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Soviet Union [USSR] Period of Reaction: Nicholas I, 1825-55
Having experienced the trauma of the Decembrists' revolt,
Nicholas I was determined to restrain Russian society. A secret
police, the so-called Third Section, ran a huge network of spies
and informers. Government censorship and controls were exercised
over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life.
The minister of education, Sergei Uvarov, devised a program of
"autocracy, Orthodoxy, and nationality" as the guiding principle of
the regime. The people were asked to show loyalty to the unlimited
authority of the tsar, the traditions of the Orthodox Church, and,
in a vague way, to the Russian nation. These principles did not
gain the support of the population but instead led to repression in
general and to suppression of non-Russian nationalities and
religions other than Russian Orthodoxy in particular. For example,
the Uniate Church in Ukraine and Belorussia was suppressed in 1839.
The official emphasis on Russian nationalism to some extent
contributed to a debate on Russia's place in the world, the meaning
of Russian history, and the future of Russia. One group, the
Westernizers, believed that Russia remained backward and primitive
and could progress only through more thorough Europeanization.
Another group, the Slavophiles, idealized the Russia that had
existed before Peter the Great. The Slavophiles viewed old Russia
as a source of wholeness and looked askance at Western rationalism
and materialism. Some of them believed that the Russian peasant
commune offered an attractive alternative to Western capitalism and
could make Russia a potential social and moral savior of mankind.
The Slavophiles, therefore, represented a form of Russian
messianism.
Despite the repressions of this period, Russia experienced a
flowering of literature and the arts. Through the works of
Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, and numerous
others, Russian literature gained international stature and
recognition. After its importation from France, ballet took root in
Russia, and classical music became firmly established with the
compositions of Mikhail Glinka.
In foreign policy, Nicholas I acted as the protector of ruling
legitimism and as the guardian against revolution. His offers to
suppress revolution on the European continent, accepted in some
instances, earned him the label of "gendarme of Europe." In 1830,
after an uprising in France, the Poles in Russia revolted. Nicholas
crushed the rebellion, abrogated the Polish constitution, and
reduced Russian Poland to the status of a province. In 1848, when
a series of revolutions convulsed Europe, Nicholas was in the
forefront of reaction. In 1849 he intervened on behalf of the
Habsburgs and helped suppress an uprising in Hungary, and he also
urged Prussia not to accept a liberal constitution. Having helped
conservative forces repel the specter of revolution, Nicholas I
seemed to dominate Europe.
Russian dominance proved illusory, however. While Nicholas I
was attempting to maintain the status quo in Europe, he adopted an
aggressive policy toward the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas I was
following the traditional Russian policy of resolving the "Eastern
Question" by seeking to partition the Ottoman Empire and establish
a protectorate over the Orthodox population of the Balkans. Russia
fought a successful war with the Ottomans in 1828 and 1829. In 1833
Russia negotiated the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi with the Ottoman
Empire. Western statesmen believed mistakenly that the treaty
contained a secret clause granting Russia the right to send
warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. As a result,
the major European powers intervened and by the London Straits
Convention of 1841 affirmed Ottoman control over the straits and
forbade any power, including Russia, to send warships through the
straits. Based on his role in suppressing the revolutions of 1848
and his mistaken belief that he had British diplomatic support,
Nicholas moved against the Ottomans, who declared war in 1853. Thus
the Crimean War began. But the European powers were frightened of
Russia, and in 1854 Britain, France, and Sardinia joined the
Ottoman Empire against Russia. Austria offered the Ottomans
diplomatic support, while Prussia remained neutral. The European
allies landed in Crimea and laid siege to a well-fortified base at
Sevastopol'. After a year's siege the base fell, exposing Russia's
inability to defend a major fortification on its own soil. Nicholas
I died before the fall of Sevastopol', but even before then he had
recognized the failure of his regime. Russia now had to initiate
major reforms or else cease to be a competitive major power.
Data as of May 1989
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