Tsarevich ( Russian : царевич , IPA: [t͡sɐˈrʲevʲɪt͡ɕ] ) was a title given to the sons of tsars . The female equivalent was tsarevna .
119-447: Under the 1797 Pauline house laws , the title was discontinued and replaced with tsesarevich for the heir apparent alone. His younger brothers were given the title of veliky knyaz , translated as grand prince or, more commonly, as grand duke . Historically, the term was also applied to descendants of the khans (tsars) of Kazan , Kasimov , and Siberia after these khanates had been conquered by Russia . The descendants of
238-534: A Bagration as morganatic , because this House, like the House of Orléans , is descended from a once ruling dynasty ." Previously, the morganatic wives of Romanov grand dukes had been banished from Russia, along with their disgraced husbands such as Sophia von Merenberg, Countess de Torby and Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich , as well as Princess Olga Paley and Grand Duke Paul Aleksandrovich ). Female Romanovs had dared to marry morganatically only in secret, and
357-593: A Royal or Ruling House, cannot pass on to that person, or to any posterity that may issue from such a marriage, the rights which belong to the Members of the Imperial family". Also remaining unrepealed was Article 36 ("Children born of a marriage between a member of the Imperial Family and a person not of corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, shall have no right of succession to
476-502: A Russian style nevertheless. There existed an idea, never enshrined formally in law, that a descendant of a mother who was not Orthodox had a dubious status as a successor. Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin , known as Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, who had kept her Lutheran faith upon her marriage to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia in 1874, converted to Orthodoxy 34 years later, shortly before her husband's death. According to some contemporary accounts she did so to strengthen
595-455: A convention, signed on 4 January 1810, but not ratified, abolishing the Polish name and orders of chivalry. But if Alexander suspected Napoleon's intentions, Napoleon was no less suspicious of Alexander. Partly to test his sincerity, Napoleon sent an almost peremptory request for the hand of the grand-duchess Anna Pavlovna , the tsar's youngest sister. After some little delay Alexander returned
714-731: A decisive victory in the Siege of Lankaran , Persia was forced to sue for peace. In October 1813, the Treaty of Gulistan , negotiated with British mediation and signed at Gulistan , made the Persian Shah Fath Ali Shah cede all Persian territories in the North Caucasus and most of its territories in the South Caucasus to Russia. This included what is now Dagestan, Georgia, and most of Azerbaijan. It also began
833-525: A divine mission. In his instructions to Niklolay Novosiltsev , his special envoy in London, the emperor elaborated the motives of his policy in language that appealed little to the prime minister, William Pitt the Younger . Yet the document is of great interest, as it formulates for the first time in an official dispatch the ideals of international policy that were to play a conspicuous part in world affairs at
952-514: A large demographic shift in the Caucasus, as many Muslim families emigrated to Persia In the summer of 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia. It was the occupation of Moscow and the desecration of the Kremlin , considered to be the sacred centre of Holy Russia, that changed Alexander's sentiment for Napoleon into passionate hatred. The campaign of 1812 was the turning point for Alexander's life; after
1071-679: A major shift in European politics. France's ally Prussia, soon followed by Austria, broke their imposed alliance with Napoleon and switched sides, triggering the War of the Sixth Coalition . With the Russian army following up victory over Napoleon in 1812, the Sixth Coalition was formed with Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, Sweden, Spain, and other nations. Although the French were victorious in
1190-532: A man of the world and a mystic, Alexander appeared to his contemporaries as a riddle which each read according to his own temperament. Napoleon Bonaparte thought him a "shifty Byzantine ", and called him the Talma of the North, as ready to play any conspicuous part. To Metternich he was a madman to be humoured. Castlereagh , writing of him to Lord Liverpool , gave him credit for "grand qualities", but added that he
1309-538: A marriage against his will. In all four cases, the eventual regent would be the next adult person in the line of succession. The Pauline Laws stipulated only the monarchs themselves were of the Eastern Orthodox faith. They held no provisions of the religion embraced by the monarch's consort or the spouses of those in the line of succession, unlike the Act of Settlement of England. However, in practice, since 1740s,
SECTION 10
#17327649813571428-580: A marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling house". Both the 1889 and 1911 decrees were addenda to Article 188 of the Pauline laws (recodified as article 63 of the Imperial Family Statute). Left intact, however, was that original statute: "A person of the Imperial family who has entered into a marriage alliance with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to
1547-556: A morganatic wife of a reigning Emperor, in a precedent settled by Catherine Dolgorukova in 1880, had the style of an Empress (although Alexander II, which is far from certain, might consider crowning her later but failed to do so as he was assassinated soon thereafter). Morganatic marriages of the Romanovs were not typically made public nor announced via manifestos, and if such spouses were created count(esse)s of prince(sse)s, their letters patent did not cite their marital status concerning
1666-652: A new visit to Paris, presented to Alexander his Reflections on the True Nature of the Consul for Life , which, as Alexander said, tore the veil from his eyes and revealed Bonaparte "as not a true patriot ", but only as "the most famous tyrant the world has produced". Later on, La Harpe and his friend Henri Monod lobbied Alexander, who persuaded the other Allied powers opposing Napoleon to recognise Vaudois and Argovian independence, in spite of Bern 's attempts to reclaim them as subject lands . Alexander's disillusionment
1785-611: A policy that was Napoleon's chief motive for the alliance. Alexander kept Russia as neutral as possible in the ongoing French war with Britain, Russia's own war with Britain barely any more than nominal. He allowed trade to continue secretly with Britain and did not enforce the blockade required by the Continental System. In 1810, he withdrew Russia from the Continental System and trade between Britain and Russia grew. Relations between France and Russia worsened progressively after 1810. By 1811, it became clear that Napoleon
1904-477: A polite refusal, pleading the princess's tender age and the objection of the dowager empress to the marriage. Napoleon's answer was to refuse to ratify the 4 January convention, and to announce his engagement to the Archduchess Marie Louise in such a way as to lead Alexander to suppose that the two marriage treaties had been negotiated simultaneously. From this time on, the relationship between
2023-658: A renunciation of the right to succession to the Imperial Throne of All the Russias belonging to Her as a member of the Imperial House". She received in return Nicholas II’s authorisation to marry Bagration-Mukhransky. That was the same family into which Princess Leonida Bagration of Mukhrani, the wife of Vladimir Cyrillovich, was born. Tatiana Konstantinovna and her Georgian prince were married at her father's estate at Pavlovsk , on 3 September 1911. The Emperor
2142-536: A secret manifesto withheld until the Emperor's death. This legally controversial decision contravened the Pauline laws and triggered the succession crisis of 1825 . Over time, the house laws were amended, and in the late Russian Empire, the laws governing membership in the imperial house, succession to the throne, and other dynastic subjects were divided, with some being included in the Fundamental Laws of
2261-408: A strong sense of remorse and shame. Alexander I succeeded to the throne that day and was crowned in the Kremlin on 15 September of that year. The Orthodox Church initially exercised little influence on Alexander's life. The young emperor was determined to reform the inefficient, highly centralised systems of government that Russia relied upon. While retaining for a time the old ministers, one of
2380-539: Is "suspicious and undecided"; and to Jefferson he was a man of estimable character, disposed to do good, and expected to diffuse through the mass of the Russian people "a sense of their natural rights". In 1803, Beethoven dedicated his Opus 30 Violin Sonata to Alexander who in response gave the famous composer a diamond at the Congress of Vienna where they met in 1814. Upon his accession, Alexander reversed many of
2499-554: The Treaty of Bucharest (1812) , which ended the war against the Ottomans formally. His diplomats managed to extract promises from Prussia and Austria that should Napoleon invade Russia, the former would help Napoleon as little as possible and that the latter would give no aid at all. The minister of war , Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly , had managed the reform and improvement of the Imperial Russian Army before
SECTION 20
#17327649813572618-488: The War of the Third Coalition against Napoleon , but after suffering massive defeats at the battles of Austerlitz and Friedland , he switched sides and formed an alliance with Napoleon in the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) and joined Napoleon's Continental System . He fought a small-scale naval war against Britain between 1807 and 1812 as well as a short war against Sweden (1808–09) after Sweden's refusal to join
2737-462: The burning of Moscow , he declared that his own soul had found illumination, and that he had realized once and for all the divine revelation to him of his mission as the peacemaker of Europe. While the Russian army retreated deep into Russia for almost three months, the nobility pressured Alexander to relieve the commander of the Russian army, Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly. Alexander complied and appointed Prince Mikhail Kutuzov to take over command of
2856-482: The 19th century. In the country as a whole, Paul was widely unpopular. He accused his wife of conspiring to become another Catherine and seize power from him as his mother did from his father. He also suspected Alexander of conspiring against him. Defunct Alexander became Emperor of Russia when his father was assassinated on 23 March 1801. Alexander, then 23 years old, was in the Saint Michael's Castle at
2975-635: The Blessed ", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russia during the chaotic period of the Napoleonic Wars . The eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg , Alexander succeeded to the throne after his father was murdered. As prince and during the early years of his reign, he often used liberal rhetoric, but continued Russia's absolutist policies in practice. In
3094-487: The Blood Imperial ... Princes as well as Princesses of the Blood Imperial, upon contracting a marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, shall personally retain the title and privileges which are theirs by birth, with the exception of their right to succession from which they shall have abdicated before entering the marriage. In relation to the categorization of the marriages of Princes and Princesses of
3213-478: The Blood Imperial, the Lord Emperor has seen fit to recognize only two categories in these marriages: (a) equal marriages, i.e. those contracted with persons belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, and (b) unequal marriages, i.e. those contracted with persons not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, and will not recognize any other categories. As promised in that communiqué (the so-called "Frederiks Memorandum"),
3332-478: The Bolsheviks, and the succession of the defunct Russian throne became disputed between different surviving descendants of the Romanovs in emigration. There was no precedent of regency under the Pauline law, the last legal regent being Anna Leopoldovna in 1740-1741. The laws did not provide for automatic identification of who should assume regency over a minor monarch. In 1825, 1855, and 1881, concurrently with
3451-649: The Caucasus. Between 1802 and 1804 he proceeded to impose Russian rule on Western Georgia and some of the Persian controlled khanates around Georgia. Some of these khanates submitted without a fight, but the Ganja Khanate resisted, prompting an attack. Ganja was ruthlessly sacked during the Siege of Ganja , with some 3,000 – 7,000 inhabitants of Ganja executed, and thousands more expelled to Persia. These attacks by Tsitsianov formed another casus belli. On 23 May 1804, Persia demanded withdrawal from
3570-638: The Coalition forces in the theatre and the paramount monarch among the three main Coalition monarchs, ordered all Coalition forces in Germany to cross the Rhine and invade France. The Coalition forces, divided into three groups, entered northeastern France in January 1814. Facing them in the theatre were the French forces numbering only about 70,000 men. In spite of being heavily outnumbered, Napoleon defeated
3689-543: The Coalition positions. Early in the morning the Coalition attack began when the Russians attacked and drove back the French skirmishers near Belleville before being driven back themselves by French cavalry from the city's eastern suburbs. By 7:00 a.m. the Russians attacked the Young Guard near Romainville in the centre of the French lines and after some time and hard fighting, pushed them back. A few hours later
Tsarevich - Misplaced Pages Continue
3808-773: The Continental System. Alexander and Napoleon hardly agreed, especially regarding Poland, and the alliance collapsed by 1810. Alexander's greatest triumph came in 1812 when Napoleon's invasion of Russia descended into a catastrophe for the French. As part of the winning coalition against Napoleon, he gained territory in Finland and Poland. He formed the Holy Alliance to suppress the revolutionary movements in Europe, which he saw as immoral threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He also helped Austria 's Klemens von Metternich in suppressing all national and liberal movements. During
3927-623: The Emperor about relaxing the requirement that all dynasts marry partners "possessing corresponding rank" enshrined in Article 188 of the Pauline Laws, but he was rebuffed. The grand dukes then officially petitioned the Emperor by a commission chaired by Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich of Russia , requesting that a new category of dynastic marriages be recognised, to consist of Imperial princes and princesses entitled, with specific Imperial consent, to marry persons of non-royal blood but retaining
4046-419: The Emperor proceeded to legalise authorised marriages of imperial Romanovs below grand ducal rank to those who lacked "corresponding rank". Such marriages had been altogether banned, rather than deemed morganatic, by Alexander III's ukase #5868 on 23 March 1889. However, ukase #35731/1489, issued on 11 August 1911, amended the 1889 ban with these words: "Henceforth no grand duke or grand duchess may contract
4165-622: The Emperors of the East and West , when the time should be ripe, would drive the Turks from Europe and march across Asia to the conquest of India . Nevertheless, a thought awoke in Alexander's impressionable mind an ambition to which he had hitherto been a stranger. The interests of Europe as a whole were utterly forgotten. The brilliance of these new visions did not, however, blind Alexander to
4284-424: The French forces surrendered. Alexander sent an envoy to meet with the French to hasten the surrender. He offered generous terms to the French and although having intended to avenge Moscow, he declared himself to be bringing peace to France rather than its destruction. On 31 March Talleyrand gave the key of the city to the tsar. Later that day the Coalition armies triumphantly entered the city with Alexander at
4403-465: The Fundamental laws of 1906, had no right to remove his son from the order of succession under the Pauline laws, and the abdication of a reigning emperor was not provided for there either. The Grand Duke Michael did not accept the crown in 1917 and the Russian monarchy was abolished. In 1918-1919 the former emperor Nicholas with his family, Grand Duke Michael, and many other Romanovs were killed by
4522-551: The Great . He was named after Alexander Nevsky , the patron saint of Saint Petersburg. As competing aspects of his upbringing, he imbibed the principles of Rousseau 's gospel of humanity from the free-thinking atmosphere of the court of Catherine and his Swiss tutor, Frédéric-César de La Harpe , whereas he imbibed the traditions of Russian autocracy from his military governor, Nikolay Saltykov . Andrey Afanasyevich Samborsky, whom his grandmother chose to be his religious instructor,
4641-492: The Pauline Laws stipulated that "the heir should be named by the Law itself so that there should be no doubt as to who should succeed". Paul I abolished Peter the Great 's law that allowed each reigning emperor or empress to designate his or her successor and substituted a strict order of succession by proclaiming that the eldest son of the monarch would inherit the throne, followed by other dynasts according to primogeniture in
4760-477: The Prussians, under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher , attacked north of the city and carried the French position around Aubervilliers , but did not press their attack. The Württemberg troops seized the positions at Saint-Maur to the southeast, with Austrian troops in support. The Russian forces then assailed the heights of Montmartre in the city's northeast. Control of the heights was severely contested, until
4879-590: The Russian Empire and others in the Statute of the Imperial Family (codification of 1906, as amended to 1911). The next monarch, Nicholas I of Russia , and his successors adhered to the Pauline rules in practice. In 1825, 1855, and 1881, following the accession of a new Emperor, his eldest son was recognized as heir apparent and bestowed the title of Heir Tsesarevich . In 1865, the future Alexander III of Russia became heir apparent and Tsesarevich following
Tsarevich - Misplaced Pages Continue
4998-655: The Throne"). Aside from Article 188, Article 36 applied to prevent Tatiana Konstantinovna's issue from claiming succession rights. Her contemplated marriage having been rendered legal, Tatiana Konstantinovna renounced her dynastic rights, as was required. Nicholas II acknowledged that in a ukase addressed to the Imperial Senate on 9 February 1914: "Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna has presented to Us over Her own sign manual,
5117-699: The Tsar to his face for a "conscience" which led him to imperil the concert of the powers by keeping his hold on Poland in violation of his treaty obligation. Once a supporter of limited liberalism, as seen in his approval of the representative institutions in the Ionian Islands , Grand Duchy of Finland and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland in 1815, from the end of the year 1818 Alexander's views began to change. A revolutionary conspiracy among
5236-533: The Tsar. A party too in Russia itself, headed by the Tsar's brother Constantine Pavlovich, was clamorous for peace; but Alexander, after a vain attempt to form a new coalition, summoned the Russian nation to a holy war against Napoleon as the enemy of the Orthodox faith. The outcome was the rout of Friedland (13/14 June 1807). Napoleon saw his chance and seized it. Instead of demanding harsh peace terms, he offered to
5355-526: The accession manifests of the Emperors, their next living brothers were appointed regents in the eventual situation of their respective nephews (who were all then minors) succeeding to the throne before the legal majority. However, these provisions were never put into effect as such a situation never occurred. In 1904, after the birth of Alexei, his uncle Michael was appointed the eventual regent in case Nicholas II died before his majority. Still, Nicholas rescinded this decision in early 1913 as Michael had contracted
5474-406: The advancing Russians. The campaign ended on 14 December 1812, with the last French troops finally leaving Russian soil. The campaign was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars . Napoleon's reputation was severely shaken, and French hegemony in Europe was weakened. The Grande Armée , made up of French and allied forces, was reduced to a fraction of its initial strength. These events triggered
5593-593: The affairs of individucal nations to support "the absurd pretensions of "absolute power". He still declared his belief in free institutions with limitations. "Liberty", he maintained, "should be confined within just limits. And the limits of liberty are the principles of order". Alexander's conversion was completed by the 1820 revolutions in Naples and Piedmont , combined with increasingly disquieting symptoms of discontent in France , Germany, and among his own people. In
5712-404: The aid lent to the sciences and arts by the Emperor and the wealthy nobility. Alexander later expelled foreign scholars. After 1815 the military settlements (farms worked by soldiers and their families under military control) were introduced, with the idea of making the army, or part of it, self-supporting economically and for providing it with recruits. Called both an autocrat and Jacobin ,
5831-545: The army. On 7 September, the Grande Armée faced the Russian army at a small village called Borodino , 110 kilometres (70 mi) west of Moscow. The battle that followed was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 soldiers and resulting in 70,000 casualties. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive. The Russian army, undefeated in spite of heavy losses,
5950-419: The autumn of 1813, that his soul found peace. From this time a mystic pietism became the avowed force of his political, as of his private actions. Madame de Krüdener, and her colleague, the evangelist Henri-Louis Empaytaz , became the confidants of the emperor's most secret thoughts; and during the campaign that ended in the occupation of Paris the imperial prayer-meetings were the oracle on whose revelations hung
6069-482: The better of reason, that as a matter of fact he had never intended his proposed "grand enterprise" seriously, and had only used it to preoccupy the mind of the Tsar while he consolidated his own power in Central Europe . From this moment the French alliance was for Alexander also not a fraternal agreement to rule the world, but an affair of pure policy. He used it initially to remove "the geographical enemy" from
SECTION 50
#17327649813576188-539: The brides of Romanov agnates, who were predominantly Protestant princesses of German states, typically did convert to Eastern Orthodoxy before the marriage and took a Russian name and patronymic that were later a part of their style as Grand Duchesses, such as Elizaveta Alekseevna, Anna Fedorovna , etc. Exceptions were tolerated since 1870s for spouses of cadet Grand Dukes, not immediately in the line of succession, who might since then retain Protestantism but accepted
6307-537: The capital, but his marshals refused to fight for him and repeatedly urged him to surrender. He abdicated in favour of his son on 4 April, but the Allies rejected this out of hand, forcing Napoleon to abdicate unconditionally on 6 April. The terms of his abdication, which included his exile to the Isle of Elba , were settled in the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 11 April. A reluctant Napoleon ratified it two days later, marking
6426-538: The chastened autocrat his alliance, and a partnership in his glory. The two Emperors met at Tilsit on 25 June 1807. Napoleon knew well how to appeal to the exuberant imagination of his new-found friend. He would divide with Alexander the Empire of the world; as a first step he would leave him in possession of the Danubian Principalities and give him a free hand to deal with Finland; and, afterwards,
6545-535: The city for a month, Napoleon moved his army out southwest toward Kaluga , where Kutuzov was encamped with the Russian army. The French advance toward Kaluga was checked by the Russian army, and Napoleon was forced to retreat to the areas already devastated by the invasion. In the weeks that followed the Grande Armée starved and suffered from the onset of the Russian Winter . Lack of food and fodder for
6664-399: The close of the revolutionary epoch. Alexander argued that the outcome of the war was not only to be the liberation of France, but the universal triumph of "the sacred rights of humanity ". To attain this it would be necessary "after having attached the nations to their government by making these incapable of acting save in the greatest interests of their subjects, to fix the relations of
6783-420: The cost, imposing his will upon Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg , and the wavering monarchs. On 28 March, Coalition forces advanced towards Paris and prepared to launch an assault. Camping outside the city on 29 March, the Coalition armies were to assault the city from its northern and eastern sides the next morning on 30 March. The battle started that same morning with intense artillery bombardment from
6902-420: The couples' relationships remained open secrets, such as Empress Elizabeth of Russia and Alexey Razumovsky , as well as the second marriage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna and Count Grigory Stroganov ). Nonetheless, Tatiana Konstantinovna's marriage was legally morganatic. It was in fact the first marriage in the dynasty conducted in compliance with the Emperor's formal decision not to accept as dynastic
7021-500: The creation of military settlements . Alexander died of typhus in December 1825 while on a trip to southern Russia. He left no legitimate children, as his two daughters died in childhood. Neither of his brothers wanted to become emperor. After a period of great confusion (that presaged the failed Decembrist revolt of liberal army officers in the weeks after his death), he was succeeded by his younger brother, Nicholas I . Alexander
7140-408: The death of his elder brother . In 1894 Nicholas II of Russia succeeded while still childless and his first four children were daughters. So his younger brothers, first George , who died in 1899, and then Michael officially served as heirs presumptive until the birth of the Emperor's fifth child and the only son Alexei , who became the last Russian heir apparent in 1904. The latter, still minor,
7259-601: The deposed royal families of Georgia or the batonishvili were given the titles of tsarevich until 1833, when they were demoted to knyaz after a failed coup to restore the Georgian monarchy. This royalty -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pauline Laws The Pauline Laws are the house laws of the Romanov rulers of the Russian Empire . The name comes from
SECTION 60
#17327649813577378-449: The divided Coalition forces in the battles at Brienne and La Rothière , but could not stop the Coalition's advance and triumphant victory over Napoleon. Austrian Emperor Francis I and King Frederick William III of Prussia felt demoralized upon hearing about Napoleon's victories since the start of the campaign. They even considered ordering a general retreat. But Alexander was far more determined than ever to victoriously enter Paris whatever
7497-501: The divorce of Constantine Pavlovich from Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and prior to his subsequent marriage to Joanna Grudzińska . Furthermore, legal spouses of a member of the Imperial family having no "corresponding status" by birth were not accorded a status that the spouses of Grand Dukes would normally enjoy; typically these marriages, following the German tradition, are called "morganatic marriages" by historians. Neither
7616-610: The dynasty. In the spring of 1911, Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia became engaged to Prince Konstantin Alexandrovich Bagration (1889–1915), a Georgian by birth who served in the Russian Imperial Guard regiment and would die in World War I . She was to be the first daughter of the Romanovs who openly married a Russian subject or non-dynastic prince since the dynasty had ascended
7735-549: The end of the War of the Sixth Coalition. Alexander tried to calm the unrest of his conscience by correspondence with the leaders of the evangelical revival on the continent and sought for omens and supernatural guidance in texts and passages of scripture. It was not, however, according to his own account, until he met the Baroness de Krüdener —a religious adventuress who made the conversion of princes her special mission—at Basel , in
7854-482: The eventual claim of her sons to the Russian throne. The original Pauline Laws did not contain legal provisions according to which the descendants of the Romanovs born out of an equal marriage (that is, from a legal marriage permitted by the reigning monarch, but other than with a member of another "reigning or possessing family") should be excluded from the succession. Such norms were first enacted as an additional norm by Alexander I on April 1 (O. S. March 20), 1820, upon
7973-426: The fact that they were initially established by Emperor Paul I of Russia in 1797. Previously drafted privately as a contract between Paul Petrovich while being the heir apparent, and his wife Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , it was made public and signed into law after Paul succeeded his mother Catherine II in November 1796 and was crowned Emperor. The Grand Duke Paul, although proclaimed heir of
8092-451: The fate of the world. Such was Alexander's mood when the downfall of Napoleon left him one of the most powerful sovereigns in Europe. With the memory of the Treaty of Tilsit still fresh in men's minds, it was not unnatural that to cynical men of the world like Klemens Wenzel von Metternich he merely seemed to be disguising "under the language of evangelical abnegation" vast and perilous schemes of ambition. The puzzled powers were, in fact,
8211-422: The first acts of his reign was to appoint the Private Committee , comprising young and enthusiastic friends of his own— Viktor Kochubey , Nikolay Novosiltsev , Pavel Stroganov and Adam Jerzy Czartoryski —to draw up a plan of domestic reform, which was supposed to result in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in accordance with the teachings of the Age of Enlightenment . A few years into his reign
8330-409: The first years of his reign, he initiated some minor social reforms and (in 1803–04) major liberal educational reforms, such as building more universities. Alexander appointed Mikhail Speransky , the son of a village priest, as one of his closest advisors. The over-centralized Collegium ministries were abolished and replaced by the Committee of Ministers , State Council , and Supreme Court to improve
8449-449: The gates of Saint Petersburg by wresting Finland from Sweden (1809), and he hoped further to make the Danube the southern frontier of Russia. Events were rapidly heading towards the rupture of the Franco-Russian alliance. While Alexander assisted Napoleon in the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809, he declared plainly that he would not allow the Austrian Empire to be crushed out of existence. Napoleon subsequently complained bitterly of
8568-702: The head of the army followed by the King of Prussia and Prince Schwarzenberg. Until this battle it had been nearly 400 years since a foreign army had entered Paris , during the Hundred Years' War . On 2 April, the Sénat conservateur passed the Acte de déchéance de l'Empereur , which declared Napoleon deposed. Napoleon was in Fontainebleau when he heard that Paris had surrendered. Outraged, he wanted to march on
8687-637: The horses and persistent attacks upon isolated troops from Russian peasants and Cossacks led to great losses. When the remnants of the French army eventually crossed the Berezina river in November, only 27,000 soldiers remained; the Grande Armée had lost some 380,000 men dead and 100,000 captured. Following the crossing of the Berezina, Napoleon left the army and returned to Paris to protect his position as Emperor and to raise more forces to resist
8806-468: The inactivity of the Russian troops during the campaign. The tsar in turn protested against Napoleon's encouragement of the Poles. In the matter of the French alliance he knew himself to be practically isolated in Russia, and he declared that he could not sacrifice the interest of his people and empire to his affection for Napoleon. "I don't want anything for myself", he said to the French ambassador, "therefore
8925-597: The initial battles during the campaign in Germany , the entry of Austria into the war led to France's decisive defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in the autumn of 1813, which proved to be a massive victory for the Coalition. Following the battle, the Pro-French Confederation of the Rhine collapsed, thereby ending Napoleon's hold on territory east of the Rhine forever. Alexander, being the supreme commander of
9044-493: The legal system. Plans were made but never consummated, to set up a parliament and sign a constitution. In contrast to his westernizing predecessors such as Peter the Great , Alexander was a Russian nationalist and Slavophile who wanted Russia to develop on the basis of Russian culture rather than European. In foreign policy, he changed Russia's position towards France four times between 1804 and 1812, shifting among neutrality, opposition, and alliance. In 1805 he joined Britain in
9163-569: The liberal Mikhail Speransky became one of the Emperor's closest advisors, and he drew up elaborate plans for reforms. In the Government reform , the old Collegia were abolished and new Ministries were created in their place, led by ministers responsible to the Crown. A Committee of Ministers under the chairmanship of the Sovereign dealt with all interdepartmental matters. The State Council
9282-500: The male line. Paul thus implemented a semi-Salic line of succession to the Russian throne, which would pass to a female and through the female ( cognatic ) line of the dynasty only upon the extinction of all legitimately-born male dynasts (in this case, only the descendants of Paul I himself, not the Holstein-Gottorp 3rd cousins). Should the male line become extinct, the female issue of the last reigning monarch would have
9401-475: The marriages of even the most junior Romanovs, those who bore only the title of prince or princess, with non-royal partners. According to Always a Grand Duke , the 1933 memoir of Nicholas II's brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (published in New York, by Farrar and Rinehart, Inc.), concern about the eventual marriages of cadet Romanovs so troubled the senior grand dukes that Alexander approached
9520-433: The moment of the assassination and his accession to the throne was announced by General Nicholas Zubov , one of the assassins. Historians still debate Alexander's role in his father's murder. The most common theory is that he was let into the conspirators' secret and was willing to take the throne but insisted that his father should not be killed. Becoming emperor through a crime that cost his father's life would give Alexander
9639-580: The more inclined to be suspicious in view of other, and seemingly inconsistent, tendencies of the emperor, which yet seemed all to point to a like disquieting conclusion. For Madame de Krüdener was not the only influence behind the throne; and, though Alexander had declared war against the Revolution, La Harpe (his erstwhile tutor) was once more at his elbow, and the catchwords of the gospel of humanity were still on his lips. The very proclamations which denounced Napoleon as "the genius of evil", denounced him in
9758-567: The name of "liberty," and of "enlightenment". Conservatives suspected Alexander of a monstrous intrigue by which the eastern autocrat would ally with the Jacobinism of all Europe, aiming at an all-powerful Russia in place of an all-powerful France. At the Congress of Vienna Alexander's attitude accentuated this distrust. Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, whose single-minded aim was the restoration of "a just equilibrium" in Europe, reproached
9877-567: The obligation to exhaust all resources of mediation to retain peace, and would form "a new code of the law of nations". Meanwhile, Napoleon, a little deterred by the Russian autocrat's youthful ideology, never gave up hope of detaching him from the coalition. He had no sooner entered Vienna in triumph than he opened negotiations with Alexander; he resumed them after the Battle of Austerlitz (2 December). Russia and France, he urged, were "geographical allies"; there was, and could be, between them no true conflict of interests; together they might rule
9996-572: The obligations of friendship, and he refused to retain the Danubian principalities as the price for suffering a further dismemberment of Prussia. "We have made loyal war", he said, "we must make a loyal peace". It was not long before the first enthusiasm of Tilsit began to wane. The French remained in Prussia, the Russians on the Danube, and each accused the other of breach of faith. Meanwhile, however,
10115-488: The officers of the Russian Imperial Guard , and a plot to kidnap him on his way to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle , are said to have shaken his liberal beliefs. At Aix he came for the first time into intimate contact with Metternich. From this time dates the ascendancy of Metternich over the mind of the Russian Emperor and in the councils of Europe. It was, however, no case of sudden conversion. Though alarmed by
10234-518: The palace also put pressure on him to perform as a husband, though he felt only a brother's love for the Grand Duchess. He began to sympathize more with his father, as he saw visiting his father's fiefdom at Gatchina Palace as a relief from the ostentatious court of the empress. There, they wore simple Prussian military uniforms, instead of the gaudy clothing popular at the French court they had to wear when visiting Catherine. Even so, visiting
10353-524: The personal relations of Alexander and Napoleon were of the most cordial character, and it was hoped that a fresh meeting might adjust all differences between them. The meeting took place at Erfurt in October 1808 and resulted in a treaty that defined the common policy of the two Emperors. But Alexander's relations with Napoleon nonetheless suffered a change. He realised that in Napoleon sentiment never got
10472-525: The priority rights to the throne. This system closely followed the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 that governed the succession of the Habsburg monarchy . A female eventually succeeding to the throne would have the style of Empress in her own right, but the laws stipulated that her husband would not become Emperor. A person in line of succession belonging to a religion other than Eastern Orthodoxy
10591-467: The regions Russia had occupied, comprising what is now Georgia , Dagestan , and parts of Azerbaijan . Russia refused, stormed Ganja, and declared war. Following an almost ten-year stalemate centred around what is now Dagestan, east Georgia, Azerbaijan, northern Armenia , with neither party being able to gain the clear upper hand, Russia eventually managed to turn the tide. After a series of successful offensives led by General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky , including
10710-707: The reign of his nephew Alexander II ). His advisors quietly discussed the options at length. Cautiously, he extended the right to own land to most classes of subjects, including state-owned peasants , in 1801 and created a new social category of " free agriculturalist ," for peasants voluntarily emancipated by their masters, in 1803. The great majority of serfs were not affected. When Alexander's reign began, there were three universities in Russia, at Moscow , Vilna (Vilnius), and Dorpat (Tartu). These were strengthened, and three others were founded at St. Petersburg , Kharkiv , and Kazan . Literary and scientific bodies were established or encouraged, and his reign became noted for
10829-474: The revolutionary agitation in Germany, which culminated in the murder of his agent, the dramatist August von Kotzebue (23 March 1819), Alexander joined Castlereagh's protest against Metternich's collective security policy of "the governments contracting an alliance against the peoples", as formulated in the Carlsbad Decrees of July 1819. Alexander deprecated any intervention of a European league in
10948-530: The right to transmit to the issue of eligibility to inherit the throne. The Emperor's response was issued formally on 14 June 1911 in the form of a memorandum from the Minister of the Imperial Court , Baron Vladimir Frederiks : The Lord Emperor has seen fit to permit marriages to persons not possessing corresponding rank of not all Members of the Imperial Family, but only of Princes and Princesses of
11067-424: The seclusion of the little town of Troppau , where in October 1820 the powers met in conference , Metternich cemented his influence over Alexander, which had been wanting amid the turmoil and intrigues of Vienna and Aix. During a friendly conversation over afternoon tea, the disillusioned autocrat confessed his mistake. "You have nothing to regret," he said sadly to the exultant chancellor, "but I have!". The issue
11186-417: The second half of his reign, Alexander became increasingly arbitrary, reactionary, and fearful of plots against him; as a result he ended many of the reforms he had made earlier on his reign. He purged schools of foreign teachers, as education became more religiously driven as well as politically conservative. Speransky was replaced as advisor with the strict artillery inspector Aleksey Arakcheyev , who oversaw
11305-495: The start of the 1812 campaign. Primarily on the advice of his sister and Count Aleksey Arakcheyev , Alexander did not take operational control as he had done during the 1805 campaign, instead delegating control to his generals, Barclay de Tolly, Prince Pyotr Bagration and Mikhail Kutuzov . Despite brief hostilities in the Persian Expedition of 1796 , eight years of peace passed before a new conflict erupted between
11424-571: The states amongst each other on more precise rules, and such as it is to their interest to respect". A general treaty was to become the main basis of the relations of the states forming "the European Confederation". While he believed the effort would not attain universal peace, it would be worthwhile if it established clear principles for the prescriptions of the rights of nations. The body would assure "the positive rights of nations" and "the privilege of neutrality," while asserting
11543-402: The throne before she could appoint Alexander as her successor. Alexander disliked his father as emperor even more than he did his grandmother. He wrote that Russia had become a "plaything for the insane" and that "absolute power disrupts everything". It is likely that seeing two previous rulers abuse their autocratic powers in such a way pushed him to be one of the more progressive Romanov tsars of
11662-613: The throne in 1613. Her anxious father approached the Emperor Nicholas II and his empress, Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse , for approval. On 30 November 1910, Grand Duke Constantine Konstantinovich noted in one of his posthumously -published journals ( From the Diaries of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich , Moscow, February 1994) that he had received assurances that "they would never look upon her marriage to
11781-406: The throne under his father Peter III in 1762, had been long denied succession by his mother Catherine II, who deposed (and possibly assassinated) his father later that year. Her long reign (1762-1796) was deemed by many of her contemporaries, and by Paul himself, as an usurpation. While still the heir, Paul designed a future legal instrument to preclude such coups and arbitrary successions. The text of
11900-580: The title of Highness and henceforth to bear the name of Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna Princess Bagration-Mukhransky...". Alexander I of Russia Alexander I ( Russian : Александр I Павлович , romanized : Aleksandr I Pavlovich , IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ] ; 23 December [ O.S. 12 December] 1777 – 1 December [ O.S. 19 November] 1825), nicknamed "
12019-566: The tsarevich did not come without a bit of travail. Paul liked to have his guests perform military drills, which he also pushed upon his sons Alexander and Constantine. He was also prone to fits of temper, and he often went into fits of rage when events did not go his way. Some sources allege that the empress Catherine planned to remove her son Paul from the succession altogether (in consideration of his unstable temperament and bizarre personality traits) and make Alexander her successor instead. Catherine's death in November 1796 brought her son Paul to
12138-410: The two emperors gradually became more and more strained. Another personal grievance for Alexander towards Napoleon was the annexation of Oldenburg by France in December 1810, as Wilhelm, Duke of Oldenburg (3 January 1754 – 2 July 1823) was the uncle of the tsar. Furthermore, the disastrous impact of the Continental System on Russian trade made it impossible for the emperor to maintain
12257-595: The two empires. After the Russian annexation of the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in 1801, a subject of Persia for centuries, and the incorporation of the Derbent Khanate as well quickly thereafter, Alexander was determined to increase and maintain Russian influence in the strategically valuable Caucasus region. In 1801, Alexander appointed Pavel Tsitsianov , a die-hard Russian imperialist of Georgian origin, as Russian commander in chief of
12376-574: The unpopular policies of his father, Paul, denounced the League of Armed Neutrality , and made peace with Britain (April 1801). At the same time he opened negotiations with Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor . Soon afterwards, at Memel , he entered into a close alliance with Prussia, not as he boasted from motives of policy, but in the spirit of true chivalry , out of friendship for the young King Frederick William III and his beautiful wife Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . The development of this alliance
12495-450: The world is not large enough to come to an understanding on the affairs of Poland, if it is a question of its restoration". Alexander complained that the Treaty of Schönbrunn , which added largely to the Duchy of Warsaw , had "ill requited him for his loyalty", and he was only mollified for the time being by Napoleon's public declaration that he had no intention of restoring Poland, and by
12614-403: The world. But Alexander was still determined "to persist in the system of disinterestedness in respect of all the states of Europe which he had thus far followed", and he again allied himself with the Kingdom of Prussia. The campaign of Jena and the Battle of Eylau followed; and Napoleon, though still intent on the Russian alliance, stirred up Poles, Turks and Persians to break the obstinacy of
12733-583: The young princess. Until his grandmother's death, he was constantly walking the line of allegiance between his grandmother and his father. His steward Nikolai Saltykov helped him navigate the political landscape, engendering dislike for his grandmother and dread in dealing with his father. Catherine had the Alexander Palace built for the couple. This did nothing to help his relationship with her, as Catherine would go out of her way to amuse them with dancing and parties, which annoyed his wife. Living at
12852-479: Was able to withdraw the following day, leaving the French without the decisive victory Napoleon sought. A week later, Napoleon entered Moscow , but there was no delegation to meet the Emperor. The Russians had evacuated the city, and the city's governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin , ordered several strategic points in Moscow to be set ablaze. The loss of Moscow did not compel Alexander to sue for peace. After staying in
12971-493: Was an atypical, unbearded Orthodox priest . Samborsky had long lived in England and taught Alexander and his brother Constantine excellent English, a very uncommon accouterment for potential Russian autocrats of the time. On 9 October 1793, when Alexander was still 15 years old, he married 14-year-old Princess Louise of Baden , who took the name Elizabeth Alexeievna. His grandmother was the one who presided over his marriage to
13090-624: Was born at 10:45, on 23 December 1777 in Saint Petersburg , and he and his younger brother Constantine were raised by their grandmother, Catherine . He was baptized on 31 December in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace by mitred archpriest Ioann Ioannovich Panfilov (confessor of Empress Catherine II). His godmother was Catherine the Great, and his godfathers were Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor , and Frederick
13209-451: Was completed by the execution of the duc d'Enghien on trumped up charges. The Russian court went into mourning for the last member of the House of Condé , and diplomatic relations with France were broken off. Alexander was especially alarmed and decided he had to somehow curb Napoleon's power. In opposing Napoleon I, "the oppressor of Europe and the disturber of the world's peace," Alexander in fact already believed himself to be fulfilling
13328-560: Was created to improve the technique of legislation. It was intended to become the Second Chamber of a representative legislature. The Governing Senate was reorganized as the Supreme Court of the Empire. The codification of the laws initiated in 1801 was never carried out during his reign. Alexander wanted to resolve another crucial issue in Russia, the status of the serfs , although this was not achieved until 1861 (during
13447-559: Was however denied his succession rights in 1917, when during the Russian Revolution his father abdicated in favour of the Grand Duke Michael, then second in the line of succession, "as We do not wish to part from Our beloved son". This decision was partly triggered by the fact the teenage heir had hemophilia , a condition that was not made public. Technically Nicholas II, albeit still an absolute monarch even under
13566-408: Was interrupted by the short-lived peace of October 1801, and for a while it seemed as though France and Russia might come to an understanding. Carried away by the enthusiasm of Frédéric-César de La Harpe, who had returned to Russia from Paris, Alexander began openly to proclaim his admiration for French institutions and for the person of Napoleon Bonaparte. Soon, however, came a change. La Harpe, after
13685-639: Was momentous. In January Alexander had still upheld the ideal of a free confederation of the European states, the Holy Alliance, against the policy of a dictatorship of the great powers, the Quadruple Treaty. He gave in on 19 November by signing the Troppau Protocol, which consecrated the claims of collective Europe to interfere in the internal concerns of the sovereign states. At the Congress of Laibach , which had been adjourned in
13804-559: Was not adhering to his side of the terms of the Treaty of Tilsit. He had promised assistance to Russia in its war against the Ottoman Empire , but as the campaign went on, France offered no support at all. With war imminent between France and Russia, Alexander started to prepare the ground diplomatically. In April 1812, Russia and Sweden signed a treaty for mutual defence . A month later, Alexander secured his southern flank through
13923-594: Was present at the wedding and on the same day issued yet another ukase (#35766): "By Our and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich's and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna’s consent, the wedding took place on 24th day of this August [old style] of the Daughter of Their Imperial Highnesses, Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna, with Prince Konstantin Bagration-Mukhransky. In consequence of this order: The Princess Tatiana Konstantiovna to retain
14042-541: Was presumed to either convert to this religion or renounce their succession rights. The law established Russian Emperors as "Heads of the Church". A marriage of a member of the imperial family should not be considered valid until authorized by the Emperor (not unlike the British Royal Marriages Act of 1772). The legal majority age for an Emperor was established as 16 years; until that age, a regency
14161-456: Was provided. Immediately after the assassination of Paul I in 1801, however, his family did not appear to follow these laws strictly, as the oath of allegiance to Alexander I of Russia contained the words "and to His Imperial Majesty's Successor, who is to be designated", following the custom of Peter the Great. Later, Alexander I authorized the renunciation of succession rights of his brother and legal heir presumptive Constantine Pavlovich via
#356643