Introduction

Alexander I (1777--1825) - Russian Emperor from 1801

Many historians have interpreted the personality of Alexander as too romantic, unstable, subject to opposite influences. Some, on the contrary, believed that he had his own system, his own direction, which he steadily followed.

A reformer who dreams of reforms up to the creation of a parliament in Russia, an educator who opens new universities, gymnasiums and colleges, a rival of the military genius (Napoleon), who destroyed his dark activities, wages a tireless war, not to conquer, but to liberate peoples - this is the image Alexander I, called blessed, who stands before us.

The purpose of the course work is to study the diplomacy of Alexander I.

The work presents such tasks as:

• - characterize Alexander I as a historical person;
• - to identify the features of the diplomacy of the monarch;
• - to determine the influence of the emperor's transformations on the course of history.

Russia at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries

General characteristics of the Russian Empire at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

The turn of the XVIII--XIX centuries. - the period when the Russian Empire reached the natural geographical boundaries on the European continent, including not only a significant part of Asia, but also territories in North America - Russian Alaska. But the desire to overcome the ridges of the Caucasus, as well as to establish itself in Central Asia, has not yet been determined. More than ever before, she became involved in European affairs, significantly influencing the solution of problems of big politics, maintaining the balance of power on the continent.

This is the time when the "eighteenth century" - the age of Enlightenment - was coming to a close. His ideas were visibly reflected in the history of European monarchies and, transformed into the principles of the policy of "enlightened absolutism" in Central and Eastern Europe, contributed to the collapse of the monarchy in France. The last event upset the European equilibrium, so zealously guarded for the whole century.

This is the era when the understanding gradually developed that legitimate power must be based on the law, that this is precisely its main specific feature, and not only and not so much in the consecrated anointing to the kingdom. But at the same time there was a militarization of power, almost everywhere, especially in Prussia and Russia (since the time of Paul I).

The naive faith of the Enlightenment philosophers in the omnipotence of reason, in the original equality of people and the natural rights of the individual was realized in the political practice of the late 18th century. the execution of the legitimate King Louis XVI and the terrible realities of the Jacobin terror. The latter did much to cure the enlightened European of his ideal dreams of equality and fraternity. But, having emigrated from revolutionary France to autocratic Russia, he noticed with horror how widespread the ideas of rationalist philosophy and educational convictions were in the secular houses of St. Petersburg, among the youth of the nobility. And the analogies with the aristocratic salons of pre-revolutionary France seemed terrifying to him.

But this should not be surprising. The whole 18th century Russia steadily adopted and assimilated Western technologies, forms of organization of industry and state power, the system of education and upbringing, cultural and everyday life and European languages, fashion novelties and fashionable ideas. True, different generations of the Russian nobility perceived foreign culture differently. And each time they demonstrated a different attitude towards Europe.

During the reign of Peter I, a Russian nobleman traveled west (most often against his will) to study navigation and shipbuilding, artillery and exact sciences - things necessary for public service. Under Elizabeth Petrovna, people visited Europe of their own free will and mainly in order to bring home the latest Parisian fashion and the gallant courtesy acquired there. In the reign of Catherine, the nobility, freed from compulsory service, being under the spell of French freethinking - since all literary novelties freely got to Russia - went to Europe to bow to the philosophers.

Simultaneously with Alexander I, two or three generations of the "unwhacked" nobility, free from compulsory service, entered into active political life. These young people were brought up both by "Frenchmen from Bordeaux" and by educated bearers of the ideas of the Enlightenment. And those of them were already growing up, whose mentors were the Jesuit fathers, who appeared in Russia under Paul I after the official dissolution of the order and managed to convince the romantic Russian emperor that they were better than anyone else, able to educate the younger generation in a conservative, loyal spirit. The Jesuits brought with them not only an exalted religious feeling, but also an established system of education and training, focused on mobilizing the intellectual abilities of pupils and on the formation of business skills and active life attitudes. Therefore, they were far from the worst educators of noble youth, unless, of course, we take into account the zealous propaganda of Catholicism. Among the future Decembrists, by the way, many went through the school of the Jesuit fathers.

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8th grade
Russia at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries
repetition lesson

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Why at the turn of the 18-19 centuries. in the Russian Empire again became necessary reforms in all areas of public life?

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Plan
1. The territory of Russia at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. 2. Population. Social system. 3.Economic system. 4.Political system.

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Recall:
What territories went to Russia in the 17th-18th centuries?
At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Russia was the largest state in the world.

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In the XVII-XVIII centuries. departed to Russia: - Siberia - the coast of the Baltic - Azov, - Left-bank and Right-bank Ukraine - Lithuania, - Belarus, - part of Poland, - Novorossia, - the lower reaches of the Volga, - "Russian America", - East Georgia.
Map of the European part of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

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POLITICAL ORDER - the system of government.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE - the composition of society, the system of relations within society.
ECONOMIC ORDER - organization of production and trade in the country

Slide 7

Population.
For 100 years, the population has grown from 15.5 million to 43.7 million people. The population density was extremely uneven: only 3 million people lived beyond the Urals. On the outskirts of the European part, the population density did not exceed 1 person per 1 sq. km. km.
Russian national costume.

Slide 8

RUSSIA is a multinational state
RUSSIAN
UKRAINIANS
BELARUSIANS
TATARS
BASHKIRS
CHUVASH
MORDVA
MARIE
UDMURT
Karelians
ESTONIANS
LATVIANS
LITHOVANIANS
GERMANS
YAKUT
EVENS
BURYATS
CHUKCHI
NANAYS
Yukaghirs

Slide 9

RUSSIA is a multi-confessional state - a state whose population professes various religious teachings
All world religions were represented in Russia. Slavs (87%) of the population professed Orthodoxy. Protestantism was widespread in the Baltic states, Catholicism in the Western regions, Buddhism in the lower reaches of the Volga and Transbaikalia, and Islam among the Turkic-speaking peoples. After the annexation of Poland, the spread of Judaism began. Paganism was preserved beyond the Urals.

Slide 10

A characteristic feature of Russian society was the preservation of an extensive estate system.
a large group of people who have rights and duties that are enshrined in customs or laws and are inherited.
REMEMBER: what is a class?
estate

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The main estates of the Russian Empire
Remember: which estates are privileged and which are not privileged?

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Estates at the beginning of the 19th century
NOBILITY (personal, hereditary)
clergy (white, black)
MERCHANTS (1st and 2nd guilds)
PEASANTRY
PHILISTINISM
COSSACKS
MERCHANTS (3 guilds)
privileged
unprivileged

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Economic system.
"Agriculture is at the same stage of development as it was in the last century." Feudal serfdom continued to exist. What does it mean?
THE MAIN SECTOR OF THE ECONOMY IS AGRICULTURE

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1. The development of manufactories, an increase in the share of hired labor, the emergence of "capitalist" peasants, the growth of the urban population.
2. Feudal orders hindered the development of the economy (peasants were afraid to invest in industry)
3. The lack of interest of the peasants in the results of labor led to an increase in corvée (up to 7 days a week) and dues.
4. The stratification of the peasants and the ruin of their farms.
Facts testifying to the crisis of the feudal-serf system:

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Political system.
By the beginning of the 19th century. Russia remained an autocratic monarchy. Which state is called an autocratic (absolute) monarchy?
AUTHORIZED MONARCHY - a state in which the ruler has unlimited supreme power.
Pavel I

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Slide 17

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Administrative division

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REPEAT!
1. What does it mean: Russia is a multinational state? 2. What does it mean: Russia is a multi-confessional state? 3. What estates divided the population of Russia? 4. What two groups were the estates divided into? What is the difference between them? 5. Explain the concept of the feudal-serf system. 6. What was Russia like politically? 7. Who was the Russian Emperor? Prove that he was an autocrat.

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Why, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, reforms in all areas of public life again became necessary in the Russian Empire?

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Homework:
Textbook, pp. 5-6. Learn the concepts in your notebook. Additional material: about the childhood and youth of Alexander I.

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Who in Russia belonged to the privileged class?
1. Philistines 2. Merchants of the third guild 3. Nobles 4. State peasants

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Who in Russia belonged to the unprivileged class?
1.priests 2.guards 3.philistines 4.nobles

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What did the division of the Russian population into estates indicate?
1. About a large population; 2. On the development of capitalist relations; 3. On the preservation of feudal remnants; 4. On the existence of a class-representative monarchy in the country.

Slide 25

What did the predominance of the peasantry in the composition of the population of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century testify to?
1. There were no feudal vestiges in agriculture; 2. Russia remained an agrarian country; 3. Russia had a high birth rate; 4. The territory was located in a zone convenient for agriculture.

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What was evidenced by the development in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. manufacturing industry using wage labor?
1. On the domination of the feudal system; 2. About the beginning of the industrial revolution; 3. On the victory of capitalist relations; 4. On the decomposition of the feudal-serf system.

By the end of the XVIII century. The Russian Empire was the largest power in the world in terms of territory. It was so extensive that a messenger sent after the death of Empress Catherine II, who traveled about 180 versts (verst equals 1.06 km) per day, brought the news of this event to the city of Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia after 34 days, and to Kamchatka after 3 months .

Map of the Russian Empire in 1790 (Full size)

In the XVIII century. The population of Russia also quadrupled. By the beginning of the 19th century, it was about 44 million people. However, only 3 million people lived in the eastern regions of the country beyond the Urals.

The national composition of the population was very heterogeneous. It was based on the Russians. In the south and west of the European part of the country, they lived along with Ukrainians and Belarusians. Russians (Great Russians), Ukrainians (Little Russians) and Belarusians were then considered a single people. Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Russians, and also Germans lived in the Baltics. In the north of European Russia and in the Volga region, large territories were inhabited by the peoples of the Finno-Ugric (Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Karelians, etc.), Turkic (Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashs, etc.), Altai (Kalmyks) language groups. Many different nationalities lived in Siberia and the Far East (Tatars, Yakuts, Evens, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Buryats, Chukchi, Nanais, mountain Altai, etc.). She took Russian citizenship in the 18th century. part of the Kazakhs.

Russian peasants of the late XIX century.

The peoples of Russia professed almost all major world religions. The state religion was Orthodoxy, which was followed by Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, representatives of other peoples (87% of the population in total). After the reforms carried out in the XVII century. Patriarch Nikon, a split occurred in the Russian Orthodox Church. Some Orthodox Christians did not recognize innovations and adhered to the Old Believers.

Peter and Paul Church. Photo of the late XIX - early XX century.

Catholicism (Lithuanians, Poles) and Protestantism (Latvians, Estonians, Germans) were widespread in the western regions. Many Turkic-speaking peoples professed Islam, Kalmyks and Buryats - Buddhism. After joining Russia at the end of the XVIII century. part of the lands of the Rzecz Paspolita, Jews who professed Judaism became subjects of the empire. Some peoples retained pagan beliefs (Mordovians, Mari, etc.).

The main estates of the country were the nobility - up to 400 thousand people, the clergy - 215 thousand people, the peasantry - more than 90% of the country's population, the bourgeoisie - up to 4%, the merchant class - about 1%, the Cossacks - 1.5 million people.

Class division is inherent in an agrarian society. In the economy of such a society, the leading role belongs to agriculture. In Russia's agriculture, as well as in industry, the feudal-serf system continued to dominate. More than half of the peasants, as well as a significant part of the workers of industrial enterprises - manufactories were in serfdom from the noble landowners and owners of manufactories.

Autocracy was the basis of Russia's political system. The monarch possessed all the fullness of legislative, administrative and judicial power. The emperor, who was colloquially called the king, was in fact the head of the Orthodox Church. The emperor ruled the country with the help of the state apparatus. Most of the officials of the apparatus were from the nobility. Local power was exercised by governors and governors, who were also appointed by the tsar mainly from among the higher nobility.

Most of the nobles did not see the need for change either in the economy or in the political structure of the country. The basis of this view was the power of the Russian Empire in the international arena and the rather successful development of the economy, culture, etc. However, even in the second half of the 18th century. features of the decline of the feudal-serf system appeared. The main reason for this was the lack of interest of forced laborers in the results of their labor. There has been a subtle lag behind Russia from the advanced Western European states, where the main features of feudalism were eliminated and a new, capitalist (industrial) society developed. The emergence of some features of capitalist society also took place in Russia, but these features were very weak.

All aspects of the economic, political and social life of the country demanded transformations. Much here depended on the intentions of the central government, especially the emperor.

Russia in the 1st quarter of the 19th century

LESSON No. 1. The Russian Empire at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries.

Lesson Objectives:

Educational: to consider the geographical, economic, political and social position of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, the composition of the population, everyday life and the way of life of the estates.

Developing: to develop the conceptual apparatus, skills in working with documents and their interpretation, skills in compiling tables and diagrams.

Educational: purposefulness in obtaining knowledge, conviction in the value of every human personality, regardless of its social status.

Type of lesson: learning new material.

Teaching methods: reproductive and b / n

Forms of work: teacher's lecture,

Organizing time.

Updating knowledge on the topic:

19th century - a very important century in the history of not only Western Europe, but also Russia, this is the century of its greatest victories and bitter defeats, the century when new trends in social life come to the fore, the most famous rulers rule, the greatest writers and poets create. We are looking at the history of the 19th century. until the end of the year. A necessary condition is the involvement of additional literature, reference manuals.

Learning new material.

Territory of Russia.

At the beginning of the 19th century Russia occupied1/6 of sushi .

By 1850 the territory had reached18 million sq. km . The following were annexed to the Russian Empire: Finland - 1809, the Kingdom of Poland with Warsaw - 1815, Bessarabia with Chisinau - 1812, Georgia - 1813, 1828, the North Caucasus - 1817 - 1864, the Kyrgyz steppes east of Orenburg in 1811.

The country was divided into69 provinces, 3 regions : Astrakhan, Tauride, Caucasian.

On average, one province included 10-12 counties.

Lands were allocated - the Don Troops, the Black Sea Troops.

CITIES: at the beginning of the 19th century There were 634 cities in Russia.

Capital Cities:St. Petersburg - 330 thousand inhabitants; Moscow - 200 thousand inhabitants.

CITIES:

1st class (from 70 to 30 thousand inhabitants) - 5

2 classes (from 30 to 10 thousand inhabitants) - 30

3 classes (from 10 to 5 thousand) - 85

4 classes (from 5 to 2 thousand) - 214

5 classes (from 2 to 1 thousand) - 129

Grade 6 (less than 1 thousand) - 113.

Population

Population of Russia (excluding Poland, Finland, Transcaucasia) was:

1811 - 42.7 million people

1816 – 43,9

1833 – 51,9

1851 – 56,9

1857 - 59.3 million people:

National composition

1820s

1860s

Religious composition

Russians

3 million

48 million

Orthodox

51 million (84%)

Poles

0,7

0,9

Catholics

2 million (3.4%)

Jews

0,5

1,6

Protestants

2 million (3.4%)

Finns

2,5

Jews

1.6 million (2.6%)

Tatars

0,55

Muslims

0.2 million (3.4%)

The social composition of the population on (1836)

Nobility - 640 thousand (1.2%)

Clergy - 538 thousand (1%)

Merchants 1,2, 3, guilds - 250 thousand (0.5%)

Philistinism and artisans - 2 million 775 thousand (4%)

Peasantry - 30 million people. (94%)

landlords - 14 million

state (state) - 15 million.

specific (property of the imperial family) - 1 million.

Most of the serfs lived in the central provinces. In Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, they accounted for 50-70% of the population, in the northern and southern provinces - 2-12%, in Siberia only 4.3 thousand people, in the Arkhangelsk province they were not at all.

Cossacks of 9 troops (Don, Black Sea, Terek, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Ural, Siberian, Trans-Baikal, Amur) - 1.5 million.

To D / z. - find material to characterize each estate, its features in the position.!

Political system.

POWER: “The Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic, unlimited monarch. The throne of the empire and the thrones of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland inseparably connected with it are hereditary. The activity of the monarch is manifested in two forms: in the power of the legislative and administrative. Legislative power belongs to one sovereign in its entirety, so that no one can decide any law.

Describe the form of government in Russia - Preservation of the autocratic monarchy.

Economic development in the 1st half. 19th century

In the 1st floor 19th century Russia remained an agrarian country. The main branch of the economy was agriculture. It developed extensively.

What does the concept of extensive development mean?

Under the extensive path of development, the increase in agricultural output occurred not through improved land cultivation and the introduction of new agrotechnical methods, but through the expansion of sown areas. For the first half of the 19th century the sown areas increased by about 1.5 times, and the gross harvest of grain crops increased by about the same amount.

LESSON No. 2. Domestic policy of Alexander I 1801 - 18011.

Lesson Objectives :

educational creating conditions for students to assimilate historical facts related to an attempt to implement liberal reforms in the country at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I; clarification of cause-and-effect relationships between the socio-political situation in the country with the failures of these undertakings.

Educational : the development of communication skills, the ability to work with various types of sources, the skills of historical analysis.

Educational : creating conditions for students to understand and accept liberal values, respect for the country's historical past, the formation of an active life position.

On the board, under the portrait of Alexander I - the epigraphs of the lesson:

“In politics, Alexander is as thin as the tip of a pin, sharp as a razor, false as the foam of the sea.” . Swedish diplomat Lagerbilke

“He is a human! They are dominated by the moment.

He is a slave of rumors, doubts and passions;

Forgive him the wrong persecution:

He took Paris, he founded the Lyceum”

A.S. Pushkin

Lesson type: learning new material, with elements of laboratory work in groups

Teaching methods: reproductive, black-and-white, problematic, situational.

Forms of work: teacher's story, organization of a problem situation, group work with sources and documents, speeches by group representatives, student reports about personalities.

Organizing time.

Learning new material.

Personality of Alexander.

In 1801, Alexander I, the son of Paul I, became Russian Tsar, voluntarily or involuntarily participating in a conspiracy against his father, which ended in the murder of Paul.

STUDENT'S REPORT about Alexander's personality

Alexander I: character traits.

The eldest son of Emperor Paul Alexander was a man of the new age. In any case, he was keenly interested in the ideas of his time, trying them on to Russian reality. These ideas were, on the one hand, the legacy of his grandmother Catherine II, on the other hand, he absorbed them during classes with his tutor F. La Harpe. Studying with the famous Swiss made the Grand Duke treat serfdom and crude despotism with the disgust of an enlightened European. That is why Alexander I tried to fight them throughout almost his entire reign. True, it is very difficult to judge the true intentions of the emperor, since from childhood he was distinguished by excellent acting skills, mixed with a fair amount of hypocrisy.

It was difficult to expect a different behavior from him, since from an early age Alexander rotated between Catherine II, Pavel Petrovich and La Harpe, never daring to be himself, or never choosing someone with whom he could speak frankly. After the accession of his father, he was forced to be even more hypocritical, pretending that he fully shared the ideas and methods of the emperor.

Alexander was drawn into a conspiracy against Paul by circumstances - the suspicion of the emperor led to the fact that his eldest sons were actually threatened by prison or Siberia. Most of all, Alexander was shocked not by the murder itself, but by the ease with which it was committed.

Since then, he felt free only outside the capital, and even better - outside of Russia.

Alexander was well versed in people, but he saw in them only a tool to achieve the goals set by himself. The desire to leave his mark on history, suspicion, acting, perhaps necessary for a politician, at times took on such proportions in the emperor that they repelled serious reformers from him. In addition, throughout the reign, Alexander did not show a program of transformation.

P.A. Stroganov noted: “The Emperor ascended the throne with the best intentions - to establish order on the best possible basis; but he is bound by personal inexperience and a sluggish, lazy nature ... ”

A. Czartoryski, a friend of the tsar, wrote: “The emperor loved the external forms of freedom, how can one love a performance ... He would willingly agree that everyone should be free, if only everyone would voluntarily performhis will."

Over time, Alexander increasingly entered into a taste for autocratic rule. Once he yelled at G.R. Derzhavin: “You want to teach everything, but I am an autocratic tsar and I want it to be like this, and not otherwise”

Beautiful words have always prevailed in his activities, behind which it is difficult to discern real deeds. Contemporaries called him a sphinx, unsolved to the grave.

After getting acquainted with the proposed characteristic, the students conclude that many personal qualities of Alexander I were an obstacle in the implementation of the proposed projects -no experience, no perseverance, duality of nature, desire to impress, secrecy, desire to retain power, the tsar is a republican only in words, but in deed - an autocrat, etc.

All students present their own versions of the statements of contemporaries about Alexander I

Statements about Alexander I

"He does everything by half." (M.M. Speransky)

"Crowned Hamlet, who was haunted all his life by the shadow of his murdered father." (A.I. Herzen)

Republican in words and autocrat in deeds. (A.I. Turgenev)

“He knew how to conquer his own minds and penetrate the souls of others, concealing his own feelings and thoughts.” (M.A. Korf)

"In politics, Alexander is as thin as the tip of a pin, sharp as a razor, false as the foam of the sea." (Swedish diplomat Lagerbilke)

“From some of his actions, the spirit of unlimited autocracy, revenge, vindictiveness, distrust, inconstancy and deceit was visible.” (P.A. Tuchkov)

“The emperor loved the external forms of freedom, how can one love a performance ... but apart from forms and appearance, he did not want anything and was in no way inclined to endure that they turned into reality.” (A. Czartoryski)

The ruler is weak and cunning,

Bald dandy, enemy of labor,

Inadvertently warmed by glory,

He reigned over us then. (A.S. Pushkin)

Alexander was a problem for his contemporaries, it is unlikely that he will be unraveled even by posterity. (N.I. Grech)

It also represented liberal aspirations for enlightenment and social life, but it represented the most stubborn reaction. (A.N. Pypin)

Sphinx, unsolved to the grave - P.A. Vyazemsky

TASK FOR ALL: Try to guess how the personal qualities of the new emperor will affect life in Russia, whether Alexander is capable of managing the empire, prove the conclusion.

All these statements obviously vary over time. It is possible that they reflected changes both in Alexander himself and in his internal political course.

2) The tasks of kingship.

He came to the throne with clear intentions to make the country happy. But what did he mean by these words - a happy country? What problems need to be solved by Alexander so that he can realize this goal?

Students, first individually, then in pairs, formulate the most important problems of Russia in the form of a cluster.

The result of the work is a class-wide cluster on the board. Among the highlighted goals of Alexander's reign, such as:

- elimination of the consequences of the reign of Paul I;

- abolition of serfdom;

- the introduction of the constitution;

- improvement of the state apparatus, the creation of a parliament;

- development of education in the country .

From the very first days, the young emperor took up state affairs. Plans are huge.

Back in 1797 he wrote:When my turn comes, then it will be necessary to work on ... in order to create a popular representation, which ... would constitute a free constitution, after which my power would completely cease, and I ... would retire to some corner and live happily there and pleased, seeing the prosperity of his fatherland. And I would enjoy it"

A.S. Pushkin spoke of this time as follows:A wonderful start to the days of the Alexanders.”

3) Alexander's domestic policy before the Patriotic War.

Organized group work with materials

1 group I. Public Administration Reforms

To implement liberal reformist plans, the emperor had to rely on a circle of close associates. Those could not be participants in a conspiracy against his father. On the contrary, they were soon removed from power. Companions of the emperor were peers of the young king, with whom he was brought up and studied. Among them were Count P.A. Stroganov, his cousin N.N. Novosiltsev, Prince A. Czartorysky, Count V.P. Kochubey. These statesmen constituted the Unspoken Committee, an informal advisory body under the tsar. Being in a trusting relationship with Alexander, they discussed plans for reforms with him, expressed their wishes and advice. They became the initiators of the first reforms.

Later, an advisory Permanent Council of 12 people was created, which developed and passed the most important bills.

Questions and tasks

Name the reasons for the creation, functions of the Indispensable Council and describe the degree of its influence on state affairs

2. Analyze documents.

Document 1 The secret committee

"He (Alexander I)he realized that it was impossible for him to express his feelings frankly and show them to a society so ill prepared for the perception of these ideas and which would meet them with bewilderment and even with some fear. That is why the government machine continued to function on the same basis ... and Alexander, willy-nilly, was forced to reckon with the old currents.

In order to... mitigate this sad contradiction with himself, Alexander formed a kind of secret council, composed of persons whom he considered his personal friends who shared his views and convictions... All of us were especially brought together by the consciousness of the need to group around the Emperor and support with all our might. there is a sincere desire for reform.”

From the "Notes" of the princeA.A. Czartoryski

Document assignment. Explain why the Secret Committee was created. Why didn't it become an official body?

Document 2

Characteristics of the activities of the Private Committee

Alexander I dreamed"to curb the despotism of our government." According to the historian V.F. Khodasevich, the members of the Private Committee would“surprised and even offended if they were told that the unofficial and secret committee formed by them is precisely the real brainchild of hateful despotism, for it was created solely at the arbitrariness of the monarch and intends to decide the fate of Russia unofficially, behind the scenes, that is, irresponsibly, over the head of the highest state institutions."

Document assignment. Do you agree with the historian's opinion that the Unspoken Committee is the "brainchild of despotism"? Explain your answer.

Make a diagram "The central government system of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century." List the functions of each of the authorities.

Tell us about the system of government in Russia under Alexander I.

On September 8, 1802, a decree on the rights of the Senate was promulgated. It was recognized as the supreme body of power, combining administrative, judicial and control functions, but its activities were completely dependent on the emperor. It was envisaged that the Senate could object to the tsar against decrees "not in agreement with other laws." But as soon as the Senate objected to the royal decree on a 12-year period of compulsory service for the nobles, which contradicted the laws of Peter III and Catherine II, which generally freed the nobles from service, Alexander I clarified, according to which the Senate could only object to previously issued, not newly issued laws. In this episode, the autocratic disposition of Alexander I, his dislike for dissent, was clearly manifested.

On the same day, September 8, 1802, a manifesto on ministerial reform was issued. Ministries replaced collegiums. The aim of the reform was to strengthen unity of command and minimize collegiality in the leadership of the state. 8 ministries were formed: military, maritime, foreign affairs, internal affairs, finance, justice, commerce, public education.

A Committee of Ministers was established to jointly discuss matters of state administration. At first, the emperor presided over it, and at the end of the reign, Alexander began to transfer the functions of chairman to A.A. Arakcheev. The power of the ministry extended throughout the entire territory of the empire, but no local bodies were created. The ministries, unlike the boards, did not receive judicial functions either. The new system had its drawbacks. The functions of the ministries, the limits of the power of the ministers, the nature of their responsibility were not clearly defined. With the creation of ministries, bureaucracy intensified, and the staff of officials increased. Alexander I appointed eminent, but mostly incompetent persons as ministers, which, in general, suited the emperor, as it allowed him to more actively influence the activities of the ministries.

2 group. Public Administration Reforms

Questions and tasks

In 1810, also at the suggestion of Speransky, instead of the Indispensable Council, the State Council was created, consisting of 35 people appointed by the emperor. He had strictly defined legislative functions.

1. Read the characteristics of the first ministers, which were given by the commercial agent of France in St. Petersburg, Baron J.B. Lesseps. Explain the reasons for appointing these people to ministerial positions. In your opinion, is the opinion of a foreigner about the first ministers Aleknmi I fair?

Foreign Minister, State ChancellorA.R. Vorontsov - "the person about whom they pretend to be consulted the most, and who, in fact, they listen to the least."

Minister of the Interior V.P. Kochubey -"he has no sign of those abilities that the significance of his position requires."

War MinisterS.K. Vyazmitinov - "insignificance".

Secretary of the NavyP.V. Chichagov - "intelligent, but completely despised by associates."

Minister of FinanceA.I. Vasiliev - "handles his own affairs much better than those of the state."

Minister of CommerceN.P. Rumyantsev - "ridiculous and limited creation."

Minister of Justice, poetG.R. Derzhavin - “the dog of Themis, who is cherished in order to be let down against the first comer, who was not liked by the ministerial gang. But he is poorly trained and often bites even his comrades, who would give a lot to destroy him. (October 7, 1803 G.R. Derzhavin was replacedP.V. Lopukhin.)

Minister of EducationP.V. Zavadovsky refers to those employees of Alexander I who"do not deserve the honor of being named." According to P.A. Stroganova, Zavadovsky, as a minister, "did nothing for six days a week, and rested on the seventh."

In general, Lesseps spoke of all the ministers that they“They cannot overthrow each other, but mutually harm each other.”

Document 3

From the Manifesto on the formation of the Council of State on January 1, 1810 G.

“To establish and spread uniformity and order in the State administration, We recognized it necessary to establish the State Council to give an education characteristic of the space and greatness of Our Empire ...

In the order of State Establishments, the Council constitutes an estate in which all parts of the government in their main relations to Legislation are considered and through it ascend to the Supreme Imperial Power.

II. Accordingly, all Laws, Statutes and Institutions in their primitive outlines are proposed and considered in the Council of State, and then, by the action of the Sovereign Power, they proceed to the fulfillment intended for them.

III. No Law, Statute or Establishment proceeds from the Council and cannot be made without the approval of the Sovereign Power.

IV. The council is made up of persons who, by Our power of attorney, are called to this estate.

Ministers are Members of the Council, according to their rank.

VI. We ourselves preside over the Council.

In Our absence, the Chair shall be occupied by one of the Members appointed by Us.”

Document assignment. Tell us how the document explains the reasons for the creation of the State Council? How was the composition of the State Council formed? What are the powers of the State Council? Why did the creation of this body not shake the foundations of autocracy?

Group 3. Peasant question

Questions and tasks

Determine the attitude of the nobility to the abolition of serfdom.

Document 1The attitude of the nobility to the abolition of serfdom

“The opinion about the liberation of the peasants by various circumstances has become so intensified in the minds that the slightest occasion and touch on this subject can produce dangerous delusions. Examples of disobedience, initiated on cases less than this thorough, clearly prove how much the people are disposed to this kind of news and how easily they indulge in all the rumors about a change in their state. With such a disposition of minds, the publication of a general law on the emancipation of the peasants under conditions may produce false rumors, and instead of seeing in it an establishment based on previous laws and based on mutual benefit, many landowners, struck by rumors, will see in it the first shock to their property, and peasants dream of unlimited freedom…”

From the magazines of the Indispensable Council

Document 2

“What does it mean to liberate the peasants from us? To give them the freedom to live anywhere, to take away all power over them from the masters, to subordinate them to the one power of the government. Good. But these farmers will not have land, which, in which there can be no dispute, - is the property of the nobility. They will either remain with the landowners on the condition that they pay them dues, cultivate the master's fields, deliver grain where necessary, in a word, work for them, as before, or dissatisfied with the conditions, they will go to another, more moderate in demands, owner. In the first case, hoping for a person's natural love for his homeland, will the masters prescribe the most painful conditions for them? In the second case, if the peasant were here today, and tomorrow there, would the treasury not suffer a loss in the collection of per capita money and other taxes, would it not also suffer agriculture? Will not many fields be left uncultivated, many granaries empty? It is not the free farmers, but the nobles, who supply our markets with bread the most. Another evil: no longer dependent on the court of the landlords, decisive, hopeless, the peasants will begin to quarrel among themselves and sue in the city - what ruin! Liberation from the supervision of gentlemen who had their own zemstvo correction or police, much more active than all zemstvo courts, they will begin to drink, villainy, - what a rich harvest for taverns and bribed police officers, but how bad for morals and state security! The fall is scary!!”

N.M. Karamzin. From "Notes on Ancient and New Russia"

Assignment to documents.

1. What arguments were put forward against the abolition of serfdom? Do you agree with them? Explain your answer.

2. Explain why the members of the Secret Committee considered the abolition of serfdom to be a premature measure?

3. On December 12, 1801, a decree was issued allowing merchants, philistines and state peasants to buy uninhabited state lands. Think about what goals this decree pursued, what will be its results?

4. The most important of the legislation on the peasant issue was the Decree on Free Ploughmen of February 20, 1803. Read the text of the decree.

Document 3 Decree on free cultivators

“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 best, has to present them at the request through the provincial leader of the nobility to the Minister of the Interior for consideration and submission to us (to the emperor. -A.V.); 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. If a peasant or a whole village does not fulfill his obligations, then he returns to the landowner with the land and his family in possession as before. The peasants released from the landowners to freedom and owning the land as property, bear the capitation state salary on an equal footing with the landlords, send recruitment duty in kind and, correcting the Zemstvo duties on an equal basis with other state peasants, do not pay quitrent money to the treasury. They are in charge of court and reprisal in the same places where state peasants are. As soon as the fulfillment of the conditions, the peasants receive land as their property, they will have the right to sell it, mortgage it and leave it as a legacy, without splitting, however, plots of less than 8 acres; they have the right to buy land again.”

Document assignment. What are the main provisions of the Decree on free cultivators. What condition was necessary for the emancipation of the peasants? Why couldn't the decree give serious practical results?

Group 4 Reforms in the field of public education

Questions and tasks for students

1. Check out the numbers. As of 1810, only 13% of officials had a higher education, 22.2% had a lower and secondary education, and 31% had a home education, the level of which was very low. Why were the reforms in the field of public education more decisive and consistent?

2. Tell us about the changes that have taken place in the education system. Make a diagram of educational institutions in Russia in the 18th century.

Reforms in the field of education were carried out in 1802 - 1804. On the territory of Russia, 6 educational districts were created, in which there were 4 categories of educational institutions: parish, district schools, provincial gymnasiums and universities.

3. In order to encourage officials to study, on January 24, 1803, the Decree “On the Arrangement of Schools” was issued, which warned that in five years those who did not submit a certificate of graduation from an educational institution would not be transferred to a higher position. And according to the Decree of August 6, 1809, each official, in order to receive the next rank, had to pass a special exam.

Check out the document.

Document

From the Decree of August 6, 1809 "On the rules for promotion to ranks in the civil service and on tests in the sciences"

“Excluding the universities of Derpt and Vilna, all other educational institutions that have been open during this time, due to the small number of students, are not commensurate with the methods of their establishment ... Meanwhile, all parts of the State Service require knowledgeable performers, and the further a solid and domestic education is postponed youth, the more palpable the deficiency will be later on. Going back to the causes of such an important inconvenience, we find, among other things, that the main reason for it is the convenience of reaching ranks not by merit and excellent knowledge, but by one stay and counting years of service. In disgust of this, and in order to finally put a barrier to the search for ranks without merit, and to give true merits a new evidence of our respect, we recognized it necessary to decide the following: in titular councilors, if, in addition to the excellent approval of his superiors, he does not present evidence from one of the universities that are in the empire, that he studied in it with success in the sciences characteristic of civil service, or that, having submitted for a test, he deserved approval in his knowledge. The order and manner of these tests must be immediately determined and made public by the Main Schools of Administration. 2. The order of promotion to the ranks up to collegiate assessors remains on the same basis ...

Test image. Each university should set up a special Committee of the rector and three professors for testing. Anyone who wishes to come to this Committee, presents certificates of the place where he studied, if he has them ... Candidates who find themselves without the necessary knowledge are refused ... Candidates who have shown satisfactory progress in the sciences are issued a certificate from the University Board, upon the report of the Committee in proper form. The candidate presents this certificate to his superiors, who enter it into the track record, and each time when later it will be insisted on his promotion to the eighth-grade rank, he also presents this certificate ... "

Document assignment. What are the reasons for changing the order of production to ranks. What were these changes? Why did the decree arouse the displeasure of officials?

4. What are the results of reforms in the field of public education? Have these reforms brought real results? Has education become more accessible to the general population of Russia? Why? Support your answer with facts.

Group 5. The project of transformations M.M. Speransky

Questions and tasks for students

1. One of his contemporaries recalled: "This man quickly arose from nothingness." What explains the rapid promotion of Speransky through the ranks?

2. List the personal qualities of M.M. Speransky.

Document Contemporaries about M.M. Speransky

“Possessing very happy talents, an attractive appearance and, at the same time, an extremely art, flattery, pliability to agree with all the opinions of higher persons who were inferior to him in talents, he managed to quickly climb the first steps of the career ladder, pushing his colleagues aside, and there was no shortage on his part in all sorts of intrigues ... It was in his power, if not to completely achieve the desired goal, then at least to lay a solid foundation for this, precisely in order to thoroughly and correctly comprehend the significance of public institutions. Speransky would have been able to do this if he had not sacrificed this great merit to his desire for innovation, to his empty vanity to redo everything.

From the "Notes" of the BaronT.A. Rosenkampf

“A strange person who sometimes elevates us, and sometimes makes us feel our dependence ... Speransky has tremendous power; he is surprisingly smart and cunning, but as proud as he is ignorant; longing for that which gives only the appearance of happiness, he is not able to comprehend the good that leads to peace of mind. He is afraid of being understood and therefore puts on a thousand masks: sometimes he is a citizen and a good subject, sometimes he is an ardent frondeur who makes every effort to convince the public of his talents and does not reveal his strength ... "

Baron Gustav Armfeld

Exercise todocuments. What qualities of Speransky are distinguished by the authors of the statements? When answering, please note that G.A. Rosenkampf and G. Armfeld were the worst enemies of M.M. Speransky.

3. Alexander I instructs Speransky to prepare a draft of the reforms. By the end of 1809, he had drawn up a document entitled "Introduction to the code of state laws." What task did Speransky set when creating this document?

Speransky argued that in order to prevent a revolution, it is necessary to give the country a constitution that, without affecting autocratic rule, would introduce elected legislative bodies and the principle of separation of powers in the organization of state power, would expand the rights of certain estates, establish the electivity of some officials and their responsibility.

4. Make a diagram of state authorities according to the Speransky project and give an explanation to it.

At the head of the state is the monarch, who has full power.

The Council of State is an advisory body appointed by the emperor. All branches of government converge in it.

The executive power belongs to the ministries.

Legislative power is vested in representative assemblies at all levels. The volost duma is elected by persons having the right to vote and resolves issues of local importance. It elects deputies to the district duma, and that to the provincial one. The deputies of the State Duma are elected by the provincial dumas from among their members. Thus, the elections were supposed to be multistage. The State Duma was supposed to discuss the bills submitted to it from above, which are then submitted for approval by the State Council and the emperor.

Judicial power belongs to the Senate, whose members are appointed by the emperor for life. The lower courts must be elected.

5. What was the expected social structure of the Russian population according to the project of Speransky. What rights did the estates get?

The population was divided into three estates:

the nobility, which had all civil and political rights;

"average condition" (merchants, petty bourgeois, state peasants);

"working people" (landlord peasants, artisans, servants).

The first two estates received the right to vote. For the "third estate" serfdom was preserved, but some civil rights were provided and the opportunity to move into the "middle state" in the future by acquiring property.

6. Project M.M. Speransky caused sharp discontent on the part of the nobility. Explain how, in your opinion, the project infringed on the interests of the nobility. Why Alexander I could not go to the implementation of the project?

7. After reading the document, state the reasons for resignation and referencesMM . Speransky.

Document

From the “Report in the Affairs of 1810”, presented by M.M. Speransky to Emperor Alexander February 111, 1811 G.

“... 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...whole clans are persecuted as a dangerous innovator. ... 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 exalted me and my rules to the skies, when they assumed that I would agree with them in everything, when they demanded the benefits of their passions to oppose me to another. I was then one of the best and most reliable performers; but as soon as the movement of affairs brought me into opposition to them and into dissent, so soon I turned into a dangerous person ... "

Document assignment. Explain who Speransky accuses of persecution? Why do you think he is being persecuted?

8. “Could at the beginning of the XIX century. to realize the plans of M.M. Speransky? Justify your answer.

Speech by the participants of group work on issues. The rest should ask questions.

At the end of the discussion of the topic - answer the question

Compare plans and their specific implementation. What is the conclusion from this comparison?

Students conclude that it was not possible to carry out the abolition of serfdom, the introduction of a constitution and a parliament.

The question arises: why did the tsar, the autocrat of Russia, fail to carry out his plan?

Consolidation.

Drawing up a basic outline

Reforms of Alexander I at the beginning of the reign

Elimination of the consequences of the reign of Paul I

Done:

Return of the repressed

Paul I -amnesty 12 thousand people

The borders are open.

It is allowed to import goods and books from Western Europe.

Restoration of Letters of Complaint to the nobility and cities.

The Secret Office was abolished.

Solution of the "peasant" issue

Done:

1803 - Decree on free cultivators (landlords can release peasants with land for ransom (47 thousand peasants were released during the 25 years of Alexander's reign)

1808, 1809 Decrees restricting the arbitrariness of landowners: a ban on selling peasants at fairs, etc., publishing advertisements for the sale of peasants in newspapers

1801 - the right of the townspeople and peasants to buy uninhabited land

Improvement of the state system of Russia

Done:

1802 - The Senate is the highest judicial body.

Ministries established

The reform of the state power was carried out:

1802-1811 - Ministries were created to replace collegiums. Unity has been established. General issues were decided by the Committee of Ministers.

1810 - Establishment of the Council of State

Education reforms were held in 1802 - 1804. On the territory of Russia, 6 educational districts were created, in which there were 4 categories of educational institutions: parish, district schools, provincial gymnasiums and universities.

New universities were opened in Dorpat (1802), Vilna (1803), Kazan and Kharkov (1804), the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg (1804), which was transformed into a university in 1819.

Privileged lyceums were created (Demidovsky in Yaroslavl, and Tsarskoye Selo)

Speransky's reforms. Based on the materials of work in groups - 2 schemes.

Working with the map "Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century" 1) What was the name of the state at the beginning of the 19th century? 2) Name the border of the Russian Empire. Name the border of the Russian Empire 3) What territories were annexed to Russia at the end of the 18th century? How did these annexations take place? Territories 4) Representatives of what religions lived on the territory of the Russian Empire? Religions 5) What was the administrative division of the country? Who and when introduced the division of the country into provinces? Administrative division

Estates in Russia are groups of people who had the same rights and duties. Nobility, 1% Orthodox clergy, 1% Merchants, 0.6% Philistines, 4% Serfs, 40-45% State peasants, 40-45% Cossacks, 6% Tradesman's house Peasant in the field

Economic development The main industry - agriculture The peasants were owned by the landowner Obrok and corvée - peasant duties in favor of the landowner monetary relations

The main condition for the existence of the feudal-serf system was the allocation of land to the peasants and the dominance of subsistence farming. Consequently, the development of commodity-money relations, otkhodnichestvo, regional specialization, the growth in the number of manufactories and hired workers destroyed the feudal-serf system and contributed to the development of capitalist relations.

Political system Emperor Boards Holy Synod Governing Senate Executive institutions Highest spiritual institution Highest judicial body Autocratic monarchy - a state in which the ruler has unlimited supreme power