Nicholas 2 became king. The standard of education. The family of the last emperor of the Romanov dynasty - Nicholas II
Nicholas II (short biography)
Nicholas II (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) was the last Russian emperor, and also the son of Alexander III. Thanks to this, he received an excellent education, studying languages, military science, jurisprudence, economics, literature and history. Nicholas had to sit on the throne quite early because of the death of his father.
On May 26, 1896, the coronation of Nicholas II and his wife took place. On these holidays, a terrible event also took place, which remained in history under the name "Khodynki", the result of which was the death of many people (according to some sources, more than one thousand two hundred people).
During the reign of Nicholas II, an unprecedented economic upsurge was observed in the state. At the same time, the agricultural sector was significantly strengthened - the state becomes the main exporter of agricultural products in Europe. A gold stable currency is also being introduced. The industry is developing at an active pace: enterprises are being built, large cities are growing, and railways are being built. Nicholas II was a successful reformer. So, he introduces a standardized day for the workers, providing them with insurance and carrying out excellent reforms for the navy and army. Emperor Nicholas fully supported the development of science and culture in the state.
However, despite such an improvement in the life of the country, civil unrest still took place in it. For example, in January 1905, the first Russian revolution takes place, the stimulus for which was an event referred to by historians as "Bloody Sunday". As a result, on October 17 of the same year, a manifesto “On the improvement of the state order” was adopted, which dealt with civil liberties. A parliament was formed which included the State Council and the State Duma. On June 3, the so-called "Third of June coup" took place, which changed the rules for choosing a Duma.
In 1914, the First World War began, which significantly worsened the state of the state. Each of the failures in the battles undermined the authority of the ruler Nicholas II. In February 1917, an uprising began in Petrograd, which reached grandiose proportions. On March 2, 1917, fearing large-scale bloodshed, Nikolai signed an act of abdication from the Russian throne.
On March 9, 1917, the provisional government arrested the entire Romanov family, after which they sent them to Tsarskoye Selo. In August they were transported to Tobolsk, and already in April 1918 - to Yekaterinburg. On the night of the sixteenth to the seventeenth of July, the Romanovs are taken to the basement, the death sentence is read out and they are shot.
Today marks the 147th anniversary of the birth of the last Russian emperor. Although a lot has been written about Nicholas II, much of what has been written refers to "folk fiction", delusions.
The king was modest in dress. unpretentious
Nicholas II was remembered by the many surviving photographic materials as an unpretentious man. In food, he was really unpretentious. He loved fried dumplings, which he often ordered while walking on his favorite yacht Shtandart. The king kept fasts and generally ate moderately, tried to keep himself in shape, so he preferred simple food: cereals, rice cutlets and pasta with mushrooms.
Among the guards officers, the snack "nikolashka" was a success. Her recipe is attributed to Nicholas II. Powdered sugar was mixed with ground coffee, this mixture was sprinkled with a slice of lemon, which was used to eat a glass of cognac.
With regard to clothing, the situation was different. The wardrobe of Nicholas II in the Alexander Palace alone consisted of several hundred pieces of military uniform and civilian clothing: frock coats, uniforms of guards and army regiments and overcoats, cloaks, sheepskin coats, shirts and underwear made in the Nordenstrem workshop in the capital, a hussar mentik and dolman, in which Nicholas II was on the wedding day. When receiving foreign ambassadors and diplomats, the tsar put on the uniform of the state where the envoy came from. Often, Nicholas II had to change clothes six times a day. Here, in the Alexander Palace, a collection of cigarette cases collected by Nicholas II was kept.
However, it must be admitted that out of the 16 million allocated per year for the royal family, the lion's share went to the payment of benefits for employees of the palaces (one Winter Palace served a staff of 1200 people), to support the Academy of Arts (the royal family was a trustee, therefore, carried expenses) and other needs.
The spending was serious. The construction of the Livadia Palace cost the Russian treasury 4.6 million rubles, 350 thousand rubles a year were spent on the royal garage, and 12 thousand rubles a year for photography.
This is taking into account the fact that the average expenditure of households in the Russian Empire at that time was about 85 rubles per capita per year.
Each Grand Duke was also entitled to an annual annuity of two hundred thousand rubles. Each of the Grand Duchesses was given a dowry of one million rubles upon marriage. At birth, a member of the imperial family received a capital of one million rubles.
The Tsar Colonel personally went to the front and led the armies
Many photographs have been preserved where Nicholas II takes the oath, arrives at the front and eats from the field kitchen, where he is "the father of the soldiers." Nicholas II really loved everything military. He practically did not wear civilian clothes, preferring uniforms.
It is generally accepted that the emperor himself led the actions of the Russian army in. However, it is not. The generals and the military council decided. Several factors influenced the improvement of the situation at the front with the assumption of command by Nikolai. Firstly, by the end of August 1915, the Great Retreat was stopped, the German army suffered from stretched communications, and secondly, the situation was also affected by the change of the commanders-in-chief of the General Staff - Yanushkevich to Alekseev.
Nicholas II really went to the front, loved to live in Headquarters, sometimes with his family, often took his son with him, but never (unlike his cousins George and Wilhelm) approached the front line closer than 30 kilometers. The emperor accepted IV degree shortly after a German plane flew over the horizon during the arrival of the king.
The absence of the emperor in St. Petersburg had a bad effect on domestic policy. He began to lose influence on the aristocracy and the government. This proved fertile ground for intra-corporate splits and indecision during the February Revolution.
From the emperor's diary on August 23, 1915 (the day he assumed the duties of the Supreme High Command): "Slept well. The morning was rainy: in the afternoon the weather improved and it became quite warm. At 3.30 he arrived at his Headquarters, one verst from the mountains. Mogilev. Nikolasha was waiting for me. After talking with him, he accepted the gene. Alekseev and his first report. Everything went well! After drinking tea, I went to inspect the surrounding area. The train stops in a small dense forest. Dined at 7½. Then I took another walk, the evening was excellent.
The introduction of gold security is the personal merit of the emperor
It is customary to refer to the economically successful reforms that Nicholas II carried out as the monetary reform of 1897, when the gold backing of the ruble was introduced in the country. However, preparations for monetary reform began as early as the mid-1880s, under the finance ministers Bunge and Vyshnegradsky, during the reign.
The reform was a forced means of avoiding credit money. can be considered its author. The tsar himself avoided resolving monetary issues; by the beginning of World War I, Russia's external debt was 6.5 billion rubles, only 1.6 billion were secured with gold.
Made personal "unpopular" decisions. Often in defiance of the Duma
It is customary to say about Nicholas II that he personally carried out reforms, often in defiance of the Duma. However, in fact, Nicholas II rather "did not interfere." He didn't even have a personal secretariat. But under him, well-known reformers were able to develop their abilities. Such as Witte and. At the same time, relations between the two "second politicians" were far from idyllic.
Sergei Witte wrote about Stolypin: "No one has destroyed even the semblance of justice as he, Stolypin, and that's all, accompanied by liberal speeches and gestures."
Pyotr Arkadyevich did not lag behind. Witte, dissatisfied with the results of the investigation about the attempt on his life, he wrote: “From your letter, Count, I must draw one conclusion: either you consider me an idiot, or you find that I am also participating in the attempt on your life ... ".
About the death of Stolypin, Sergei Witte wrote succinctly: "Killed."
Nicholas II personally never wrote detailed resolutions, he limited himself to marginal notes, most often he simply put a “reading mark”. He sat on official commissions no more than 30 times, always on extraordinary occasions, the emperor's remarks at meetings were brief, he chose one side or another in the discussion.
The Hague court is a brilliant "brainchild" of the king
It is believed that the Hague International Court was the brilliant brainchild of Nicholas II. Yes, indeed the Russian Tsar was the initiator of the First Hague Peace Conference, but he was not the author of all its decisions.
The most useful thing that the Hague Convention was able to do concerned military laws. Thanks to the agreement, the prisoners of war of the First World War were kept in acceptable conditions, they could contact the house, they were not forced to work; sanitary posts were protected from attacks, the wounded were cared for, the civilian population was not subjected to mass violence.
But in reality, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has not brought much benefit in its 17 years of operation. Russia did not even approach the Chamber during the Japanese crisis, and so did the other signatories. “Turned into a zilch” and the Convention on the Peaceful Settlement of International Issues. The Balkans broke out in the world, and then the First World War.
The Hague does not influence international affairs even today. Few of the heads of state of world powers appeal to the international court.
Grigory Rasputin had a strong influence on the king
Even before the abdication of Nicholas II, rumors began to appear among the people about excessive influence on the king. According to them, it turned out that the state was controlled not by the tsar, not by the government, but personally by the Tobolsk "elder".
Of course, this was far from true. Rasputin had influence at court, and was well received into the emperor's house. Nicholas II and the Empress called him “our friend” or “Gregory”, and he called them “dad and mother”.
However, Rasputin still exerted influence on the empress, while government decisions were made without his participation. Thus, it is well known that Rasputin opposed Russia's entry into the First World War, and even after Russia's entry into the conflict, he tried to convince the royal family to go to peace negotiations with the Germans.
Most of the (grand dukes) supported the war with Germany and focused on England. For the latter, a separate peace between Russia and Germany threatened defeat in the war.
Do not forget that Nicholas II was a cousin of both the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the brother of the British King George V. Rasputin also performed an applied function at court - he relieved the suffering of the heir Alexei. A circle of exalted admirers really formed around him, but Nicholas II did not belong to them.
Didn't abdicate
One of the most enduring misconceptions is the myth that Nicholas II did not abdicate, and the abdication document is a fake. It really has a lot of oddities: it was written on a typewriter on telegraph forms, although there were pens and writing paper on the train where Nicholas abdicated on March 15, 1917. Supporters of the version about the falsification of the renunciation manifesto cite the fact that the document was signed with a pencil.
There is just nothing strange about this. Nikolay signed many documents with a pencil. Another strange thing. If this is really a fake and the tsar did not renounce, he should have written at least something about it in his correspondence, but there is not a word about this. Nicholas abdicated for himself and his son in favor of his brother, Mikhail Alexandrovich.
The diary entries of the tsar's confessor, rector of the Fedorovsky Cathedral, Archpriest Athanasius Belyaev, have been preserved. In a conversation after confession, Nicholas II told him: “... And now, alone, without a close adviser, deprived of liberty, like a caught criminal, I signed an act of renunciation both for myself and for my son’s heir. I decided that if it is necessary for the good of the motherland, I am ready for anything. I'm sorry for my family!".
The very next day, March 3 (16), 1917, Mikhail Alexandrovich also abdicated, transferring the decision on the form of government to the Constituent Assembly.
Yes, the manifesto was obviously written under pressure, and it was not Nicholas himself who wrote it. It is unlikely that he himself would have written: "There is no sacrifice that I would not make in the name of a real good and for the salvation of my dear Mother Russia." However, there was a formal renunciation.
Interestingly, the myths and clichés about the abdication of the king largely came from Alexander Blok's book The Last Days of Imperial Power. The poet enthusiastically accepted the revolution and became the literary editor of the Extraordinary Commission for the affairs of the former tsarist ministers. That is, he literally processed the verbatim records of interrogations.
Against the creation of the role of the tsar-martyr, young Soviet propaganda carried out active agitation. Its effectiveness can be judged from the diary of the peasant Zamaraev (he kept it for 15 years), preserved in the museum of the city of Totma, Vologda region. The head of a peasant is full of cliches imposed by propaganda:
“Romanov Nikolai and his family have been deposed, they are all under arrest and receive all the food on an equal basis with others on the cards. Indeed, they did not at all care about the welfare of their people, and the patience of the people burst. They brought their state to hunger and darkness. What was going on in their palace? This is terrible and shameful! It was not Nicholas II who ruled the state, but the drunkard Rasputin. All the princes were replaced and dismissed from their posts, including the commander-in-chief Nikolai Nikolaevich. Everywhere in all cities there is a new administration, there is no old police.”
Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov), the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna, was born May 18 (May 6, old style), 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin, Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg).
Immediately after his birth, Nikolai was enrolled in the lists of several guards regiments and was appointed chief of the 65th Moscow Infantry Regiment. The childhood of the future tsar passed within the walls of the Gatchina Palace. Regular homework with Nikolai began at the age of eight.
In December 1875 he received his first military rank - ensign, in 1880 he was promoted to second lieutenant, four years later he became a lieutenant. In 1884 Nikolay entered active military service, in July 1887 year began regular military service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment and was promoted to staff captain; in 1891, Nikolai received the rank of captain, and a year later - colonel.
To get acquainted with state affairs from May 1889 he began to attend meetings of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers. AT October 1890 year went on a trip to the Far East. For nine months, Nikolai visited Greece, Egypt, India, China, and Japan.
AT April 1894 the engagement of the future emperor took place with Princess Alice of Darmstadt-Hesse, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria. After converting to Orthodoxy, she took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna.
November 2 (October 21, old style), 1894 Alexander III died. A few hours before his death, the dying emperor ordered his son to sign the Manifesto on accession to the throne.
The coronation of Nicholas II took place 26 (14 old style) May 1896. On the thirtieth (18 according to the old style) May 1896, during the celebration on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II in Moscow, a stampede occurred on the Khodynka field, in which more than a thousand people died.
The reign of Nicholas II took place in an atmosphere of growing revolutionary movement and the complication of the foreign policy situation (the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905; Bloody Sunday; the Revolution of 1905-1907; the First World War; the February Revolution of 1917).
Influenced by a strong social movement in favor of political change, 30 (17 old style) October 1905 Nicholas II signed the famous manifesto "On the improvement of the state order": the people were granted freedom of speech, press, personality, conscience, meetings, unions; The State Duma was created as a legislative body.
The turning point in the fate of Nicholas II was 1914- Beginning of the First World War. August 1st (July 19 old style) 1914 Germany declared war on Russia. AT August 1915 Nicholas II took over the military command (previously Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich held this position). After that, the tsar spent most of his time at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in Mogilev.
At the end of February 1917 unrest began in Petrograd, which grew into mass demonstrations against the government and the dynasty. The February revolution found Nicholas II at headquarters in Mogilev. Having received the news of the uprising in Petrograd, he decided not to make concessions and to restore order in the city by force, but when the scale of the unrest became clear, he abandoned this idea, fearing great bloodshed.
At midnight 15 (2 old style) March 1917 in the saloon car of the imperial train, standing on the tracks at the Pskov railway station, Nicholas II signed the act of abdication, transferring power to his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, who did not accept the crown.
20 (7 old style) March 1917 The provisional government issued an order for the arrest of the king. On March 22 (9 old style) March 1917, Nicholas II and his family were arrested. For the first five months they were under guard in Tsarskoe Selo, August 1917 they were transported to Tobolsk, where the Romanovs spent eight months.
At the beginning 1918 the Bolsheviks forced Nikolai to remove the shoulder straps of a colonel (his last military rank), he took this as a serious insult. In May of this year, the royal family was transferred to Yekaterinburg, where they were placed in the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev.
On the night of 17 (4 old) July 1918 and Nicholas II, the queen, their five children: daughters - Olga (1895), Tatiana (1897), Maria (1899) and Anastasia (1901), son - Tsarevich, heir to the throne Alexei (1904) and several close associates (11 people in total) , . The execution took place in a small room on the lower floor of the house, where the victims were brought under the pretext of evacuation. The tsar himself was shot from a pistol point-blank by the commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yankel Yurovsky. The bodies of the dead were taken out of the city, doused with kerosene, tried to burn, and then buried.
Early 1991 The city prosecutor's office filed the first application for the discovery near Yekaterinburg of bodies with signs of violent death. After many years of research on the remains found near Yekaterinburg, a special commission came to the conclusion that they really are the remains of nine Nicholas II and his family. In 1997 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg they were solemnly buried.
In 2000 Nicholas II and members of his family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
On October 1, 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family as victims of illegal political repressions and rehabilitated them.
Nicholas II is the last Russian emperor who went down in history as the most weak-willed tsar. According to historians, the government of the country was a “heavy burden” for the monarch, but this did not prevent him from making a feasible contribution to the industrial and economic development of Russia, despite the fact that the revolutionary movement was actively growing in the country during the reign of Nicholas II, and the foreign policy situation was becoming more complicated. . In modern history, the Russian emperor is referred to by the epithets "Nicholas the Bloody" and "Nicholas the Martyr", since assessments of the activities and character of the tsar are ambiguous and contradictory.
Nicholas II was born on May 18, 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo of the Russian Empire in the imperial family. For his parents, and, he became the eldest son and the only heir to the throne, who from an early age was taught the future work of his whole life. From birth, the future tsar was educated by the Englishman Karl Heath, who taught the young Nikolai Alexandrovich to speak English fluently.
The childhood of the heir to the royal throne passed within the walls of the Gatchina Palace under the strict guidance of his father Alexander III, who raised his children in the traditional religious spirit - he allowed them to play and play pranks in moderation, but at the same time he did not allow the manifestation of laziness in studies, suppressing all thoughts of his sons about future throne.
At the age of 8, Nicholas II began to receive general education at home. His education was carried out within the framework of the general gymnasium course, but the future tsar did not show much zeal and desire for learning. His passion was military affairs - already at the age of 5 he became the chief of the Life Guards of the Reserve Infantry Regiment and happily mastered military geography, jurisprudence and strategy. Lectures to the future monarch were read by the best scientists of world renown, who were personally selected for their son by Tsar Alexander III and his wife Maria Feodorovna.
The heir especially excelled in the study of foreign languages, therefore, in addition to English, he was fluent in French, German and Danish. After eight years of the general gymnasium program, Nicholas II began to be taught the necessary higher sciences for a future statesman, which are included in the course of the economic department of the law university.
In 1884, upon reaching adulthood, Nicholas II took the oath in the Winter Palace, after which he entered active military service, and three years later he began regular military service, for which he was awarded the rank of colonel. Fully devoting himself to military affairs, the future tsar easily adapted to the inconveniences of army life and endured military service.
The first acquaintance with state affairs at the heir to the throne took place in 1889. Then he began to attend meetings of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers, at which his father brought him up to date and shared his experience on how to govern the country. In the same period, Alexander III made numerous journeys with his son, starting from the Far East. Over the next 9 months, they traveled by sea to Greece, India, Egypt, Japan and China, and then through all of Siberia by land returned to the Russian capital.
Ascension to the throne
In 1894, after the death of Alexander III, Nicholas II ascended the throne and solemnly promised to protect the autocracy as firmly and steadily as his late father. The coronation of the last Russian emperor took place in 1896 in Moscow. These solemn events were marked by the tragic events at the Khodynka field, where mass riots took place during the distribution of royal gifts, which took the lives of thousands of citizens.
Due to the mass crush, the monarch who came to power even wanted to cancel the evening ball on the occasion of his ascension to the throne, but later decided that the Khodynka disaster was a real misfortune, but not worth it to overshadow the coronation holiday. The educated society perceived these events as a challenge, which became the foundation stone for the creation of the liberation movement in Russia from the dictator-tsar.
Against this background, the emperor introduced a tough internal policy in the country, according to which any dissent among the people was persecuted. In the first few years of the reign of Nicholas II in Russia, a census was carried out, as well as a monetary reform, which established the gold standard of the ruble. The gold ruble of Nicholas II was equal to 0.77 grams of pure gold and was half “heavier” than the mark, but twice “lighter” than the dollar at the exchange rate of international currencies.
In the same period, the "Stolypin" agrarian reforms were carried out in Russia, factory legislation was introduced, several laws on compulsory insurance of workers and universal primary education were passed, as well as the abolition of tax collection from landowners of Polish origin and the abolition of penalties such as exile to Siberia.
In the Russian Empire during the time of Nicholas II, large-scale industrialization took place, the pace of agricultural production increased, and coal and oil production started. At the same time, thanks to the last Russian emperor, more than 70 thousand kilometers of the railway were built in Russia.
Reign and abdication
The reign of Nicholas II at the second stage took place during the years of aggravation of the domestic political life of Russia and a rather difficult foreign political situation. At the same time, the Far East direction was in the first place. The main obstacle of the Russian monarch to dominance in the Far East was Japan, which without warning in 1904 attacked the Russian squadron in the port city of Port Arthur and, due to the inaction of the Russian leadership, defeated the Russian army.
As a result of the failure of the Russian-Japanese war, a revolutionary situation began to develop rapidly in the country, and Russia had to cede the southern part of Sakhalin and the rights to the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. It was after this that the Russian emperor lost authority in the intelligentsia and ruling circles of the country, who accused the tsar of defeat and connections with, who was an unofficial "advisor" to the monarch, but who was considered in society a charlatan and a swindler, having full influence over Nicholas II.
The turning point in the biography of Nicholas II was the First World War of 1914. Then the emperor, on the advice of Rasputin, tried with all his might to avoid a bloody massacre, but Germany went to war against Russia, which was forced to defend itself. In 1915, the monarch took over the military command of the Russian army and personally traveled to the fronts, inspecting military units. At the same time, he made a number of fatal military mistakes, which led to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Empire.
The war exacerbated the internal problems of the country, all military failures in the environment of Nicholas II were assigned to him. Then “treason” began to “nest” in the government of the country, but despite this, the emperor, together with England and France, developed a plan for the general offensive of Russia, which should have been triumphant for the country by the summer of 1917 to end the military confrontation.
The plans of Nicholas II were not destined to come true - at the end of February 1917, mass uprisings began in Petrograd against the royal dynasty and the current government, which he initially intended to stop by force. But the military did not obey the orders of the king, and members of the monarch's retinue persuaded him to abdicate the throne, which supposedly would help suppress the unrest. After several days of painful deliberation, Nicholas II decided to abdicate in favor of his brother, Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich, who refused to accept the crown, which meant the end of the Romanov dynasty.
Execution of Nicholas II and his family
After the signing of the abdication manifesto by the tsar, the Provisional Government of Russia issued an order to arrest the tsar's family and his associates. Then many betrayed the emperor and fled, so only a few close people from his entourage agreed to share the tragic fate with the monarch, who, together with the tsar, were sent to Tobolsk, from where, supposedly, the family of Nicholas II was supposed to be transported to the USA.
After the October Revolution and the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, headed by the royal family, they were transported to Yekaterinburg and imprisoned in a "special purpose house". Then the Bolsheviks began to hatch a plan for the trial of the monarch, but the Civil War did not allow their plan to be realized.
Because of this, in the upper echelons of Soviet power, it was decided to shoot the tsar and his family. On the night of July 16-17, 1918, the family of the last Russian emperor was shot in the basement of the house where Nicholas II was imprisoned. The tsar, his wife and children, as well as several of his entourage were taken to the basement under the pretext of evacuation and shot point-blank without explanation, after which the victims were taken outside the city, their bodies were burned with kerosene, and then buried in the ground.
Personal life and the royal family
The personal life of Nicholas II, unlike many other Russian monarchs, was the standard of the highest family virtue. In 1889, during the visit of the German princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt to Russia, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich paid special attention to the girl and asked his father for his blessing to marry her. But the parents did not agree with the choice of the heir, so they refused their son. This did not stop Nicholas II, who did not lose hope of marriage with Alice. They were assisted by the Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the sister of the German princess, who arranged secret correspondence for the young lovers.
After 5 years, Tsarevich Nicholas again persistently asked his father's consent to marry a German princess. Alexander III, in view of his rapidly deteriorating health, allowed his son to marry Alice, who, after chrismation, became. In November 1894, the wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra took place in the Winter Palace, and in 1896 the couple accepted the coronation and officially became the rulers of the country.
In the marriage of Alexandra Feodorovna and Nicholas II, 4 daughters were born (Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia) and the only heir Alexei, who had a serious hereditary disease - hemophilia associated with the process of blood clotting. The illness of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich forced the royal family to get acquainted with Grigory Rasputin, widely known at that time, who helped the royal heir to fight bouts of illness, which allowed him to gain a huge influence on Alexandra Feodorovna and Emperor Nicholas II.
Historians report that the family for the last Russian emperor was the most important meaning of life. He always spent most of his time in the family circle, did not like secular pleasures, especially valued his peace, habits, health and well-being of his relatives. At the same time, worldly hobbies were not alien to the emperor - he went hunting with pleasure, participated in horse riding competitions, skating with passion and played hockey.
Time passes and a bygone era becomes history. The family of the last emperor of the Romanov dynasty - Nicholas II.
History is interesting and multifaceted, over the centuries a lot has changed. If now we perceive the world around us as commonplace, then palaces, castles, towers, estates, carriages, household items of that time are already a distant history for us and sometimes are the subject of study by archaeologists. An ordinary inkwell, a pen, an abacus can no longer be found in a modern school. But just a century ago, education was different.
"Future Monarchs"
All representatives of the imperial family, future monarchs, received an excellent education. Education began at an early age, first of all, they taught literacy, arithmetic, foreign languages, then there was the study of other disciplines. Military training was obligatory for young men, they were also taught to dance, and fine literature, and everything that a well-educated young man was supposed to know. As a rule, the training took place on a religious basis. Teachers for royal persons were carefully chosen, they had to give not only knowledge, but also instill spiritual and moral ideas and skills: accuracy, diligence, respect for elders. The rulers of the Romanov dynasty evoked sincere admiration from their subjects, served as an example for everyone.
Family of Emperor Nicholas II
"OTMA"
We can see a positive example in the upbringing and education of children in the family of the last emperor of the Romanov dynasty, Nicholas II. There were four daughters and a son in his family. Daughters were conditionally divided into two pairs: the older couple - Olga and Tatyana, and the youngest - Maria and Anastasia. The sisters made a collective name from their letters - OTMA, taking the capital letters of their names, and signed letters and invitations in this way. Tsarevich Alexei was the youngest child and the favorite of the whole family.
OTMA in profile. 1914 Empress Alexandra Feodorovna raised children according to religious traditions, the children read daily morning and evening prayers, the Gospel, among the disciplines taught was the Law of God.
Archpriest A. Vasiliev and Tsarevich Alexei "The Emperor's Wife"
Traditionally, the wife of the sovereign could not be engaged in raising her daughters. However, Alexandra Fedorovna strictly selected teachers for her children, attended classes, formed the circle of interests of her daughters and their schedule - the girls never wasted time, almost did not appear at balls, and were not at social events for long.
Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (center) and their children Classes for children were built in a fairly strict regime. They got up at 8 o'clock, drank tea and worked until 11 o'clock. Teachers came from Petrograd. Only Gibbs and Gilliard lived in Tsarskoye Selo.
Sydney Gibbs and Grand Duchess Anastasia Sometimes after school, before breakfast, a short walk was made. After breakfast - music and needlework classes.
Anastasia knits in the Lilac Living Room "Classrooms of the Grand Duchesses"
In the classroom of Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatyana, the walls were covered with olive-colored matte wallpaper, the floor was covered with a sea-green beaver carpet. All furniture is made of ash. A large study table was in the middle of the room and was lit by a six-armed chandelier that could be lowered. On one of the shelves stood a bust of I.V. Gogol. The class schedule hung on the side wall. Books were stored in the cabinets, mainly of religious and patriotic content, as well as textbooks. The girls' library had many books in English. The teachers kept a journal where homework was recorded and marks were given on a five-point scale.
Classroom of Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana in the Alexander Palace In the classroom of the younger princesses Maria and Anastasia, the walls are painted white. Furniture - ash. Stuffed birds, children's books by Russian and French authors were kept in the room. There were especially many books by the famous children's writer L. A. Charskaya. On the walls are religious drawings and watercolors, class schedules, a couple of children's announcements of a playful nature. Since the girls were still small, dolls with their toilets were kept in the classroom. Behind the partition - toy furniture, games.
"Classroom of Tsarevich Alexei"
On the second floor there was also a class room of Tsarevich Alexei. Its walls were painted with white mastic paint. Furniture, as elsewhere, was of simple painted ash wood. On half-cupboards stretching along the walls were textbooks, an abacus, a map of the expansion of Russia under the Romanovs, a study collection of Ural minerals and rocks, and a microscope. Books of educational and military content were stored in the cabinets. There were especially many books on the history of the Romanov dynasty, published for the 300th anniversary of the dynasty. In addition, they kept a collection of transparencies on the history of Russia, reproductions of artists, albums and various gifts. On the door - the schedule of lessons and the testament of Suvorov.
Classroom of Tsarevich Alexei in the Alexander Palace "Music Room"
There was also a room in the "children's part", which was used as a teacher's room and at the same time as a music room. Girls' "own" libraries played an important role in the educational process. Now these books are stored in Moscow in the Russian State Library. A special place in the royal family was occupied by the teachers of the crown prince. Of these, the Swiss Pierre Gilliard is the most famous, he was with the royal family in Yekaterinburg, where he miraculously managed to survive and in many respects, thanks to him, we know about the last days of the royal family.
Music room "Week schedule"
The main backbone of teachers was formed while teaching gymnasium disciplines to the royal daughters. For example, in the 1908/09 academic year, they were taught:
Russian language (Petrov, 9 lessons per week);
English (Gibbs, 6 lessons per week);
French (Gilliard, 8 lessons per week);
arithmetic (Sobolev, 6 lessons per week);
history and geography (Ivanov, 2 lessons per week).
Thus, there were 31 lessons per week, that is, with a five-day class schedule - 6 lessons per day. Teachers, like doctors, were usually selected on the basis of recommendations. Speaking about the study of foreign languages, it should be noted that the heir began to teach them rather late. On the one hand, this was associated with his constant ailments and long rehabilitation periods, and on the other hand, the royal family deliberately postponed teaching foreign languages to the heir.
Tsesarevich Alexei with Russian teacher P. Petrov. Peterhof "Teaching an heir to foreign languages"
Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna believed that Alexei should, first of all, develop a pure Russian accent. P. Gilliard gave the first French lesson to the Tsesarevich on October 2, 1912 in Spala, but the classes were interrupted due to illness. Relatively regular classes with the Tsarevich began in the second half of 1913. Vyrubova highly appreciated the pedagogical abilities of teachers of French and English: “The first teachers were the Swiss Monsieur Gilliard and the Englishman Mr. Gibbs. A better choice was hardly possible. It seemed absolutely wonderful how the boy changed under the influence of these two people, how his manners improved and how well he began to treat people.
P. Gilliard with Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana. Livadia. 1911 "Schedule for the day of Tsarevich Alexei"
As Tsarevich Alexei grew older, the workload gradually increased. Unlike his great-grandfather, who was raised at 6 o'clock in the morning, the Tsarevich was awakened at 8 o'clock in the morning:
He was given 45 minutes to pray and clean himself up;
from 8.45 to 9.15 morning tea was served, which he drank alone. Girls and parents drank morning tea separately;
from 9.20 to 10.50 there were two first lessons (the first lesson - 40 minutes, the second - 50 minutes) with a break of 10 minutes;
a long break with a walk lasted 1 hour 20 minutes (10.50–12.10);
then there was another 40-minute lesson (12.10–12.50);
a little more than an hour was allotted for breakfast (12.50–14.00). As a rule, the whole family gathered at the same table for breakfast for the first time, unless there were official events on that day.
After breakfast, the 10-year-old crown prince rested for an hour and a half (2–2.30 pm);
then again followed by a walk, activities and games in the fresh air (14.30–16.40). At this time, he had a chance to talk with his father, who was walking in the park, or his mother.
This was followed by the fourth lesson, which lasted 55 minutes (16.45–17.40).
For lunch, the Tsarevich was allowed 45 minutes (17.45–18.30). He dined alone or with his sisters. Parents dined much later.
After dinner, the Tsarevich prepared lessons for an hour and a half (18.30–19.00);
an obligatory part of the “working day” of the crown prince was a half-hour massage (19.00–19.30);
the massage was followed by games and a light dinner (19.30–20.30);
then the crown prince got ready for bed (20.30–21.00), prayed and went to bed (21.00–21.30).
Tsarevich Alexei with teachers: P. Gilliard, Palace Commandant V. Voeikov, S. Gibbs, P. Petrov "Training in War"
In 1914 the First World War began. Classes lasted six days a week, 4 lessons a day. In total there were 22 lessons per week. Particular emphasis was placed on the study of languages. By the number of hours they were distributed as follows: French - 6 lessons per week; Russian language - 5 lessons per week; English - 4 lessons. Other subjects: The Law of God - 3 lessons; arithmetic - 3 lessons and geography - 2 lessons per week.
Epilogue
As we can see, the daily routine was busy, there was practically no free time even for games. Tsarevich Alexei often exclaimed: “When I am king, there will be no poor and unfortunate! I want everyone to be happy." And if it were not for the revolution of 1917, then it is worth noting with confidence that Tsarevich Alexei would have made every effort to bring these words to life.
Support Orthodox Volunteers!
Your donation is the only source of income for our site. Each ruble will be a considerable help in our business.
Support Orthodox Volunteers right now!