Isabela De JesusNICHOLAS I

Background • Born June 25, 1796• Rule 1825-1855• Third son of Paul I and Maria

Fedorovna • Grandmother Catherine the Great called him “colossus” • Raised him herself until her death

five months later• Education not as thorough and wasn’t a very good student

Background (cont.)• Extremely attractive• “On a visit to England in 1816 women found his fine Grecian

nose, handsome face and imperial bearing an irresistible combination”

• Fell in love with Princess Charlotte of Prussia (Mouffy)

Becoming the Czar• Eldest brother childless and second oldest renounced the throne• December 1825: Alexander I mysteriously dies in city of Taganrog• Had already given secret orders that Nicholas I should succeed

him• Army swore allegiance to Constantine• 20 days of uncertainty, before Nicholas decided to declare himself emporer • “The morning after tomorrow I’m either Czar or dead.”

Decemberists’ Revolt• Small group of aristocratic officers• Felt Nicholas I did not deserve throne • Cheated Constantine •Wanted a free Russian state, with a federal government and constitution, instead of government under the tsar• December 14, 1825: the military was to swear allegiance to Tsar Nicholas I• 3,000 men revolt against Czar•Nicholas I attempted to initiate “Peace Talks” • Didn’t work, opened fire• Rebellion fails as result of a lack of organization and leadership

Result of Rebellion• Many executed, others sent into exile • Saw liberalism as a major threat• lived in fear of liberal revolts for the rest of his life• Initiated a nation-wide censorship• The Third Section• Restrictions forced the people's loyalty to the tsar and the Russian Orthodox Church. 

“Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality”• Dreamt of ideal society modeled on patriarchal family where people are loyal to the unlimited authority of the Czar• Used to promote traditional Russian values and culture and suppress non-Russian nationalities and religions other than Orthodox Christianity.• "Russification" • centered on the "Nicholas System“ (based on "One Tsar, One

Faith, One Nation“)• Gave way to Westernisers and Slavophiles• Westernisers = new ideas• Slavophiles = traditional “Russian” values

• saw himself as God's general in charge of Russia's well-being and every citizen as his subordinate

Nicholas I and Literature• Literature flourishing in 19th century• Nicholas I took a personal involvement in lives of authors which was insulting and oppressive• Decided which of their works t0 publish and which not to publish• Thoroughly read books and articles, then suppressed them

Nicholas I and Dostoevsky• Events in Europe made Nicholas nervous• Put intellectuals and revolutionaries under surveillance• April 1849, Nicholas called for the arrest of all of the members of the Petrashevsky Circle• December 22, 1849 were going to be put to death, but Czar only wanted to teach them a lesson• Sent them to exile instead• Relation to Crime and Punishment• Fellow prisoner he met while exiled in Siberia served as model

for character Svidrigailov

Death of Nicholas I• Crimean War• Nicholas wanted to expand into the Mediterranean and make

territorial gains in the Ottoman Empire• Britain felt that it had to keep control over the Mediterranean sea

routes and to preserve the Ottoman Empire as a barrier against Russian expansion

• Nicholas dies February 18, 1855 after catching a bad cold• Rumors he poisoned himself after hearing of another military

defeathttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfg8zmpc0EI

Works Cited• Aprelenko, Maria. "Nicholas I – Russiapedia The Romanov Dynasty Prominent

Russians." Get Russianalized – Russiapedia. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/the-romanov- dynasty/nicholas-i/>. • Atchison, Bob. "Nicholas I - Alexander Palace Time Machine." Russian History

Websites - Romanov Dynasty - Alexander Palace. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/NickolasPavlovich.html>.

• Atchison, Bob. "Nicholas I - Alexander Palace Time Machine." Russian History Websites - Romanov Dynasty - Alexander Palace. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/NickolasPavlovich.html>.

• Bloy, Marjie. "The Crimean War: General Causes." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 6 May 2002. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/gencauses.html>. • Bowman, Rebecca. "Decembrist Revolt: 1825." Then Again. . . 12 Sept. 2002.

Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/easteurope/decrevolt.html>. • Gocsik, Karen. "Biography of Dostoevsky - Politics and Punishment." Dartmouth

College. 9 Apr. 2003. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~karamazo/bio03.html>.