Emperor of All Russia, the second son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Alexander III was born on February 26, 1845, ascended the royal throne on March 2, 1881, died November 1, 1894)

He received his upbringing from his tutor, Adjutant General Perovsky and immediate supervisor, the famous professor of Moscow University, economist Chivilev. In addition to general and special military education, Alexander was taught political and legal sciences by invited professors from St. Petersburg and Moscow universities.

After the untimely death of his elder brother, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, on April 12, 1865, hotly mourned by the royal family and all the Russian people, Alexander Alexandrovich, having become the Tsarevich heir, began to continue both theoretical studies and to fulfill many duties in state affairs. .

marriage

1866, October 28 - Alexander married the daughter of the Danish king Christian IX and Queen Louise Sophia Frederica Dagmar, who was named Maria Feodorovna at marriage. The happy family life of the sovereign-heir fastened the bonds of good hopes between the Russian people and the royal family. God blessed the marriage: on May 6, 1868, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich was born. In addition to the heir-tsarevich, their august children: Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich, born April 27, 1871; Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, born 25 March 1875, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, born 22 November 1878, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, born 1 June 1882

Ascension to the throne

The accession to the royal throne of Alexander III followed on March 2, 1881, after the martyrdom of his father, the Tsar-Liberator, on March 1.

The seventeenth Romanov was a man of strong will and exceptionally purposeful. He was remarkable for his amazing capacity for work, he could calmly think over every question, in his resolutions he was direct and sincere, did not tolerate deception. Being an unusually truthful person himself, he hated liars. “He never had a word at odds with his deed, and he was an outstanding person in terms of nobility and purity of heart,” the people who were in his service described Alexander III in this way. Over the years, the philosophy of his life was formed: to be for his subjects a model of moral purity, honesty, justice and diligence.

Reign of Alexander III

Under Alexander III, military service was reduced to 5 years of active service, and the life of soldiers improved significantly. He himself could not stand the military spirit, did not tolerate parades, and was even a bad rider.

The solution of economic and social issues - this is what Alexander III saw as his main task. And he devoted himself, first of all, to the cause of state development.

In order to get acquainted with different regions of Russia, the tsar often made trips to cities and villages and could see for himself the difficult life of the Russian people. In general, the emperor was distinguished by his commitment to everything Russian - in this he was not like the previous Romanovs. He was called a truly Russian tsar not only in appearance, but also in spirit, forgetting that he was rather a German by blood.

During the reign of this tsar, the words “Russia for the Russians” were first heard. A decree was issued forbidding foreigners to buy real estate in the western regions of Russia, there was a newspaper hype against the dependence of Russian industry on the Germans, the first Jewish pogroms began, and “temporary” rules for Jews were issued, severely infringing on their rights. Jews were not accepted in gymnasiums, universities and other educational institutions. And in some provinces, they were simply forbidden to live or enter the public service.

Alexander III in his youth

This tsar, incapable of cunning or fawning, had his own specific attitude towards foreigners. First of all, he did not like the Germans and did not have any kindred feelings for the German House at all. After all, his wife was not a German princess, but belonged to the royal house of Denmark, which was not on friendly terms with Germany. The mother of this first Dane on the Russian throne, the smart and intelligent wife of the King of Denmark, Christian IX, was nicknamed "the mother of all Europe", as she was able to wonderfully accommodate her 4 children: Dagmara became the Russian queen; Alexandra, the eldest daughter, married the Prince of Wales, who during the life of Queen Victoria played an active role in the state, and then became the king of Great Britain; son Frederick after the death of his father ascended the Danish throne, the youngest, George, became the Greek king; the grandchildren, on the other hand, related almost all the royal houses of Europe.

Alexander III was also distinguished by the fact that he did not like excessive luxury and was absolutely indifferent to etiquette. For almost all the years of his reign, he lived in Gatchina, 49 kilometers from St. Petersburg, in the beloved palace of his great-grandfather, to whose personality he especially gravitated, keeping his office intact. And the front halls of the palace were empty. And although there were 900 rooms in the Gatchina Palace, the emperor's family was not accommodated in luxurious apartments, but in the former premises for guests and servants.

The king with his wife, sons and two daughters lived in narrow small rooms with low ceilings, the windows of which overlooked a wonderful park. Big beautiful park - what could be better for children! Outdoor games, visits of numerous peers - relatives of a large Romanov family. Empress Maria, however, still preferred the city and every winter begged the emperor to move to the capital. Agreeing sometimes to the requests of his wife, the king, however, refused to live in the Winter Palace, finding it unfriendly and too luxurious. The imperial couple made the Anichkov Palace on Nevsky Prospekt their residence.

Noisy court life and secular bustle quickly annoyed the tsar, and the family moved to Gatchina again with the first days of spring. The enemies of the emperor tried to claim that the tsar, frightened by the massacre of his father, locked himself in Gatchina, as in a fortress, becoming, in fact, its prisoner.

Petersburg, the emperor really did not like and was afraid. The shadow of his murdered father haunted him all his life, and he led a reclusive life, rarely visited the capital and only on especially important occasions, preferring a lifestyle in the family circle, away from the "light". And secular life at the court really somehow died out. Only the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir, the tsar's brother, the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, gave receptions and arranged balls in her luxurious St. Petersburg palace. They were willingly visited by members of the government, the highest dignitaries of the court and the diplomatic corps. Thanks to this, Grand Duke Vladimir and his wife were considered, as it were, representatives of the tsar in St. Petersburg, and the life of the court was actually concentrated around them.

And the emperor himself with his wife and children stayed at a distance, fearing assassination attempts. The ministers had to come to Gatchina for the report, and foreign ambassadors sometimes could not see the emperor for months. Yes, and the arrivals of guests - crowned persons during the reign of Alexander III were extremely rare.

Gatchina, in fact, was reliable: for several miles around, soldiers were on duty day and night, and they stood at all the entrances and exits of the palace and park. Even at the door of the emperor's bedroom there were sentries.

Personal life

In marriage with the daughter of the Danish king, Alexander III was happy. He did not just "rest" with his family, but, in his words, "enjoyed family life." The emperor was a good family man, and his main motto was constancy. Unlike his father, he adhered to strict morality, he was not tempted by the pretty faces of court ladies. With his Minnie, as he affectionately called his wife, he was inseparable. The Empress accompanied him at balls and trips to the theater or to concerts, on trips to holy places, at military parades, while visiting various institutions.

Over the years, he increasingly reckoned with her opinion, but Maria Fedorovna did not use this, did not interfere in state affairs and did not attempt to somehow influence her husband or contradict him in some way. She was an obedient wife and treated her husband with great respect. And she couldn't help it.

The emperor held his family in unconditional obedience. The teacher of his eldest sons, Madame Allengren, Alexander, while still a crown prince, gave the following instruction: “Neither I nor the Grand Duchess want to make greenhouse flowers out of them. “They should pray well to God, study the sciences, play the usual children's games, be naughty in moderation. Teach well, do not give concessions, ask with all severity, and most importantly, do not encourage laziness. If anything, then address directly to me, and I know what to do. I repeat that I do not need porcelain. I need normal Russian children. Fight - please. But the prover has the first whip. This is my very first requirement.”

Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna

Alexander, having become king, demanded obedience from all the great princes and princesses, although among them there were persons much older than him. In this respect he was in fact the head of all the Romanovs. He was not only revered, but also feared. The seventeenth Romanov on the Russian throne developed a special "family status" for the Russian royal House. According to this status, from now on only direct descendants of Russian tsars in the male line, as well as brothers and sisters of the tsar, were entitled to the title of Grand Duke with the addition of Imperial Highness. The great-grandchildren of the reigning emperor and their eldest sons had the right only to the title of prince with the addition of highness.

Every morning the emperor got up at 7 o'clock in the morning, washed himself with cold water, dressed in simple comfortable clothes, made himself a cup of coffee, ate a few pieces of black bread and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. After a modest breakfast, he sat down at his desk. The whole family gathered for the second breakfast.

One of the king's favorite recreational activities was hunting and fishing. Getting up before dawn and taking a gun, he went for the whole day to the swamps or to the forest. For hours he could stand in high knee-high boots in the water and fish with a bait in the Gatchina pond. Sometimes this occupation relegated even state affairs to the background. Alexander's famous aphorism: "Europe can wait until the Russian Tsar is fishing" went around the newspapers of many countries. Sometimes the emperor gathered a small society in his Gatchina house to perform chamber music. He himself played the bassoon, and played with feeling and quite well. From time to time, amateur performances were staged, artists were invited.

Assassination attempts on the emperor

With his not so frequent trips, the emperor forbade the escort of his crew, considering this measure to be absolutely unnecessary. But along the whole road the soldiers stood in an unbreakable chain - to the surprise of foreigners. Departures by rail - to St. Petersburg or to the Crimea - were also furnished with all sorts of precautions. Long before the passage of Alexander III, soldiers with rifles loaded with live ammunition were placed along the entire route. Railroad switches were tightly clogged. Passenger trains were diverted to sidings in advance.

No one knew in which train the sovereign would travel. There was no one "royal" train at all, but there were several trains of "extreme importance." All of them were disguised as royal ones, and no one could know which train the emperor and his family were on. It was a secret. The soldiers standing in the chain saluted each such train.

But all this could not prevent the wreck of the train, which followed from Yalta to St. Petersburg. It was staged by terrorists at the Borki station, not far from Kharkov, in 1888: the train derailed and almost all the cars crashed. The emperor and his family were having lunch in the dining car at that time. The roof collapsed, but the king, thanks to his gigantic strength, with an incredible effort was able to hold her on his shoulders and held until his wife and children got out of the train. The emperor himself received several injuries, which, apparently, led to a fatal kidney disease for him. But, getting out from under the rubble, he, without losing his composure, ordered immediately to help the wounded and those who were still under the rubble.

And what about the royal family?

The Empress received only bruises and bruises, but the eldest daughter, Xenia, injured her spine and remained hunchbacked - perhaps that is why she was married to a relative. Other family members received only minor injuries.

In official reports, this event was referred to as a train derailment for an unknown reason. Despite all the efforts, the police and gendarmes did not manage to solve this crime. As for the salvation of the emperor and his family, they talked about it as a miracle.

A year before the train crash, an assassination attempt on Alexander III was already being prepared, fortunately, it did not take place. On Nevsky Prospekt, the street along which the tsar had to travel to attend the memorial service at the Peter and Paul Cathedral on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of his father's death, young people were arrested holding bombs made in the form of ordinary books. reported to the emperor. He ordered to deal with the participants in the assassination without too much publicity. Among those arrested and then executed was Alexander Ulyanov, the elder brother of the future leader of the October Bolshevik Revolution, Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin, who even then set himself the goal of fighting against the autocracy, but not through terror, like his older brother.

Alexander III himself, the father of the last Russian emperor, during all 13 years of his reign mercilessly crushed the opponents of autocracy. Hundreds of his political enemies were sent into exile. Ruthless censorship controlled the press. The powerful police reduced the zeal of the terrorists and kept the revolutionaries under surveillance.

Domestic and foreign policy

The situation in the state was sad and difficult. Already the first manifesto on accession to the throne, and in particular the manifesto of April 29, 1881, expressed the exact program of both foreign and domestic policy: maintaining order and power, observing the strictest justice and economy, returning to the original Russian principles and ensuring Russian interests everywhere .

In foreign affairs, this calm firmness of the emperor immediately gave rise to a convincing confidence in Europe that, with a complete unwillingness to make any conquests, Russian interests would be inexorably protected. This largely secured European peace. The firmness expressed by the government with regard to Central Asia and Bulgaria, as well as the visits of the sovereign with the emperors of Germany and Austria, served only to strengthen the conviction that had been created in Europe that the direction of Russian policy was completely determined.

He entered into an alliance with France in order to obtain loans that were necessary for the construction of railways in Russia, begun by his grandfather, Nicholas I. Not liking the Germans, the emperor began to support German industrialists in order to attract their capital to develop the economy of the state, in every possible way promote the expansion of trade relations. And in his reign, much has changed in Russia for the better.

Not wanting war or any acquisitions, Emperor Alexander III had to increase the possessions of the Russian Empire during clashes in the east, and, moreover, without military operations, since the victory of General A.V. Komarov over the Afghans at the Kushka River was an accidental, completely unforeseen clash.

But this brilliant victory had a tremendous impact on the peaceful annexation of the Turkmens, and then on the expansion of Russia's possessions in the south to the borders of Afghanistan, when in 1887 the boundary line between the Murghab River and the Amu Darya River was established on the side of Afghanistan, which has since become an Asian border with Russia. state.

A railroad was laid on this vast area, which had recently entered the borders of Russia, which connected the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea with the center of Russian Central Asian possessions - Samarkand and the Amu Darya River.

In internal affairs, many new laws were issued.

Alexander III with children and wife

The development of the great cause of the economic organization of the multimillion-strong peasantry in Russia, as well as the increase in the number of peasants who lack land allotment as a result of an increasing population, caused the establishment of a government Peasant Land Bank with its branches. The bank was entrusted with an important mission - to assist in issuing loans for the purchase of land to both entire peasant societies and peasant associations and individual peasants. With the same purpose, to assist the noble landowners who were in difficult economic conditions, in 1885 the government Noble Bank was opened.

Substantial reforms have taken place in public education.

In the military department, military gymnasiums were transformed into cadet corps.

Another great desire overwhelmed Alexander: to strengthen the religious education of the people. After all, what were the majority of the Orthodox masses like? In their souls, many were still pagans, and if they worshiped Christ, they did it, rather, out of habit, and as a rule, because it was so customary in Rus' from time immemorial. And what a disappointment it was for a believing commoner to find out that Jesus was, it turns out, a Jew ... By decree of the king, who himself was distinguished by deep religiosity, three-year parochial schools began to open at churches, where parishioners studied not only the Law of God, but also studied literacy. And this was extremely important for Russia, where only 2.5% of the population were literate.

The Holy Governing Synod was instructed to assist the Ministry of Public Education in the field of public schools by opening parish schools at churches.

The general university charter of 1863 was replaced by a new charter on August 1, 1884, which completely changed the position of the universities: the direct leadership of the universities and the direct command of the widely placed inspection were entrusted to the trustee of the educational district, the rectors were elected by the minister and approved by the highest authority, the appointment of professors was provided to the minister, the candidate's degree and the title of a real student are destroyed, which is why the final examinations in universities are destroyed and replaced by examinations in government commissions.

At the same time, we began to revise the regulation on gymnasiums, and it is the highest command to take care of the expansion of vocational education.

The area of the court was also not ignored. The procedure for the administration of a trial with jurors was replenished with new rules in 1889, and in the same year the judicial reform extended to the Baltic provinces, in relation to which a firm decision was made to implement in the matter of local government the general principles of government that are available in the whole of Russia, with the introduction of office work Russian language.

Emperor's death

It seemed that the king-peacemaker, this hero, would reign for a long time. A month before the death of the king, no one imagined that his body was already “wearing out”. Alexander III died unexpectedly for everyone, not having lived one year to 50 years old. The cause of his premature death was kidney disease, which worsened due to the dampness of the premises in Gatchina. The sovereign did not like to be treated and in general almost never spoke about his illness.

1894, summer - hunting in the swamps further weakened his health: headaches, insomnia and weakness in the legs appeared. He had to turn to doctors. He was advised to rest, preferably in the warm climate of the Crimea. But the emperor was not the kind of person who could disrupt his plans just because he was not feeling well. After all, at the beginning of the year, a trip was planned in September with the family to Poland to spend a couple of weeks in a hunting lodge in Spala.

The state of the sovereign remained unimportant. The leading specialist in kidney diseases, Professor Leiden, was urgently summoned from Vienna. After carefully examining the patient, he diagnosed nephritis. At his insistence, the family immediately left for the Crimea, to the summer Livadia Palace. Dry warm Crimean air had a beneficial effect on the king. His appetite improved, his legs got stronger so that he could go ashore, enjoy the surf, take sunbaths. Surrounded by the cares of the best Russian and foreign doctors, as well as his relatives, the tsar began to feel much better. However, the improvement proved to be temporary. The change for the worse came abruptly, the forces began to fade rapidly ...

On the morning of the first day of November, the emperor insisted on being allowed to get out of bed and sit in an armchair by the window. He said to his wife: “I think my hour has come. Don't worry about me. I'm completely calm." A little later, they called the children and the bride of the eldest son. The king did not want to be put to bed. With a smile, he looked at his wife, kneeling in front of his chair, his lips whispered: “I have not died yet, but I have already seen an angel ...” Immediately after noon, the king-hero died, bowing his head on the shoulder of his beloved wife.

It was the most peaceful death in the last century of the Romanovs. Pavel was brutally murdered, his son Alexander passed away, leaving behind a still unsolved mystery, another son, Nikolai, having despaired and disappointed, most likely ceased his earthly existence of his own free will, but Alexander II - the father of the peacefully deceased giant - became a victim of terrorists who called themselves opponents of autocracy and executors of the people's will.

Alexander III died after reigning only 13 years. He fell asleep forever on a wonderful autumn day, sitting in a huge "Voltaire" chair.

Two days before his death, Alexander III told his eldest son, the future heir to the throne: “You have to take the heavy burden of state power from my shoulders and carry it to the grave just as I carried it and as our ancestors carried it ... Autocracy created a historical individuality Russia The autocracy will collapse, God forbid, then Russia will collapse with it. The fall of the original Russian power will open an endless era of unrest and bloody civil strife ... Be firm and courageous, never show weakness.

Yes! The seventeenth Romanov turned out to be a great visionary. His prophecy came true in a little less than a quarter of a century ...

Alexander III and his time Tolmachev Evgeny Petrovich

3. ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ALEXANDER III

3. ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ALEXANDER III

Sickness and death are at the core of our lot.

Gabriel Honore Marcel

1894 became fatal for Alexander III. No one could imagine that this year would be the last for the ruler of Russia, a man who, with his appearance, resembled an epic hero. It seemed that the mighty head of state was the personification of blooming health. However, life was not kind to him. In his youth, he was deeply shocked by the untimely death of his beloved older brother Nikolai.

At the age of twenty-seven, he suffered a severe form of typhus, as a result of which he lost half of his thick hair. The bloody months of the Russian-Turkish war and the terrorist orgy against his father in the final period of his reign became a serious test for him. The opinion was expressed that Alexander III especially tore his body due to excessive efforts on October 17, 1888, during the train crash in Borki, when he supported the roof of the car with his own hands, in which almost all of his family was. It was said that when the bottom of the car fell, "the sovereign received a bruise in the kidneys." However, “about this assumption ... Professor Zakharyin expressed skepticism, since, in his alleged opinion, the consequences of such a bruise, if there was one, would have manifested earlier, because the catastrophe in Borki took place five years before the disease was discovered” (186, p. 662).

In the first half of January 1894, the monarch caught a cold and felt unwell. He had a fever and cough got worse. Life surgeon G. I. Girsh found that it was influenza (flu), but the onset of pneumonia is also possible.

Summoned on January 15 to the Anichkov Palace, l. - the surgeon N. A. Velyaminov, in whom the royal couple had special confidence, listened to the patient together with Hirsch. Both doctors found a flu-like inflammatory nest in the lung at a very high temperature, which was reported to the Empress and Minister of the Court Vorontsov. On January 15, the latter secretly summoned from Moscow the authoritative therapist G. A. Zakharyin, who, having examined the patient, confirmed the established diagnosis, somewhat exaggerated the seriousness of the situation and prescribed treatment.

With the active control of Zakharyin and Velyaminov, the treatment went quite normally. In order to neutralize the fables and gossip about the sovereign's illness that spread throughout the city, it was decided, at the suggestion of Velyaminov, to issue bulletins signed by the Minister of the Court. The illness of the 49-year-old autocrat came as a surprise to his inner circle and a real shock to the royal family. “As reported,” V. N. Lamzdorf wrote in his diary on January 17, “due to the appearance of some alarming symptoms, Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, with the consent of the empress, telegraphed Professor Zakharyin from Moscow. The state of the sovereign turned out to be very serious, and last night the professor compiled a bulletin, published today in the press. Yesterday, at about one o'clock in the afternoon, Grand Duke Vladimir, leaving the sovereign's room, burst into tears and terribly frightened the children of His Majesty, saying that everything was over and all that was left was to pray for a miracle ”(274, p. 24).

According to Velyaminov, from the time the capital learned about the illness of Alexander III, groups of people gathered in front of the Anichkov Palace who wanted to receive information about the emperor’s health, and when a new bulletin appeared at the gate, a large crowd grew up opposite. As a rule, those passing devoutly took off their hats and crossed themselves, some stopped and, turning to face the palace, prayed fervently for the health of the popular emperor with their heads bare. By January 25, the crowned man recovered, but for a long time he felt weak and weak and began to work in his office, despite the requests of doctors to give himself rest. Pointing to the sofa, on which piles of file folders lay from one handle to the other, he said to Velyaminov: “Look what has accumulated here over the several days of my illness; all this awaits my consideration and resolutions; if I run things for a few more days, then I will no longer be able to cope with the current work and catch up with the missed. There can be no rest for me” (390, 1994, v. 5, p. 284). On January 26, the tsar no longer received doctors, Zakharyin was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky and 15 thousand rubles, his assistant Dr. Belyaev received 1.5 thousand rubles, and a little later Velyaminov was awarded the title of honorary life surgeon.

Velyaminov notes that Alexander III, like his brothers Vladimir and Alexei Alexandrovich, was a typical hereditary arthritic with a sharp tendency to obesity. The tsar led a rather moderate lifestyle and, as many of his entourage note, contrary to the recollections of P. A. Cherevin, he was not fond of alcohol.

Of course, a number of additional factors did not contribute to the health of the monarch, such as a constant spicy cook's table, excessive absorption of liquid in the form of chilled water and kvass, and many years of smoking a large number of cigarettes and strong Havana cigars. Alexander was forced from a young age to take part in numerous festive tables with the use of champagne and other wines, namesakes of members of the royal family, receptions, receptions and other similar events.

In recent years, struggling with obesity, he overloaded himself with physical labor (sawed and chopped firewood). And perhaps most importantly, mental overwork had an effect from constant hidden excitement and overwork, usually until 2-3 o'clock in the morning. “With all this,” says Velyaminov, “the sovereign has never been treated with water and, at least temporarily, with an anti-gout regimen. The fatal illness that struck him in the autumn of that year would not have been a surprise if the general practitioners had not looked at the sovereign's enormous enlargement of the heart (hypertrophy) found at the autopsy. This blunder made by Zakharyin, and later by Leiden, is explained by the fact that the sovereign never allowed himself to be carefully examined and became annoyed if it was delayed, therefore professors-therapists always examined him very hastily ”(ibid.). Naturally, if the doctors knew about the acute form of heart failure in the monarch, perhaps they “with the help of the appropriate regimen” could delay the sad outcome for several months. The transferred malaise dramatically changed the appearance of the king. Describing a ball in the Winter Palace on February 20, Lamzdorf notes in his diary: “As usual, the sovereign approaches the diplomats who lined up in order of seniority at the entrance to the Malachite Hall. Our monarch looks thinner, mainly in his face, his skin has become flabby, he has aged a lot” (174, p. 44).

Alexander III himself took little care of his health and often ignored the prescriptions of doctors. However, as Witte notes, “during the time from Easter to my last all-submissive report (which was probably at the end of July or at the beginning of August), the sovereign’s illness had already become known to everyone” (84, pp. 436-437). During the summer of 1894, the weather in St. Petersburg was damp and cold all the time, which further aggravated the sovereign's illness. Alexander III felt weak and tired quickly. Recalling his wedding day on July 25 in Peterhof with Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Alexander Mikhailovich later wrote: “We all saw how tired the sovereign looked, but even he himself could not interrupt the tiring wedding dinner earlier than the appointed hour” (50, p. 110) . About the same day, a prominent official of the Ministry of the Imperial Court V. S. Krivenko recalls that those present at the performance in the summer theater when the autocrat appeared in the box “were struck by his sickly appearance, yellowness of his face, tired eyes. They started talking about jade” (47, op. 2, case 672, sheet 198). S. D. Sheremetev clarifies: “The wedding day of Xenia Alexandrovna is a difficult day for the sovereign ... I stood in the row when everything was over and returned to the inner chambers of the Great Peterhof Palace. The sovereign walked arm in arm with the empress. He was pale, terribly pale, and seemed to waddle, speaking heavily. He looked completely exhausted” (354, p. 599).

However, the ruler of Russia strengthened himself and on August 7, when his illness was in full swing, traveling around the troops in the Krasnoselsky camp, he made more than 12 miles.

“August 7, at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon,” writes N. A. Epanchin, “the sovereign visited our regiment in the camp at Krasnoe Selo ... It was already known about the sovereign’s illness, but when he entered the assembly, it immediately became obvious to us what he felt yourself very badly. He moved his legs with some difficulty, his eyes were cloudy, and his eyelids were half-closed ... It was evident with what effort he spoke, trying to be kind and affectionate ... When the sovereign left, we exchanged impressions with bitterness and anxiety. The next day, during a conversation with the crown prince at the prize shooting, I asked him how the sovereign was in health, and said that yesterday we all noticed the sickly appearance of His Majesty. To this, the crown prince replied that the sovereign had long been feeling unwell, but that the doctors did not find anything threatening, but they considered it necessary that the sovereign go south and do less business. The sovereign's kidneys are not functioning satisfactorily, and doctors believe that this largely depends on the sedentary life that the sovereign has been leading lately ”(172, pp. 163-164). The tsar's personal surgeon G.I. Girsh stated signs of chronic kidney damage, as a result of which the tsar's usual stay in Krasnoye Selo and maneuvers were reduced.

After Alexander III fell ill from a sharp girdle pain in the lower back, the outstanding clinician-practitioner G. A. Zakharyin was again urgently called from Moscow to St. Petersburg, who arrived on August 9, accompanied by the therapist Professor N. F. Golubov. According to Zakharyin, after the study, it turned out “the constant presence of protein and cylinders, that is, signs of nephritis, a slight increase in the left ventricle of the heart with a weak and frequent pulse, that is, signs of consistent heart damage and uremic phenomena (depending on insufficient purification of blood by the kidneys), insomnia , constantly bad taste, often nausea. Doctors reported the diagnosis to the Empress and Alexander III, not hiding the fact that "such an ailment sometimes goes away, but extremely rarely" (167, p. 59). As the daughter of Alexander III, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, notes, “the annual trip to Denmark was canceled. We decided that the forest air of Belovezh, located in Poland, where the emperor had a hunting palace, would have a beneficial effect on the health of the sovereign ... ”(112a, p. 225).

In the second half of August, the court moved to Belovezh. At first, the emperor, along with everyone else, “went hunting, but then became indifferent to her. He lost his appetite, stopped going to the dining room, only occasionally ordered food to be brought to his office. Rumors about the dangerous illness of the monarch grew and gave rise to the most diverse and ridiculous stories and tales. “As they say,” Lamzdorf wrote on September 4, 1894, “the palace in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, for the construction of which 700,000 rubles were spent, turned out to be raw” (174, p. 70). Such speculation happens when the population is left without official information. On September 7, the ubiquitous A. V. Bogdanovich entered in her diary: “In Belovezh, while hunting, he caught a cold. A severe fever set in. He was prescribed a warm bath at 28 degrees. Sitting in it, he cooled it down to 20 degrees by turning on the cold water tap. There was blood in his throat in the bath, he fainted in the same place, the fever increased. The queen was on duty until 3 am at his bedside” (73, p. 180-181). Maria Fedorovna summoned Dr. Zakharyin from Moscow. “This famous specialist,” Olga Alexandrovna recalled, “was a little plump little man who wandered around the house all night, complaining that the ticking of the tower clock prevented him from sleeping. He begged the Pope to order them to be stopped. I don't think he made any sense. Of course, the father had a low opinion of the doctor, who, apparently, was mainly occupied with his own health” (112a, p. 227).

The patient attributed the deterioration of his health to the climate of Belovezh and moved to Spala, a hunting ground not far from Warsaw, where he became even worse. Therapists Zakharyin and Professor Leiden from Berlin, summoned to Spala, joined Hirsch's diagnosis that the ruler of Russia had chronic interstitial inflammation of the kidneys. Alexander III immediately summoned his second son to Spala by telegraph. It is known that led. book. Georgy Alexandrovich fell ill with tuberculosis in 1890 and lived in Abbas-Tuman at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. According to Olga Alexandrovna, "dad wanted to see his son for the last time." George, who soon arrived, "looked so ill" that the king "sat for hours at night by his son's bed" (112a, p. 228).

Meanwhile, on September 17, 1894, an alarming message appeared for the first time in the Government Gazette: “His Majesty’s health has not recovered completely since the severe influenza he suffered last January, but in the summer a kidney disease (nephritis) was discovered, requiring more successful treatment in cold the season of His Majesty's stay in a warm climate. On the advice of professors Zakharyin and Leiden, the sovereign departs for Livadia for a temporary stay there ”(388, 1894, September 17). The Greek Queen Olga Konstantinovna immediately offered Alexander III her villa Monrepos on the island of Corfu. Dr. Leiden believed that "stay in a warm climate can have a beneficial effect on the patient." On September 18, they decided to go to the Crimea and stop for a few days in Livadia before sailing to Corfu.

On September 21, the royal family arrived on the steamer of the Volunteer Fleet "Eagle" in Yalta, from where they proceeded to Livadia. The sovereign stayed in a small palace, where he used to live as an heir. This palace looked like a modest villa or cottage. In addition to the Empress, Grand Dukes Nikolai and Georgy Aleksandrovichi also settled here, the younger children lived in another house. The fine weather seemed to cheer up the dejected master of the country a little. On September 25, he even allowed himself to defend mass in the court church, after which he went to Ai-Todor to see his daughter Xenia. However, the king's health did not improve. He did not receive anyone and daily rode with his wife in an open carriage along hidden roads, at times to the Uchan-Su waterfall and to Massandra. Only a few knew of his hopeless condition. The emperor lost a lot of weight. The general's uniform hung on him like on a hanger. There was a sharp swelling of the legs and severe itching of the skin. The days of severe anxiety have come.

On October 1, on an urgent call, the life surgeon Velyaminov arrived in Livadia, and the next day - doctors Leiden, Zakharyin and Girsh. At the same time, the Kharkov professor, surgeon V. F. Grube, who wished to cheer him up, was introduced into the sovereign's chambers. The monarch gladly received Grube, a calm, very balanced old man, whom he met in Kharkov after a railway accident on October 17, 1888 in Borki. Grube very convincingly explained to the king that it was possible to recover from inflammation of the kidneys, as an example of which he himself can serve. This argument seemed to Alexander III quite convincing, and after Grube's visit he even cheered up a little.

At the same time, it should be noted that since October 3, when the doctors examined the patient rather superficially, he no longer left his rooms. From that day until his death, Velyaminov became almost permanent duty officer with him day and night. After the doctors visited the tsar, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the minister of the court and bulletins were compiled, which from October 4 were sent to the Government Gazette and reprinted in other newspapers. The first telegram, which made the whole of Russia shudder, reported: “Kidney disease has not improved. Strength has decreased. Doctors hope that the climate of the Crimean coast will have a beneficial effect on the state of health of the Most August Sick.” As time has shown, this did not happen.

Aware of the hopelessness of his situation, suffering from swelling of the legs, itching, shortness of breath and nighttime insomnia, the king did not lose his presence of mind, did not act up, was equally even, kind, kind, meek and delicate. He got up daily, dressed in his dressing room, and spent most of his time in the company of his wife and children. Despite the protests of doctors, Alexander III tried to work, to sign cases for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and military orders. He signed the last order the day before his death.

His health was so weakened that he often fell asleep during a conversation with loved ones. On some days, a severe illness forced him to go to bed after breakfast and sleep.

After the publication of the first bulletins about the illness of Alexander III, members of the imperial family and some of the highest persons of the court gradually began to gather in Livadia.

On October 8, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, the tsar's aunt, arrived with the queen of the Hellenes, Olga Konstantinovna, his cousin. The Grand Duchess also brought Father John of Kronstadt to the dying man, who during his lifetime had the glory of a people's saint and miracle worker. On the same evening, two brothers of the tsar arrived in Livadia - Sergei and Pavel Alexandrovich.

On Monday, October 10, the high-ranking bride of the Tsarevich, Princess Alice of Hesse, arrived. The heir to the throne noted this fact in his diary: “At 9 1/2 I went with village Sergey to Alushta, where we arrived at one in the afternoon. Ten minutes later, my beloved Alix and Ella drove up from Simferopol ... At each station, the Tatars were met with bread and salt ... The whole carriage was filled with flowers and grapes. I was seized with a terrible excitement when we entered the dear Parents. Papa was weaker today and Alyx's arrival, besides the meeting with Fr. John, weary him” (115, p. 41).

For all the time before his fateful end, Alexander III did not receive anyone, and only between October 14 and 16, feeling better, he wished to see his brothers and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna and Maria Pavlovna.

On the morning of October 17, the patient took communion with St. secrets from Father John. Seeing that the sovereign was dying, his legs were swollen, water appeared in the abdominal cavity, the therapists Leiden and Zakharyin raised the issue of performing a minor operation on the suffering monarch, which involved introducing silver tubes (drainages) under the skin of the legs through small incisions to drain fluid. However, the surgeon Velyaminov believed that subcutaneous drainage would not bring any benefit, and vigorously opposed such an operation. The surgeon Grube was urgently called from Kharkov, who, after examining the sovereign, supported the opinion of Velyaminov.

On October 18, a family council was held, in which all four brothers of Alexander III and the minister of the court took part. All the doctors were also present. The heir to the throne and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich presided. As a result, opinions regarding the operation were divided equally. No decision was made. On October 19, the dying monarch again confessed and took communion. Despite his incredible weakness, the august patient got up, dressed, went into the office to his desk and signed the order for the military department for the last time. Here, for some time, his strength left him, he lost consciousness.

Undoubtedly, this case emphasizes that Alexander III was a man of strong will, considered it his duty to fulfill his duty, while his heart was still beating in his chest.

All that day the king spent sitting in an armchair, suffering from shortness of breath, aggravated by inflammation of the lungs. At night he tried to sleep, but immediately woke up. Lying down was a big pain for him. At his request, he was placed in a semi-sitting position in bed. He nervously lit a cigarette and threw one cigarette after another. At about 5 o'clock in the morning the dying man was transplanted into a chair.

At 8 o'clock the heir to the throne appeared. The empress went into the next room to change clothes, but immediately the crown prince came to say that the sovereign was calling her. When she entered, she saw her husband in tears.

"I feel my end!" - said the royal sufferer. "For God's sake, don't say that, you'll be fine!" exclaimed Maria Fyodorovna. “No,” the monarch confirmed gloomily, “it drags on too long, I feel that death is near!”

The Empress, seeing that her breathing was difficult and that her husband was weakening, sent for Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. At the beginning of the 10th hour, the entire royal family gathered. Alexander III affectionately greeted everyone who entered and, realizing the proximity of his death, did not express any surprise that the entire imperial family had come so early. His self-control was so great that he even congratulated Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna on her birthday.

The dying ruler of Russia sat in an armchair, the Empress and all those close to him on their knees. Around 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the king distinctly said: "I would like to pray!" Arriving archpriest Yanyshev began to read prayers. A little later, the sovereign said in a rather firm voice: "I would like to join." When the priest proceeded to the sacrament of communion, the sovereign patient distinctly repeated the words of the prayer after him: “I believe, Lord, and I confess…” and was baptized.

After the departure of Yanyshev, the tsar-martyr wanted to see Father John, who at that time was serving Mass in Oreanda. Wishing to rest, the autocrat stayed with the empress, the crown prince with his bride and children. Everyone else moved into the next room.

Meanwhile, having finished mass in Oreanda, John of Kronstadt arrived. In the presence of Maria Feodorovna and the children, he prayed and anointed the dying sovereign with oil. Leaving, the shepherd loudly and meaningfully said: "Forgive me, king."

The Empress was kneeling all the time on the left side of her husband, holding his hands, which were starting to get cold.

Since the breathing patient groaned heavily, Dr. Velyaminov suggested that he lightly massage his swollen legs. Everyone left the room. During a foot massage, the sufferer said to Velyaminov: “It seems that the professors have already left me, and you, Nikolai Alexandrovich, are still messing with me out of your kindness of heart.” For some time, the king felt relieved and for a few minutes wished to be alone with the heir to the throne. Apparently, before his death, he blessed his son to reign.

During the last hours, the emperor kissed his wife, but at the end he said: “I can’t even kiss you.”

His head, which was hugged by the kneeling empress, bent to one side and leaned against the head of his wife. The dying person no longer groaned, but still breathed superficially, his eyes were closed, his expression was quite calm.

All members of the royal family were on their knees, the clergyman Yanyshev read the waste. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, breathing stopped, the ruler of the most powerful state in the world, Alexander III, died.

On the same day, his son, Nikolai Alexandrovich, who became Emperor Nicholas II, wrote in his diary: “My God, my God, what a day! The Lord called our adored, dear, dearly beloved Pope back to him. My head is spinning, I don’t want to believe - the terrible reality seems so implausible ... It was the death of a saint! Lord, help us in these difficult days! Poor dear Mama!..” (115, p. 43.)

Dr. Velyaminov, who spent the last 17 days almost non-stop near Alexander III, noted in his memoirs: “Now it has been more than forty years that I have been a doctor, I have seen many deaths of people of various classes and social status, I have seen dying, believers, deeply religious , I also saw non-believers, but I have never seen such a death, so to speak, in public, among the whole family, neither before nor later, only a sincerely believing person, a person with a pure soul, like a child, with a completely calm conscience, could die like that . Many were convinced that Emperor Alexander III was a stern and even cruel person, but I will say that a cruel person cannot die like that and in reality never dies ”(390, issue V, 1994, p. 308). When relatives, officials of the court and servants said goodbye to the deceased according to Orthodox custom, Empress Maria Feodorovna continued to kneel completely motionless, hugging the head of her beloved husband, until those present noticed that she was unconscious.

For some time, the farewell was interrupted. The empress was lifted up in her arms and laid on a couch. Due to a severe mental shock, she was in a deep faint for about an hour.

The news of the death of Alexander III quickly spread around Russia and other countries of the world. Residents of the Crimean environs closest to Livadia learned about this from the rarely followed one after another shots from the cruiser "Memory of Mercury".

The sad news spread throughout St. Petersburg at about five o'clock in the afternoon. The majority of the population of Russia, as noted in the newspapers, was deeply saddened by the death of the tsar-peacemaker.

“Even the weather changed, too,” Nicholas II noted in his diary on October 21, “it was cold and roared into the sea!” On the same day, newspapers on the front pages published his manifesto on accession to the throne. A few days later, a post-mortem autopsy and embalming of the body of the late emperor were performed. At the same time, as the surgeon Velyaminov noted, “a very significant hypertrophy of the heart and fatty degeneration of it was found in chronic interstitial inflammation of the kidneys ... the doctors undoubtedly did not know about such a formidable enlargement of the heart, but meanwhile this was the main cause of death. Changes in the kidneys were comparatively insignificant” (ibid.).

From the book Secrets of the Romanov House author

Illness and death of Emperor Peter I On November 21, Peter was the first in the capital to cross the ice across the Neva, which had risen only the day before. This trick of his seemed so dangerous that the head of the coast guard, Hans Jurgen, even wanted to arrest the offender, but the emperor galloped past

From the book Secrets of the Romanov House author Balyazin Voldemar Nikolaevich

From the book Stalin. Russian obsession author Mlechin Leonid Mikhailovich

Illness and death When Stalin arranged the "case of killer doctors", the country readily responded. The first secretary of the Ryazan regional committee, Alexei Nikolaevich Larionov, was the first to report to the Central Committee that the leading Ryazan surgeons were killing patients, and demanded that the regional administration

From the book Grandfather's stories. A History of Scotland from the Earliest Times to the Battle of Flodden in 1513. [with illustrations] by Scott Walter

CHAPTER XV EDWARD BALLOLLE LEAVES SCOTLAND - THE RETURN OF DAVID III - THE DEATH OF SIR ALEXANDER RAMSEY - THE DEATH OF THE KNIGHT OF LIDZDALE - THE BATTLE OF NEVILLE CROSS - THE CAPTURE, RELEASE AND DEATH OF KING DAVID (1338-1370) Despite the desperate resistance of the Scots, their land has come

From the book History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages author Gregorovius Ferdinand

4. The split between Victor IV and Alexander III. - The Cathedral of Pavia recognizes Victor IV as pope. - Courageous resistance of Alexander III. - His departure by sea to France. - Destruction of Milan. - Death of Victor IV, 1164 - Paschalia III. - Christian of Mainz. - Alexander III's return

From the book The Last Emperor author Balyazin Voldemar Nikolaevich

Illness and death of Alexander III The first thing Nicholas really wanted to know about when he returned from England was his father's health. At first he was frightened, not seeing him among those who met him, and thought that his father was in bed, but it turned out that everything was not so scary - the emperor went to duck

From the book of Vasily III author Filyushkin Alexander Ilyich

The illness and death of Vasily III On September 21, 1533, Vasily III, together with his wife and two sons, left Moscow on a traditional pilgrimage trip to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. On September 25, he attended the divine services on the day of memory of Sergius of Radonezh. Paying tribute

From the book Medical Secrets of the Romanov House author Nakhapetov Boris Alexandrovich

Chapter 2 Illness and death of Peter I Peter the Great - the first Russian emperor - had better health than his ancestors, but tireless work, many experiences and not always the right (to put it mildly) lifestyle led to the fact that diseases became gradually

author Balyazin Voldemar Nikolaevich

From the book of the Romanovs. Family secrets of Russian emperors author Balyazin Voldemar Nikolaevich

From the book Illness, Death and Embalming by V. I. Lenin: Truth and Myths. author Lopukhin Yury Mikhailovich

CHAPTER I ILLNESS AND DEATH Where is the one who, in the native language of our Russian soul, would be able to say to us this almighty word: forward? N. Gogol. Dead Souls. I was standing on the banks of a Siberian river, which freely and widely carries its transparent waters from the depths of the mainland to the ocean. From the side

From the book Life with Father author Tolstaya Alexandra Lvovna

Mom's illness? Death of Masha Mam? I have been complaining for a long time about heaviness and pain in the lower abdomen. In August 1906, she took to her bed. She was in severe pain and had a fever. They called a surgeon from Tula, who, together with Dushan Petrovich, diagnosed a tumor in the uterus. Sister Masha,

From the book Life with Father author Tolstaya Alexandra Lvovna

Illness and death At four o'clock, my father called me and asked me to cover him, saying that he was shivering. - Tuck your back in better, your back will be very cold. We were not very alarmed, because it was cool in the car, everyone was chilly and wrapped in warm clothes. We covered our father with a jacket, a blanket,

From the book Slavic Antiquities author Niederle Lubor

Illness and death Although the ancient Slavs were a healthy people, nevertheless their life was not so comfortable that death came to them only in battle or in extreme old age. It can be assumed in advance that the climate and environment in which the Slavs lived determined

author Anishkin V. G.

From the book Life and customs of tsarist Russia author Anishkin V. G.

It is about such kings that today's monarchists sigh. Perhaps they are right. Alexander III was truly great. Both human and emperor.

"Pecking at me!"

However, some dissidents of that time, including Vladimir Lenin, quite evil joked on the emperor. In particular, they nicknamed him "Pineapple". True, Alexander himself gave a reason for this. In the manifesto "On Our Ascension to the Throne" dated April 29, 1881, it was clearly stated: "And on Us to impose a Sacred Duty." So when the document was read out, the king inevitably turned into an exotic fruit.

In fact, this is unfair and dishonest. Alexander was remarkable for his amazing strength. He could easily break a horseshoe. He could easily bend silver coins in the palm of his hand. I could lift a horse on my shoulders. And even make him sit like a dog - this is recorded in the memoirs of contemporaries. At a dinner in the Winter Palace, when the Austrian ambassador started talking about the fact that his country was ready to form three corps of soldiers against Russia, he bent and tied a fork. Threw it towards the ambassador. And he said, "That's what I'll do with your hulls."

Heir Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich with his wife Tsarevich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, St. Petersburg, late 1860s. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Height - 193 cm. Weight - more than 120 kg. It is not surprising that a peasant who accidentally saw the emperor at the railway station exclaimed: “This is the king, so the king, damn me!” The wicked peasant was immediately seized for "uttering indecent words in the presence of the sovereign." However, Alexander ordered the foul language to be released. Moreover, he rewarded him with a ruble with his own image: “Here is my portrait for you!”

What about his look? Beard? Crown? Remember the cartoon "Magic Ring"? “Ampirator drink tea. Mother samovar! Each appliance of sieve bread has three pounds! It's all about him. He really could eat 3 pounds of sieve bread with tea, that is, about 1.5 kg.

At home, he liked to wear a simple Russian shirt. But always with sewing on the sleeves. He tucked his pants into boots, like a soldier. Even at official receptions, he allowed himself to go out in worn trousers, a jacket or a sheepskin coat.

His phrase is often repeated: "While the Russian Tsar is fishing, Europe can wait." In reality, it was like that. Alexander was very correct. But he loved fishing and hunting. Therefore, when the German ambassador demanded an immediate meeting, Alexander said: “Pecking! It pecks at me! Germany can wait. I'll take it tomorrow at noon."

Right in soul

During his reign, conflicts with Great Britain began. Doctor Watson, the hero of the famous Sherlock Holmes novel, was wounded in Afghanistan. And, apparently, in battle with the Russians. There is a documented episode. The Cossack patrol detained a group of Afghan smugglers. With them were two Englishmen - instructors. The commander of the patrol, Yesaul Pankratov, shot the Afghans. And he ordered the British to be sent outside the Russian Empire. True, he had previously flogged them with whips.

At an audience with the British ambassador, Alexander said:

I will not allow encroachment on our people and our territory.

The ambassador replied:

This can cause an armed clash with England!

The king calmly remarked:

Well, well ... Probably, we can do it.

And mobilized the Baltic Fleet. It was 5 times smaller than the forces that the British had at sea. And yet there was no war. The British calmed down and surrendered their positions in Central Asia.

After that, English Interior Minister Disraeli called Russia "a huge, monstrous, scary bear that hangs over Afghanistan, India. And our interests in the world."

Death of Alexander III in Livadia. Hood. M. Zichy, 1895 Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

In order to list the affairs of Alexander III, we need not a newspaper page, but a scroll 25 meters long. It gave a real exit to the Pacific Ocean - the Trans-Siberian Railway. He gave civil liberties to the Old Believers. He gave real freedom to the peasants - the former serfs under him got the opportunity to take solid loans, redeem their lands and farms. He made it clear that everyone is equal before the supreme power - he deprived some of the grand dukes of their privileges, reduced their payments from the treasury. By the way, each of them was entitled to a "allowance" in the amount of 250 thousand rubles. gold.

Indeed, one can yearn for such a sovereign. Alexander's older brother Nikolai(he died without ascending the throne) said about the future emperor: “Pure, truthful, crystal soul. There's something wrong with the rest of us, fox. Alexander alone is truthful and correct in soul.

In Europe, they spoke about his death in much the same way: "We are losing an arbitrator who has always been guided by the idea of justice."

The biggest deeds of Alexander III

The emperor is credited, and, apparently, not without reason, with the invention of a flat flask. And not just flat, but bent, the so-called "boot". Alexander liked to drink, but did not want others to know about his addictions. A flask of this shape is ideal for secret use.

It is he who owns the slogan, for which now you can seriously pay: "Russia is for the Russians." Nevertheless, his nationalism was not aimed at the treatment of national minorities. In any case, the Jew-s-kai deputation, headed by Baron Gunzburg expressed to the emperor "boundless gratitude for the measures taken to protect the Jewish population at this difficult time."

The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway has begun - until now it is almost the only transport artery that somehow connects the whole of Russia. The Emperor also instituted the Railwayman's Day. Even the Soviet authorities did not cancel it, despite the fact that Alexander set the date of the holiday for the birthday of his grandfather Nicholas I, under which we began to build railways.

Actively fought against corruption. Not in words, but in deeds. The Minister of Railways Krivoshein and the Minister of Finance Abaza were sent to a shameful resignation for bribes. He did not bypass his relatives either - because of corruption, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich were deprived of their posts.

On March 10, 1845, a boy was born in a Russian-German family. He was to become an artist's model Vasnetsov, the author of the extremist saying "Russia for the Russians", and also earn the nickname Peacemaker.

While the future emperor Alexander III was content with the affectionate home nickname of the bulldog.

He retained this angular grace even in his mature years: “He was not handsome, in manners he was rather shy and embarrassed, he gave the impression of some kind of bearishness.” For a crowned person, such behavior is generally indecent. So after all, the imperial crown was not intended for him, but for his older brother Nicholas. Little Sasha in the royal family was not singled out in any way: “You can say that he was somewhat in the pen. Neither his education nor his upbringing was paid much attention, ”recalled the Minister of Finance Witte.

Portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich in a retinue frock coat (S. K. Zaryanko, 1867)

"I've always been lazy"

Admirers of tsarism like to quote a witty saying: "The good thing about a monarchy is that when inheriting the throne, a worthy person may accidentally end up in power." At first glance, this does not apply to Alexander. His educators and teachers, having learned that their ward after the death of his brother became the heir to the throne, literally grabbed his head. “Despite perseverance, he studied poorly and was always extremely lazy,” the words of the teacher Grigory Gogel.“He was distinguished by his zeal for combat exercises, but he discovered a complete absence of any military talents,” General Mikhail Dragomirov. And finally, a resume from the head of general education Alexander Professor Chivilev: "I'm horrified and can't come to terms with the idea that he will rule Russia."

And in fact, the heir, and then the emperor did not give the impression of an intelligent, educated and well-mannered person. He wrote with monstrous mistakes: such pearls of his in official resolutions as "brochures with impudent cue", "and eight" and the beautiful - "ideot" are known. However, few have been awarded this title. More often the emperor used other words. "Beast or Crazy" - oh artist Vereshchagin. "Rabble of bastards" - about the French government. uncle William, emperor of Germany, he had just "cattle", but the chancellor Otto von Bismarck- already "Ober-cattle".

The picture is bleak. Especially when you consider the circumstances under which Alexander came to power. Just as a result of a terrorist attack, his father, Alexander II the Liberator, was killed. There is panic in the ruling circles. The new autocrat himself is almost in despair: “A strange feeling has taken possession of us. What do we do?"

In such reflections, Alexander spent more than two years. In fact, he ruled the empire, but he was in no hurry to formalize this case legally - the coronation was postponed. The mood among the people roughly corresponded to the remark of the archer from the film "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession": "They say the tsar is not real!" Police agents quote speeches that went among the lower classes: “What kind of sovereign is he, if he has not yet been crowned? If I were a real king, I would be crowned!”

Strength and power

The most interesting thing is that everything came true according to their word. From the moment Alexander was finally crowned, the cowardly, dull-witted heir disappeared somewhere. And the same tsar appeared, about whom domestic monarchists sigh.

What will happen to Russia in the near future, Alexander showed immediately. In the process of being anointed king. Now it may seem ridiculous, but at that time, knowledgeable people paid great attention to the coronation menu - the content of the "table card" exactly corresponded to the political doctrine of the new monarch. Alexander's choice was stunning: “Pearl soup. Borschok. Soup. Jellied from ruffs. Green peas".

All this is a Russian table. And common people, muzhik, rude. The most notorious rogues then feasted on peas in pods. To treat this at the coronation of the ruler of the largest empire in the world means to give a weighty slap in the face to your aristocracy and mortally insult foreigners.

The new emperor really proclaimed the slogan "Russia for the Russians", greatly facilitated the life of the common people and began to pump up his muscles. He abolished the poll tax, introduced an inheritance tax, and the navy, the most science-intensive area of the armed forces, became the third in the world after English and French.

This is not forgiven. And, as soon as it turned out that the unimportant education and upbringing of the monarch had almost no effect on the growing power of Russia, it was decided to get close from the other side. Even before he was heir to the throne, he liked to kiss the bottle. Sometimes it was so dashing that he fell into a real binge. Saved him from drinking Dr. Botkin. But the inclination remained. And although the emperor fought with her not without success, rumors and gossip about his alcoholism fell on prepared soil.

This was especially useful for the revolutionaries, who needed to create the image of a “stupid and drunkard” on the throne in order to show the depth of the fall of the monarchy and the need to overthrow, or even kill the tsar. Hence the legend that the king allegedly secretly got drunk, and then rolled on the floor, kicked his legs and tried to knock down everyone passing by. It is not true. Evidence of this is the memoirs of his personal doctor Nikolai Velyaminov: “Did he drink vodka with a snack? It seems not, and if he drank, then no more than one small cup. At the table, if he drank, then his favorite drink is Russian kvass mixed with champagne, and then very moderately. From bad habits - rather smoking, strong Havana cigars and up to fifty cigarettes a day.

The best characteristic of him personally and the results of his reign is a picture Vasnetsov"Bogatyrs". It is known that the artist wrote Ilya Muromets, keeping in mind the appearance of Alexander III. Art critics describe the image of Ilya as follows: "Calm strength and power."

On March 1, 1881, Emperor Alexander II Nikolaevich died at the hands of the Narodnaya Volya, and his second son Alexander ascended the throne. At first he was preparing for a military career, because. the heir to power was his elder brother Nikolai, but in 1865 he died.

In 1868, during a severe crop failure, Alexander Alexandrovich was appointed chairman of the committee for the collection and distribution of benefits to the starving. When he was before accession to the throne, he was the ataman of the Cossack troops, chancellor of the University of Helsingfors. In 1877 he took part in the Russian-Turkish war as a detachment commander.

The historical portrait of Alexander III was more like a mighty Russian peasant than the sovereign of the empire. He possessed heroic strength, but did not differ in mental abilities. Despite this characteristic, Alexander III was very fond of theater, music, painting, and studied Russian history.

In 1866 he married the Danish princess Dagmar, in Orthodoxy Maria Feodorovna. She was smart, educated, and in many ways complemented her husband. Alexander and Maria Feodorovna had 5 children.

Domestic policy of Alexander III

The beginning of the reign of Alexander III fell on the period of the struggle of two parties: the liberal (desiring the reforms initiated by Alexander II) and the monarchist. Alexander III abolished the idea of the constitutionality of Russia and set a course for strengthening the autocracy.

On August 14, 1881, the government adopted a special law "Regulations on Measures to Protect State Order and Public Peace." To combat unrest and terror, states of emergency were introduced, punitive measures were used, and in 1882 the secret police appeared.

Alexander III believed that all the troubles in the country come from the freethinking of subjects and the excessive education of the lower class, which was caused by his father's reforms. Therefore, he began a policy of counter-reforms.

Universities were considered the main center of terror. The new university charter of 1884 sharply limited their autonomy, student associations and student courts were banned, access to education for representatives of the lower classes and Jews was limited, and strict censorship was introduced in the country.

changes in the Zemstvo reform under Alexander III:

In April 1881, the Manifesto on the independence of the autocracy was published, compiled by K.M. Pobedonostsev. The rights of the zemstvos were severely curtailed, and their work was taken under the strict control of the governors. Merchants and officials sat in the city dumas, and only wealthy local nobles sat in the zemstvos. Peasants lost the right to participate in elections.

Changes in judicial reform under Alexander III:

In 1890, a new regulation on zemstvos was adopted. Judges became dependent on the authorities, the competence of the jury was reduced, the world courts were practically eliminated.

Changes in the peasant reform under Alexander III:

The poll tax and communal land tenure were abolished, and compulsory redemption of land was introduced, but redemption payments were reduced. In 1882, the Peasants' Bank was established, designed to issue loans to peasants for the purchase of land and private property.

Changes in the military reform under Alexander III:

The defense capability of border districts and fortresses was strengthened.

Alexander III knew the importance of army reserves, so infantry battalions were created, reserve regiments were formed. A cavalry division was created, capable of fighting both on horseback and on foot.

To conduct combat in mountainous areas, batteries of mountain artillery were created, mortar regiments, siege artillery battalions were formed. A special railway brigade was created to deliver troops and army reserves.

In 1892, mine river companies, serf telegraphs, aeronautic detachments, and military pigeon houses appeared.

Military gymnasiums were transformed into cadet corps, for the first time non-commissioned officer training battalions were created, which trained junior commanders.

A new three-line rifle was adopted, a smokeless type of gunpowder was invented. The military uniform has been changed to a more comfortable one. The order of appointment to command positions in the army was changed: only by seniority.

Social policy of Alexander III

"Russia for the Russians" is the emperor's favorite slogan. Only the Orthodox Church is considered truly Russian, all other religions were officially defined as "non-denominational confessions."

The policy of anti-Semitism was officially proclaimed, and the persecution of Jews began.

Foreign policy of Alexander III

The reign of Emperor Alexander III was the most peaceful. Only once did Russian troops clash with Afghan troops on the Kushka River. Alexander III protected his country from wars, and also helped to extinguish hostility between other countries, for which he received the nickname "Peacemaker".

Economic policy of Alexander III

Under Alexander III, cities, factories and factories grew, domestic and foreign trade grew, the length of railways increased, and the construction of the great Siberian Railway began. In order to develop new lands, peasant families were resettled in Siberia and Central Asia.

In the late 1980s, the state budget deficit was overcome, and revenues exceeded expenditures.

The results of the reign of Alexander III

Emperor Alexander III was called "the most Russian Tsar." He defended the Russian population with all his might, especially on the outskirts, which contributed to the strengthening of state unity.

As a result of the measures taken in Russia, a rapid industrial boom took place, the exchange rate of the Russian ruble grew and strengthened, and the well-being of the population improved.

Alexander III and his counter-reforms provided Russia with a peaceful and calm era without wars and internal unrest, but also engendered a revolutionary spirit in Russians that would break out under his son Nicholas II.