fact, by forgiving them, he only increases the number of discontented, cherishing plans of revenge. It is among these grudge-holding people that Palen recruits his main accomplices. His closest associate is General Bennigsen, a dry, serious German, known for his composure and determination. All three Zubov brothers, returning from exile, join them. Being in the last reign at the pinnacle of power, they are only concerned with how to return the lost. Palen, a skillful intriguer, advises Platon Zubov to marry the daughter of Kutaisov, a former barber, and now Pavel's favorite. Flattered by his upstart vanity, Kutaisov already sees himself as related to the family of the famous favorite of the Empress. He turns to His Majesty at the right moment and begs him to graciously deal with the Zubov brothers who have returned from exile. His request was heard: Prince Platon and Count Valerian were appointed chiefs of the 1st and 2nd Cadet Corps, and Count Nikolai Zubov again received the post of chief equerry and became chief of the Sumy Hussar Regiment. The first task of the Zubovs, who received royal forgiveness, is to win over the officers of the guard and turn them against the sovereign. There are many hotheads among these young people, they understand nothing in politics, they laugh at the constitution, but they hardly bear the burden of military service with its drill in the Prussian manner. They vilify and mock Pavel, as if he were some evil sergeant-major. One of the most furious is the Georgian prince Yashvil, an artillery officer, whom the tsar hit with a cane at the watch parade. For his part, Pahlen, showing the greatest discretion, enlists the support of the generals holding key posts in the capital; among them the commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment P. A. Talyzin, the commander of the Semenovsky regiment L. I. Depreradovich, the commander of the cavalry guard regiment F. A. Uvarov and the regimental adjutant of the Mikhailovsky Castle A. V. Argamakov and many others. Soon there are more than fifty of them, venting their anger in secret meetings where the smoke of the pipes mingles with the fire of the punch.

It remains to secure the consent of the heir to the throne. During the first conspiracy, led by Olga Zherebtsova, Panin, having initiated Alexander into his project, ran into a timid refusal. Hiding behind his filial respect, the Grand Duke did not want to know anything about the suspicious intrigues of his supporters. Later, Panin would write to Alexander: "I will go to my grave with a deep conviction that I served my homeland, the first to dare to open your eyes to the depressing picture of the dangers that threatened to destroy the empire."

Will Palen, the head of the second conspiracy, prepared much more carefully than the previous one, be able to overcome the noble resistance of Alexander? The development of events seemed to favor the implementation of his plans. At the beginning of 1801, Paul invites from Germany the young Prince Eugene of Württemberg, the nephew of Maria Feodorovna, is delighted with this sixteen-year-old boy and publicly declares: “You know, this boy conquered me.” His other statements, less harmless, make the whole environment of the king tremble. He is credited with the intention to marry Eugene's daughter Catherine, adopt him and declare him the heir to the throne instead of Alexander. He seemed to have already decided to imprison his entire family in the fortress. "In my house I am the master!" he shouts. Palen immediately conveys these words to Alexander, who, although exhausted with fear, still avoids a direct answer. As if to confirm Palen's warnings, Paul suddenly enters Alexander's room one day and grabs an open book lying on the table. This is Voltaire's tragedy Brutus. Paul reads the final verse:

Rome is free.

Enough. Let's thank the Gods.

An angry grimace distorts his monkey face. Without saying a word, he returns to his room, takes out the Life of Peter the Great from the bookcase, opens it on a page that describes the death under torture of Tsarevich Alexei, who opposed his father, and orders Kutaisov to take the book to the Grand Duke and force him to read this passage.

This time, Alexander is so frightened that the conspirators find in him a more understanding interlocutor. With sly insinuatingness, Palen inspires the heir to the throne that the country is on the verge of destruction, the people have been brought to extremes, England is threatening war, and that by removing the emperor from power, his son will only fulfill his patriotic duty. He assures that nothing threatens the life of the sovereign, he will simply be required to abdicate in favor of the Grand Duke - the legitimate heir. After the abdication, he will be provided with a prosperous life in one of his possessions near Petersburg, where he can retire with his wife Maria Fedorovna, or with his mistress Princess Gagarina, or with both together. This idyllic picture somewhat reassures Alexander: if he does without violence, he will be only half guilty. However, he is not required to directly participate in the case. If only he allowed others to act and did not betray anyone. When the throne is vacated, he will ascend the throne and, continuing to honor his father, will make his people happy. Nobody can blame him for anything. Alexander succumbs to persuasion, but does not want to know anything about the preparations for the coup. He washes his hands beforehand.

Meanwhile, the imperial family moves to the newly built, gloomy, like a fortress, Mikhailovsky Castle. The plaster in the halls has not dried yet. Despite the warnings of doctors who explained the health hazards of damp walls covered with quicklime, paint and varnish, Pavel is delighted with his new residence. He orders three thousand invitations to the capital's nobility to a feast with dinner and a masquerade ball in honor of the resettlement. Thousands of wax candles are lit in the castle, but the dampness fills the halls with such a thick fog that their reddish wavering flames only flicker dimly in the semi-darkness. The dancers move slowly in this unsteady darkness, and the misted mirrors endlessly repeat the silhouettes of phantoms bowing ceremoniously. Alexander, surrounded by a round dance of these ghostly visions, is tormented by ominous forebodings. It seems to him that this evening all of Russia is involved in the dance of death and will spin around until it is swept away by a hurricane ...

A few days later, the emperor summons Palen to the Mikhailovsky Castle. Entering the office, Palen notices that the sovereign has a gloomy look. Paul is warned of a conspiracy against his person. Staring inquisitorially at the governor of St. Petersburg, he bluntly asks if he knows about the conspiracy in which members of the imperial family are involved. Without losing his presence of mind, Palen bursts into laughter and replies: “Yes, Your Majesty, I know and hold all the threads of the conspiracy in my hands ... You have nothing to fear. I am responsible for everything with my head.

Half reassured, Pavel nevertheless sends a courier to Gruzino with an order to Arakcheev, who has recently fallen out of favor, to immediately return to St. Petersburg. He is convinced that Arakcheev is devoted to him to the grave. Before the arrival of this Cerberus, he strengthens the protection of the castle. Doubles the number of sentries. Cancels all official receptions.

In the huge suites of the castle, an icy wind walks. Despite the fire, constantly maintained in stoves and fireplaces, dampness corrodes the walls. There is mold on the velvet upholstery. Frescoes are covered with cracks. The air is saturated with moisture vapor, and in order to protect themselves from harmful fumes, the walls are sheathed with wooden panels, but dampness comes out through the cracks.

The imperial family lives in isolation, in an atmosphere of sadness and uncertainty. Empress Maria Feodorovna writes to her confidante: “Our existence is bleak, because our dear ruler is not happy. His soul suffers, and this undermines his strength; he has lost his appetite, and a smile rarely appears on his face.

All Petersburg seemed to be numb in shaky expectation, the incessantly drizzling rain fills hearts with despondency. “... and the weather is somehow dark, boring,” a contemporary writes in a private letter. - For weeks the sun is not visible; I don’t want to leave the house, and it’s not safe ... It seems that God has abandoned us.”

Palen feels that the time has come to take decisive action. The conspirators set the time for the coup. The night from March 11 to March 12 seems appropriate, since at night the protection of the Mikhailovsky Castle will be carried by the third battalion of the Semenovsky regiment, whose chief is Alexander. He himself informed Palen about this: not being directly involved in the conspiracy, he wants the conspiracy to succeed. Just a few days of waiting ... Alexander is consumed with impatience and fear. He guesses that somewhere behind him, in the shadows, secret meetings of rebellious generals are taking place, officers appearing and disappearing, carrying the latest instructions to different parts of the city - he guesses all this suspicious fuss of the conspirators and watches with a mixture of vengeful resentment and pity for his father against which the hatred of the whole nation is secretly accumulating.

Sunday, March 10, ends with an evening concert. The Tsar listens to music absently, despite the efforts of the French singer Madame Chevalier, who has a beautiful voice and good looks. Leaving the concert hall and heading for the dining room, Pavel stops in front of his wife and, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling mockingly, looks at her point-blank. He breathes loudly, his nostrils flare, his pupils constrict, as always happens to him in moments of anger. Then, with the same menacing grimace on his face, he stares at Alexander and Konstantin. Finally, he turns sharply to Palen and whispers something in his ear with an ominous air.

Dinner passes in deathly silence. Pavel barely touches his food, casting suspicious glances at everyone. After dinner, family members want, according to Russian custom, to thank him, but he pushes them away and, grinning sarcastically, leaves without saying goodbye to anyone. The Empress bursts into tears. Her sons console her.

The next day, March 11, as agreed, the third battalion of the Semyonovsky regiment, devoted to the conspirators, is the external guard of the castle. Soldiers of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, as well as guardsmen, are on duty inside. Pavel, as usual, is present at the parade ground and at the guard's divorce and scolds the bearing of the soldiers. On his orders, Palen calls the officers of the guard and announces that His Majesty is dissatisfied with their service and hopes that they will finally put things in order, otherwise he will send them to “where the raven did not bring bones.”

In the evening, Paul's mood changes again. At dinner, which is attended by 19 people, Pavel is unusually cheerful and amiable. He admires the new table service, on the plates of which different views of the Mikhailovsky Castle are depicted, but notices that all the mirrors are damaged. “Look,” he turns to General Kutuzov, “it’s like my neck is twisted.” Suddenly, he casts a penetrating glance at his eldest son. He lowers his head. Knowing what is to come this night, Alexander is unable to hide his nervousness. The father asks in French: “What is the matter with you, sir?” “Your Majesty,” Alexander says in a barely audible voice, “I don’t feel very well.” “You need to get medical treatment,” the emperor grumblingly advises, “you can’t let the disease go.” And, when Alexander sneezes into a handkerchief, he adds: "For the fulfillment of all your desires."

Dinner ends at half past ten. Pavel leaves the dining room without saying goodbye to anyone, and walks past the guards standing on the clock, frozen like statues, at his private chambers. Noticing Colonel N. A. Sablukov, the squadron commander who carried the guard, he throws him in French: “You are a Jacobin!” Confused, he, without thinking, replies: “Yes, Your Majesty!” Pavel irritably objected: "Not you, but your regiment." Then Sablukov, having mastered himself, corrects himself: “I may be, but the regiment is not!” The emperor, dressed in a green uniform with red lapels, stands in front of him, puffing out his chest. His face, flat as a Kalmyk's, under his powdered and braided hair, breathes disbelief. He already speaks in Russian: “But I know better. Raise the guard!" Sablukov commands: “To the right, around, march!” When thirty people of the guard, banging their heels on the parquet, are removed, the emperor announces to the interlocutor that he orders the regiment to be withdrawn from the city and quartered in the villages, and Sablukov’s squadron, in the form of a special favor, is allowed to stand in Tsarskoye Selo. Then, seeing two lackeys dressed in hussar uniforms, he orders them to stand watch at the door of his office and goes into the bedroom. His beloved dog, yapping, gets under his feet.

That same evening, at about eleven o'clock, the conspirators went in groups to General Talyzin, who occupied luxurious apartments in the barracks of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, adjacent to the Winter Palace. In the hall, the lackeys take away the raincoats and cocked hats from those who have come and invite them to go up the front stairs. Upstairs, in the living room, there is a real review of uniforms, baldrics, swords, orders. All the regiments of the capital's garrison are represented - grenadiers, artillerymen, sailors, horse guards, cavalry guards, a total of fifty people. Faces are burning either from alcohol or from patriotic enthusiasm. They drink champagne, punch and, not embarrassed in expressions, mock the king. Platon Zubov sets the tone. Both of his brothers, Nicholas and Valerian, echo him. Alexander, they assure, is ready to accept the crown, one has only to eliminate his father. You need to go to the emperor and demand renunciation. According to the latest information, Arakcheev, whom Pavel summoned from exile as a reliable defender, was detained, by order of Palen, at the city outpost at the entrance to the capital. The double door swings open, and Palen himself appears in full dress uniform with a blue ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called over his shoulder. Behind him enters the tall, lean General Bennigsen. They are respectfully surrounded. They look collected and determined. “We are here among our own, gentlemen,” Palen says, “we understand each other. Are you ready? We are going to drink champagne to the health of the new sovereign. The reign of Paul I ended. We are not driven by the spirit of vengeance, no! We want to put an end to the unheard-of humiliation and disgrace of our fatherland. We are ancient Romans. We know the meaning of the ides of March... All precautions have been taken. We are supported by two guards regiments and the regiment of Grand Duke Alexander. At this moment, someone in a half-drunk voice shouts out: “And if the tyrant resists?” Palen calmly replies: "You know everything, gentlemen: you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs."

After this speech, Palen divides the officers present into two detachments, takes command of the first himself, transfers command of the second to Bennigsen and Platon Zubov ... Deep night. Rare snowflakes, slowly circling, fall on the city. In the silence of the night along the avenue leading from the Preobrazhensky Barracks to the Mikhailovsky Castle, two battalions silently move. A battalion of the Semyonovsky regiment is heading there from the side of Nevsky Prospekt. The soldiers do not know where and why they are being led, but they are accustomed not to reason, but to blindly obey. However, this night anxiety causes them vague anxiety. The column of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, led by Platon Zubov and Bennigsen, is the first to arrive at the scene. Palen and his men are delayed. Maybe the governor of St. Petersburg is not eager to personally intervene in the coup and is deliberately playing for time, hoping to keep his hands clean? Whatever the case, you can't wait. Detachments surround the castle. The brothers Zubov and Bennigsen, accompanied by officers, approach the side drawbridge and call the hour password. The drawbridge is lowering. The conspirators stealthily make their way into the castle through the back door, silently climb the narrow spiral staircase and enter the guardroom leading to the emperor's apartments. Instead of the guards sent out by Pavel a few hours ago, there are only two slumbering lackeys. One of them, awakened by the noise, utters a cry and, having received a blow to the head with a saber, falls, covered in blood; the other, frightened, flees. The path is clear.

But most of the officers, suddenly sober at the thought of the blasphemy they are about to commit, scatter. In total, ten people break in after the brothers Zubov and Bennigsen into the royal bedroom. A candle dimly illuminates huge paintings in gilded frames, tapestries donated by Louis XVI, a narrow camp bed. The bed is empty. No doubt the emperor, hearing the footman's cry, fled through another door. Enraged Platon Zubov shouts: "The bird has flown away!" Bennigsen calmly feels the sheets and concludes: "The nest is warm, the bird is not far." Officers rummage around the corners. Their long, broken shadows darted across the walls and ceiling. Suddenly, Bennigsen notices bare legs sticking out from under the Spanish screen blocking the fireplace. With a drawn sword in hand, he rushes there, pushes away the thin screen and reveals the emperor. Pavel stands in front of him in a white shirt and a nightcap, his face twisted with horror, with a wandering look. Pressed by guardsmen hung with orders, he asks in a voice choked with fear: “What do you need? What are you doing here?" “Sire, you are under arrest,” Bennigsen replies. Pavel tries to fight back this drunken gang: “Arrested? What does it mean - arrested? he yells. Platon Zubov interrupts him: “We have come on behalf of the fatherland to ask Your Majesty to abdicate. The safety of your person and the maintenance appropriate to you are guaranteed by your son and the state. Bennigsen adds: “Your Majesty cannot continue to govern millions of subjects. You are making them unhappy. You must renounce. No one will dare to encroach on your life: I will protect the person of Your Majesty. Sign the act of renunciation immediately." The emperor is pushed to the table, one of the officers unfolds the document of renunciation in front of him, the other holds out a pen. Pavel balks. Suppressing fear, he squeals: “No, no, I won’t sign.” Beside themselves, Platon Zubov and Bennigsen leave the bedroom, perhaps in search of Palen, who alone is able to break the stubbornness of the monarch. In their absence, a discordant noise is heard from the hallway. Who came: new conspirators or supporters of the emperor? There is not a minute to lose! The officers left in the room urge Pavel to make a decision. Crowded around him, they gesticulate, shout, threaten. And the bolder their tone, the more stubborn Pavel becomes, pathetic and absurd in his nightclothes. During the dump, the night light topples over and goes out. In the twilight it is difficult to distinguish faces. Who was the first to raise his hand against the emperor? Isn't Nikolai Zubov a giant? A massive golden snuffbox thrown by a strong hand hits Pavel on the temple. He falls, and the whole gang of conspirators, trembling with fear and hatred, pounces on him. He fights back, screaming loudly. Then one of the officers grabs a scarf, throws it around Pavel's neck and strangles him. Half-suffocated, Pavel notices a young man in a red guards uniform among the killers. He takes him for his son Konstantin and begs in his death rattle: “Have mercy, Your Highness, have mercy! Air, air! A few moments later, Bennigsen returns and sees at the feet of the officers huddled together the disfigured corpse of Pavel in a bloody white shirt. Following him, Palen arrives and is convinced: it has happened. Everything happened as he foresaw. By procrastinating, he avoided being directly involved in the murder.

A woman with tousled hair rushes into Pavel's room. This is Empress Maria Feodorovna. She heard the noise of the struggle. She wants to know everything. She calls loudly: "Paulchen, Paulchen!" Guards, hastily sent by Bennigsen, with crossed bayonets, block her way. She throws herself on her knees before the officer and begs him to let her see her husband. He does not let her in: there they hastily put the body in order, trying to hide, as far as possible, the traces of violent death.

Meanwhile, Alexander, hiding in his apartment on the first floor, is neither alive nor dead waiting for the development of events. He does not close his eyes all night and, ready for any surprise, does not take off his uniform. Listening intently, he hears upstairs, above him, the clatter of boots, screams. Then the noise subsides. What happened? Did the father sign the abdication? Has he already left for Gatchina or some other country residence of his?.. Is he still alive? Crushed by remorse, he sits next to his wife, clinging to her and hiding his face, he seeks solace from her and does not find it. In this position, Palen finds him when he enters to tell the terrible news. After his first words, Alexander, stricken with horror, bursts into sobs. He didn't want bloodshed. And yet he is guilty: others have only accomplished what he secretly hoped for. From now on and forever on it is an indelible brand. An innocent criminal. A parricide with clean hands. Worst of people. Alexander sobs convulsively, and Palen calmly watches him and wonders if he made a mistake by putting everything on this nothingness? Finally, with a kind of dismissive compassion, the governor of St. Petersburg, in the tone of a strict mentor, says: “Stop being childish. Go reign. Show yourself to the guards." Elizabeth begs Alexander to pull himself together. According to all eyewitnesses, in this hour of severe trials, Elizabeth shows as much courage as Alexander cowardice. “Everything happened as if in a dream,” she would later write to her mother. “I asked for advice, I spoke to people I had never spoken to before and with whom I may never speak again, I implored the empress to calm down, I did a thousand things at once, made a thousand different decisions. I will never forget this night."

Rising with difficulty, Alexander follows Palen into the courtyard of the Mikhailovsky Castle, where detachments are lined up to guard the imperial dwelling at night. Deathly pale, barely moving his legs, he tries to stay directly in front of the soldiers lined up, shouting greetings. Palen, Bennigsen, Zubovs surround him. His accomplices. And he should still be grateful to them! Overcoming disgust, grief, exhaustion, he exclaims in a voice trembling with tears: “Batiushka suddenly died of an apoplexy. Everything will be with me, as with my grandmother, Empress Catherine. He answers with a loud "Hurrah!". "Maybe it's all for the best," Alexander consoles himself as the officers who killed his father congratulate him. Later, he accepts the congratulations of Konstantin, rude and unbridled, he is glad of the accession of his elder brother. Only Empress Maria Fedorovna sincerely mourns the death of the hated monarch.

Letter from Alexander I to La Harpe, sent in the summer of 1798

On April 5, 1797, Paul was crowned in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, and a month later he set off on a trip to Russia, taking Alexander and Konstantin with him. They visited Smolensk, Mogilev, Minsk, Vilna, Grodno, Mitava, Riga and Narva.

Exactly one year later, the august father and both of his sons set off from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and from there they went not to the West, as a year before, but to the East - to Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan. Then, through Yaroslavl, bypassing Moscow, the travelers returned to St. Petersburg.

On the second journey, however, as on the first, Paul everywhere, first of all, reviewed the troops. They instilled fear and awe in all involved. The commander of the Ufa regiment, a military officer, an ally of Suvorov, Colonel L. N. Engelhardt, who was with his regiment in Kazan, wrote that he went to the review with more horror than three years before to storm the Warsaw suburbs.

All that he saw could not but make the strongest and most bleak impression on Alexander. Returning from a trip, he shared his feelings and thoughts with his old friend La Harpe, taking advantage of the fact that one of his associates, Nikolai Nikolayevich Novosiltsev, went to Switzerland. Despite the fact that Novosiltsev was sixteen years older than Alexander, both of them, in terms of their views, upbringing and attitude to life, could be considered people of the same generation. N. N. Novosiltsev, Adam Czartorysky and Count P. A. Stroganov were part of the circle of the so-called "young friends" of Alexander, they all enjoyed his trust.

Alexander handed Novosiltsev a letter to pass on to La Harpe, which sheds light on many conflicts in the future reign of Alexander.

Below you will read the most important fragments of the letter explaining the problem of abdication.

“At last, I can freely enjoy the opportunity to talk with you, my dear friend. How long have I not enjoyed this happiness. This letter will be given to you by Novosiltsev; he is traveling with the sole purpose of seeing you and asking for your advice and instructions on a matter of extreme importance - on ensuring the good of Russia, provided that a free constitution is introduced in it ... In order for you to better understand me, I must go back.

My father, upon his accession to the throne, wanted to change everything decisively. His first steps were brilliant, but subsequent events did not match them. Everything turned upside down at once, and therefore the disorder, which already dominated affairs to a too great extent, only increased.

The military lose almost all their time exclusively in parades. In everything else, there is absolutely no strictly defined plan. Today they are ordering something that will be canceled in a month. No arguments are allowed, except when all the evil has been done. Finally, to put it in one word, the well-being of the state plays no role in the management of affairs: there is only unlimited power that does everything topsy-turvy. It is impossible to enumerate all the follies that have been committed here; add to this severity, devoid of the slightest justice, a considerable amount of partiality and complete inexperience in business. The choice of performers is based on favoritism; no merit here. In short, my unfortunate homeland is in a position beyond description. The farmer is offended, trade is constrained, freedom and personal well-being are destroyed.

Here is a picture of modern Russia, and judge by it how much my heart must suffer. I myself, obliged to obey all the minutiae of military service, lose all my time in the performance of the duties of a non-commissioned officer, having absolutely no opportunity to devote myself to my scientific studies, which constituted my favorite pastime; I have now become the most miserable person.

You know my thoughts, tending to leave my homeland. At the present time I do not foresee the slightest possibility of carrying them out, and then the unfortunate situation of my Fatherland forces me to give my thoughts a different direction. I thought that if my turn ever came to reign, instead of exiling myself voluntarily, I would do incomparably better, devoting myself to the task of giving freedom to the country and thereby preventing it from becoming in the future the plaything in the hands of some madmen. This made me change my mind about many things, and it seems to me that this would be the best example of a revolution, since it would be produced by a legitimate authority, which would cease to exist as soon as the constitution was completed and the nation had elected its representatives. Here is my thought...

We intend during the present reign to commission the translation into Russian of as many useful books as possible, but only those of them will be published in print, the printing of which will be possible, and we will save the rest for the future; thus, as far as possible, let us begin the dissemination of knowledge and enlightenment of minds. But when my turn comes, then it will be necessary to endeavor, of course, gradually to form a representative body of the people, which, properly directed, would constitute a free constitution, after which my power would completely cease, and I, if Providence would patronize our work, would retire. anywhere and would live happy and contented, seeing the prosperity of his homeland and enjoying it. These are my thoughts, my dear friend. God grant that we may ever achieve our goal - to grant freedom to Russia and save it from the encroachments of despotism and tyranny. This is my only desire, and I will willingly devote all my labors and all my life to this goal, which is so dear to me.