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113-446: The staircase was badly damaged by a fire that swept the palace in 1837, but Nicholas I ordered the architect in charge of reconstruction, Vasily Stasov , to restore the staircase using Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli 's original plans. Stasov made two small changes: he replaced the original gilt bronze handrails with white marble and the original pink columns with gray granite. The stair hall, which has an 18th-century ceiling depicting

226-612: A Russian invasion of Belgium would cause a war with France. Even before the Poles rose up, Nicholas had cancelled his plans for invading Belgium as it became clear that neither Britain nor Prussia would join in while the French openly threatened war if Nicholas should march. In 1815, Nicholas arrived in France, where he stayed with the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe, who soon become one of his best friends, with

339-539: A chord with Nicholas, who shared Pogodin’s sense that Russia’s role as the protector of the Orthodox had not been recognized or understood and that Russia was unfairly treated by the West." Pogodin wrote: France takes Algeria from Turkey, and almost every year England annexes another Indian principality: none of this disturbs the balance of power; but when Russia occupies Moldavia and Wallachia, albeit only temporarily, that disturbs

452-634: A competent brigade commander in the Imperial Army who proved himself out of his depth as a Navy minister. Of the Emperor's ministers, 78% were ethnic Russians, 9.6% were Baltic Germans while the rest were foreigners in Russian service. Of the men who served as ministers under Nicholas, 14 had graduated from university while another 14 had graduated from a lycée or a gymnasium , the rest had all been educated by private tutors. In foreign policy, Nicholas I acted as

565-410: A computer programmer) in 2008. Arnold Kling used it in 2010 to describe "Moldbug", and the subculture quickly adopted it. Proponents of the "Neo-reactionary" movement (also called the " Dark Enlightenment " movement) include philosopher Nick Land , among others. Persons who have at times been designated reactionaries, by themselves or others, include: Note that Germany did not become united as

678-424: A defensive pact with Prussia. Thus, Russia found herself in a war with every Great Power of Europe either allied against her militarily or diplomatically. In 1853 Mikhail Pogodin , professor of history at Moscow University, wrote a memorandum to Nicholas. Nicholas himself read Pogodin's text and approvingly commented: "That is the whole point." According to historian Orlando Figes , "The memorandum clearly struck

791-646: A former Byzantine Catholic priest named Joseph Semashko as his agent to force Orthodoxy upon the Eastern Rite Catholics of Ukraine , Belarus , and Lithuania . This caused Tsar Nicholas to be condemned by a succession of Roman Pontiffs , the Marquis de Custine , Charles Dickens , and many Western governments. (See also Cantonists .) Nicholas disliked serfdom and toyed with the idea of abolishing it in Russia, but declined to do so for reasons of state. He feared

904-420: A kind heart, but his sincere sense of duty forced him to impose severe discipline: "If the Emperor has no more of mercy in his heart than he reveals in his policies, then I pity Russia; if, on the other hand, his true sentiments are really superior to his acts, then I pity the Emperor." Reactionary In political science , a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor

1017-410: A large family; with all of their seven children surviving childhood. Nicholas's biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky said that he displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. He saw himself as a soldier—a junior officer consumed by spit and polish. A handsome man, he was highly nervous and aggressive. Trained as

1130-585: A matter for Russia." At the same time that Nicholas claimed the Ottoman Empire was within the Russian sphere of influence, he made it clear that he had no interest in annexing the empire. At another meeting with Ficquelmont in 1833, Nicholas, speaking with the "Greek Project" of Catherine the Great in mind said: "I know everything that has been said of the projects of the Empress Catherine, and Russia has renounced

1243-507: A military engineer, he was a stickler for minute detail. In his public persona, stated Riasanovsky, "Nicholas I came to represent autocracy personified: infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate." Nicholas I was instrumental in helping to create an independent Greek state and resumed the Russian conquest of the Caucasus by seizing Iğdır Province and

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1356-402: A paternal autocrat ruling his people by whatever means necessary. Nicholas I began his reign on 14 December 1825 (old style), which fell on a Monday; Russian superstition held that Mondays were unlucky days. This particular Monday dawned very cold, with temperatures of −8 degrees Celsius. This was regarded by the Russian people as a bad omen for the coming reign. The accession of Nicholas I

1469-493: A policy of closing philosophy faculties to curb destabilizing speculation. In the wake of the Decembrist revolt, the tsar moved to protect the status quo by centralizing education. He wanted to neutralize the threat of foreign ideas and "pseudo-knowledge." However, his minister of education, Sergei Uvarov , quietly promoted academic freedom and autonomy, raised academic standards, improved facilities, and opened higher education to

1582-599: A policy of repressing Polish culture beginning with suppressing the Polish Catholic Church . In the 1840s, Nicholas reduced 64,000 Polish nobles to commoner status. In 1848, when a series of revolutions convulsed Europe, Nicholas was at the forefront of reactionism. In 1849, he helped the Habsburgs to suppress the revolution in Hungary , and he also urged Prussia not to adopt a liberal constitution. While Nicholas

1695-598: A population of 60–70 million people, the army counted one million men. They had outdated equipment and tactics, but the tsar, who dressed like a soldier and surrounded himself with officers, gloried in the victory over Napoleon in 1812 and took enormous pride in its smartness on parade. The cavalry horses, for example, were only trained in parade formations, and did poorly in battle. The glitter and braid masked profound weaknesses that he did not see. He put generals in charge of most of his civilian agencies regardless of their qualifications. An agnostic who won fame in cavalry charges

1808-411: A program of " Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality " as the guiding principle of the regime. It was a reactionary policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and the state-founding role of the Russian nationality and equal citizen rights for all other peoples inhabiting Russia, with the exclusion of Jews. The people were to show loyalty to the unrestricted authority of the tsar , to

1921-442: A return to the status quo ante —the previous political state of society—which the person believes possessed positive characteristics that are absent from contemporary society. As a descriptor term, reactionary derives from the ideological context of the left–right political spectrum . As an adjective, the word reactionary describes points of view and policies meant to restore a status quo ante . As an ideology , reactionism

2034-533: A return to the pre-revolutionary model of social relations, with a strong role for the Church. Their utmost philosopher was Nicolás Gómez Dávila . Political scientist Corey Robin argues in his 2011 book The Reactionary Mind that modern conservatism in the United States is "inherently reactionary". Japan 's right-wing nationalist and populist movements and related organizations, which emerged rapidly from

2147-539: A sight—the light, the uniforms, the enormous rooms, the crowd, the music, making a spectacle that was almost Barbaric." Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum , this room retains its original decoration. The Jordan Staircase is a double-height staircase. As visitors to the Winter Palace ascended the stairs of the palace from the lower, shaded area, they entered a large room, flooded with light from

2260-623: A successful war against the Ottomans in 1828–29 , but it did little to increase Russian power in Europe. Only a small Greek state became independent in the Balkans, with limited Russian influence. In 1833, Russia negotiated the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi with the Ottoman Empire. The major European parties mistakenly believed that the treaty contained a secret clause granting Russia the right to transit warships through

2373-445: Is a tradition in right-wing politics ; the reactionary stance opposes policies for the social transformation of society, whereas conservatives seek to preserve the socio-economic structure and order that exists in the present. In popular usage, reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of a person opposed to social, political, and economic change. Reactionary ideologies can be radical in

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2486-465: Is estimated that there were 70,000 Jews conscripted. Under Nicholas I, the Jewish agricultural colonisation of Ukraine continued with the transfer of Siberian Jews to Ukraine. In Ukraine, Jews were offered the opportunity to buy land, which left very little to support their families. On the other hand, these Jews were exempt from forced military conscription. Under Nicholas I there were attempts to reform

2599-497: Is of the past, and so is ecclesiolatry." They further elaborated in their political doctrine that fascism "is not reactionary [in the old way] but revolutionary." Conversely, they explained that fascism was of the right, not the left. Fascism was certainly not simply a return to tradition, as it carried the centralized state beyond even what had been seen in absolute monarchies . Fascist one-party states were as centralized as most communist states , and fascism's intense nationalism

2712-470: Is reaction" and that "fascism, which did not fear to call itself reactionary... has not today any impediment against declaring itself illiberal and anti-liberal." Giovanni Gentile and Mussolini also attacked certain reactionary policies, particularly monarchism, and veiled some aspects of Italian conservative Catholicism . They wrote, "History doesn't travel backwards. The fascist doctrine has not taken Joseph de Maistre as its prophet. Monarchical absolutism

2825-521: The re-criminalisation of homosexuality , restrictions on abortion and divorce, and abolition of the Zhenotdel women's department. Reactionary is also used to denote supporters of authoritarian anti-communist régimes such as Vichy France , Spain under Franco , and Portugal under Salazar . One example occurred after Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature . On 26 October 1958,

2938-508: The Balkans , still largely under Ottoman control in the 1820s. In fact, Nicholas was deeply committed to upholding the status quo in Europe and feared any attempt to devour the decaying Ottoman Empire would both upset his ally Austria, which also had interests in the Balkans, and bring about an Anglo-French coalition in defense of the Ottomans. Furthermore, in the war of 1828–29, the Russians defeated

3051-619: The Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. This misconception led to the London Straits Convention of 1841, which affirmed Ottoman control over the straits and forbade any power, including Russia, from sending warships through them. Buoyed by his role in suppressing the revolutions of 1848 as well as his mistaken belief he could rely on British diplomatic support, Nicholas moved against the Ottomans, who declared war on Russia on 8 October 1853. On 30 November, Russian Admiral Nakhimov caught

3164-692: The Coup of 18 Fructidor . During the French Revolution, conservative forces (especially within the Catholic Church ) organized opposition to the progressive sociopolitical and economic changes brought by the Revolution; and so Conservatives fought to restore the temporal authority of the Church and Crown . In 19th Century European politics, the reactionary class included the Catholic Church's hierarchy and

3277-601: The French States-General of 1789 fully prepared to press for expanding such practices in all provinces to the legal limit. They were horrified when, for example, the French Revolution permitted common citizens to go hunting, one of the few perquisites they had always enjoyed. Thus with the Bourbons Restoration, the Chambre Introuvable set about reverting every law to return society to conditions prior to

3390-643: The German Realm and informally as the Drittes Reich (Third Realm), a reference to past reactionary German entities: the Holy Roman Empire (First Realm) and the German Empire (Second Realm). Clericalist movements, sometimes labeled as clerical fascist by their critics, can be considered reactionaries in terms of the 19th century since they share some elements of fascism while at the same time promoting

3503-554: The November Uprising broke out, in 1831 the Polish parliament deposed Nicholas as king of Poland in response to his repeated curtailment of its constitutional rights. Nicholas reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland and brutally crushed the rebellion. Nicholas then proceeded to abrogate the Polish constitution in virtual entirety and reduced Poland to the status of a province called Vistula Land . Soon after, Nicholas embarked on

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3616-583: The November Uprising in Poland. Russia's first railway was opened in 1837, a 26 km (16 mi) line between St. Petersburg and the suburban residence of Tsarskoye Selo . The second was the Saint Petersburg–Moscow railway , built-in 1842–51. Nevertheless, by 1855 there were only 920 km (570 mi) of Russian railways. In 1833, Sergey Uvarov , of the Ministry of National Education , devised

3729-492: The Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. He reigned for 30 years, and was succeeded by his son Alexander II. There have been many damning verdicts on Nicholas' rule and legacy, despite occasional efforts to revive his reputation. At the end of his life, one of his most devoted civil servants, Aleksandr Nikitenko , opined, "the main failing of the reign of Nicholas Pavlovich was that it

3842-652: The Scottish journalist Gerald Warner of Craigenmaddie , the Colombian political theologian Nicolás Gómez Dávila , and the American historian John Lukacs . The French Revolution gave the English language three politically descriptive words denoting anti-progressive politics: (i) "reactionary", (ii) "conservative", and (iii) " right ". "Reactionary" derives from the French word réactionnaire (a late 18th-century coinage based on

3955-655: The Weimar Republic parliamentary era under the Weimar Constitution , which had succeeded the monarchy in 1918, despite it also being capitalist and classical. Although claiming to be separate from reactionism, the Nazis' rejection of Weimar was based on ostensibly reactionary principles, as the Nazis claimed that the parliamentary system was simply the first step towards Bolshevism and instead idealized more reactionary parts of Germany's past. They referred to Nazi Germany as

4068-526: The absolute monarchy of Louis XIV , when the power of the Second Estate was at its zenith. This clearly distinguishes a "reactionary" from a "conservative." The use of the word "reactionary" in later days as a political slur is thus often rhetorical since there is nothing directly comparable with the Chambre Introuvable in the history of other countries. In the French Revolution 's aftermath, France

4181-604: The aristocracy , royal families , and royalists who believed that national government was the sole domain of the Church and the State. In France, supporters of traditional rule by direct heirs of the House of Bourbon dynasty were labeled the legitimist reaction. In the Third Republic , the monarchists were the reactionary faction, later renamed Conservative . In the 19th century, reactionary denoted people who idealized feudalism and

4294-480: The false claims of a miserable Jew and burns its fleet: that is a lawful action; but Russia demands a treaty to protect millions of Christians, and that is deemed to strengthen its position in the East at the expense of the balance of power. We can expect nothing from the West but blind hatred and malice... Austria offered the Ottomans diplomatic support, and Prussia remained neutral, thus leaving Russia without any allies on

4407-761: The ruling class , including usage between conflicting factions of Marxist movements. Non-socialists also used the label reactionary , with British diplomat Sir John Jordan nicknaming the Chinese Royalist Party the "reactionary party" for supporting the Qing dynasty and opposing republicanism during the Xinhai Revolution in 1912. Despite being traditionally related to right-wing governments, elements of reactionary politics were present in left-wing governments as well, such as when Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin implemented conservative social policies, such as

4520-570: The 19th-century popes buttressed the ideas of the clerical philosophers. From 1815 to 1848, Prince Metternich , the foreign minister of the Austrian Empire , stepped in to organize the containment of revolutionary forces through international alliances to prevent revolutionary fervor. At the Congress of Vienna , he was very influential in establishing the new order, the Concert of Europe , after

4633-491: The Army] there is order. ... All things flow logically from one another. No one here commands without first learning to obey. No one rises above anyone else except through a clearly defined system. Everything is subordinated to a single, defined goal and everything has its precise designations. That is why I shall always hold the title of soldier in the highest esteem. I regard human life as service because everybody must serve." Nicholas

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4746-510: The Chamber of Deputies. The Franchise was restricted to men over the age of forty, which indicated that for the first fifteen years of their lives, they had lived under the ancien régime . Nevertheless, King Louis XVIII worried he would still suffer an intractable parliament. He was delighted with the ultra-royalists , or Ultras, whom the election returned, declaring that he had found a chambre introuvable , literally, an "unfindable house". It

4859-417: The Church. His basic philosophy was based on Edmund Burke , who championed the need for old roots and the orderly development of society. He opposed democratic and parliamentary institutions but favored modernizing existing structures through gradual reform . Despite Metternich's efforts, a series of revolutions rocked Europe in 1848 . In the 20th century, proponents of socialism and communism used

4972-618: The Decembrist revolt on the first day of his reign, Nicholas I was determined to restrain Russian society. The Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery ran a huge network of spies and informers with the help of Gendarmes . The government exercised censorship and other forms of control over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life. Nicholas appointed Alexander Benckendorff to head this Chancellery. Benckendorff employed 300 gendarmes and 16 staff in his office. He began collecting informers and intercepting mail. Soon,

5085-457: The Gods at Olympus, is decorated with alabaster statues of Wisdom and Justice by Mikhail Terebenev (1795-1866); Grandeur and Opulence by Alexander Ustinov (1796-1868); Fidelity and Equity by Ivan Leppe; and Mercury and Mars by Apollon Manyulov. At the centre of the first landing is an anonymous 18th-century marble sculpture, Allegory of the State . During state receptions and functions

5198-651: The Jordan Staircase was a focal point for arriving guests. After entering the palace through the Ambassadors' entrance, in the central courtyard, they would pass through the colonnaded ground floor Jordan Hall before ascending the staircase to the state apartments. Following a ball at the Winter Palace in 1902, the Duchess of Sutherland wrote: "The stairs of the palace were guarded by cossacks, with hundreds of footmen in scarlet liveries, I have never in my life seen so brilliant

5311-683: The Middle East. The Russian Foreign Minister Karl Nesselrode wrote in letter to his ambassador in Constantinople Nikolai Muravyov that the victory of Muhammad Ali of Egypt over Mahmud II would lead to a new dynasty ruling the Ottoman Empire. Nesselrode continued that if the able Muhammad Ali became sultan then it "could, with the elevation of a new personage to the Turkish throne, revive new strength in that declining empire and distract our attention and forces from European affairs, and thus

5424-625: The Nazis called their 1933 rise to power the Volksgemeinschaft (national revolution) showed that, like the Italian Fascists, they supported some form of revolution; however, the Germans and Italian fascists both idealized tradition, folklore, and the tenets of classical thought and leadership, as exemplified in Nazi-era Germany by the idolization of Frederick the Great . They also rejected

5537-406: The Ottomans in every battle fought in the field and advanced deep into the Balkans, but the Russians discovered that they lacked the necessary logistical strength to take Constantinople. Nicholas' policy towards the Ottoman Empire was to use the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca which gave Russia a vague right as protector of Orthodox peoples in the Balkans, as a way of placing the Ottoman Empire into

5650-407: The Russian sphere of influence, which was felt to be a more achievable goal than conquering the entire Ottoman Empire. Nicholas actually wanted to preserve the Ottoman Empire as a stable but weak state that would be unable to stand up to Russia, which was felt to serve Russia's interests. Nicholas always thought of Russia as first and foremost a European power and regarded Europe as more important than

5763-585: The Turkish fleet in the harbor at Sinope and destroyed it. Fearing the results of a total Ottoman defeat by Russia, in 1854 Britain , France , the Kingdom of Sardinia formed a military coalition and joined forces with the Ottoman Empire against Russia. The preceding conflict became known as the Crimean War in the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe, but was labelled in Russia the "Eastern War" (Russian: Восточная война, Vostochnaya Vojna ). In April 1854, Austria signed

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5876-417: The West . The Slavophiles viewed Slavic philosophy as a source of wholeness in Russia and were sceptical of Western rationalism and materialism. Some of them believed that the Russian peasant commune, or Mir , offered an attractive alternative to Western capitalism and could save Europe from social and moral revolution, thus representing a form of Russian messianism . However the ministry of education had

5989-528: The age of 18. Before that many of them were forcibly conscripted into Cantonist schools from the age of 12, while being a Cantonist did not count into the time of military service. They were sent far away from their families to serve in the military so that they would have difficulty practising Judaism and become Russified , and sometimes compelled to convert to Christianity . The poorer village Jews, those without families, and unmarried Jews were especially targeted for military service. Between 1827 and 1854 it

6102-1072: The age of four years, Nicholas was named Grand Prior of Russia and entitled to wear the Maltese cross . Nicholas grew up to be a fine young man. Riasanovsky says of him that he is "the most handsome man in Europe, but also a charmer who enjoyed feminine company and was often at his best with the men." On 13 July 1817, Nicholas married Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798–1860), who took the name Alexandra Feodorovna when she converted to Orthodoxy. Charlotte's parents were Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . Nicholas and Charlotte were third cousins, as they were both great-great-grandchildren of Frederick William I of Prussia . With two older brothers, it initially seemed unlikely Nicholas would ever become Tsar. However, as Alexander and Constantine both failed to produce legitimate sons, Nicholas first came to attention as being likely to rule one day, or at least that his children may succeed. In 1825, when Tsar Alexander died suddenly of typhus , Nicholas

6215-649: The aristocracy and believed they might turn against him if he abolished serfdom. However, he did make some efforts to improve the lot of the Crown Serfs (serfs owned by the government) with the help of his minister Pavel Kiselyov . During most of his reign he tried to increase his control over the landowners and other influential groups in Russia. In 1831, Nicholas restricted the votes in the Noble Assembly to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters. In 1841, landless nobles were banned from selling serfs separate from

6328-543: The armies hindered his generals, as did his misguided strategy. Several historians have concluded that "the reign of Nicholas I was a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy." On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its geographical zenith, spanning over 20 million square kilometers (7.7 million square miles), but had a desperate need for reform. Nicholas was born at Gatchina Palace in Gatchina ,

6441-479: The balance of power. France occupies Rome and stays there several years during peacetime: that is nothing; but Russia only thinks of occupying Constantinople, and the peace of Europe is threatened. The English declare war on the Chinese, who have, it seems, offended them: no one has the right to intervene; but Russia is obliged to ask Europe for permission if it quarrels with its neighbor. England threatens Greece to support

6554-473: The committee was shorn of its powers. After the execution of some 104 Robespierre supporters, the Thermidorian Reaction stopped using the guillotine against alleged counter-revolutionaries , set a middle course between the monarchists and the radicals, and ushered in a time of relative exuberance and its accompanying corruption. With the Congress of Vienna , inspired by Tsar Alexander I of Russia ,

6667-520: The continent. The European allies landed in Crimea and laid siege to the well-fortified Russian Sevastopol Naval Base . The Russians lost battles at Alma in September 1854 and then at Inkerman. After the prolonged Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55) the base fell, exposing Russia's inability to defend a major fortification on its own soil. On the death of Nicholas I, Alexander II became emperor. On 15 January 1856,

6780-466: The day following the Nobel Committee 's announcement, Moscow's Literary Gazette ran a polemical article by David Zaslavski entitled, Reactionary Propaganda Uproar over a Literary Weed . The Italian Fascists desired a new social order based on the ancient feudal principle of delegation (though without serfdom ) in their enthusiasm for the corporate state . Benito Mussolini said that "fascism

6893-455: The defeat of Napoleon . After the Congress, Prince Metternich worked hard to bolster and stabilize the conservative regime of the Restoration period. He worked furiously to prevent Russia's Tsar Alexander I (who aided the liberal forces in Germany, Italy, and France) from gaining influence in Europe. The Church was his principal ally. He promoted it as a conservative principle of order while opposing nationalist and liberal tendencies within

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7006-420: The education of Jews with the object of Russification . Study of the Talmud was disfavored. Nicholas I further toughened censorship of Jewish books in Yiddish and Hebrew by allowing these to be printed only in Zhitomir and Vilna . Nicolas' aggressive foreign policy involved many expensive wars, having a disastrous effect on the empire's finances. Nicholas lavished attention on his very large army; of

7119-430: The emperor of the benefits of inviting Prussian scientist Alexander von Humboldt to Russia to investigate regions that could produce mineral wealth. The Russian government financed Humboldt's eight-month expedition through Russia in 1829, which resulted in diamond finds in the Ural mountains. Humboldt published multiple volumes on his Russian expedition, which he dedicated to Nicholas despite his increasing disapproval of

7232-400: The goal she had set out. I wish to maintain the Turkish empire... It if falls, I do not desire its debris. I need nothing." Ultimately, Nicholas's policies in the Near East proved to be both costly and largely futile. In 1826–28, Nicholas fought the Russo-Persian War (1826–28) , which ended with Persia forced to cede its last remaining territories in the Caucasus . Russia had conquered all

7345-456: The grand duke being impressed with duke's personal warmth, intelligence, manners and grace. For Nicholas the worst sort of characters were nobility who supported liberalism, and when the duc d'Orleans become the king of the French as Louis Philippe I in the July revolution of 1830, Nicholas took this as a personal betrayal, believing his friend had gone over as he saw it to the dark side of revolution and liberalism. Nicholas hated Louis-Philippe,

7458-403: The land. From 1845, attainment of the 5th highest rank (out of 14) in the Table of Ranks was required to be ennobled, previously it had been the 8th rank. Nicholas was crowned King of Poland in Warsaw on 12 (24) May 1829, per the Polish Constitution, a document he would not respect thereafter. He is the only Russian monarch ever crowned King of Poland —although not the only one bestowed with

7571-422: The late 20th century, are considered "reactionary" because they revised the post-war peace constitution and have an advocating attitude toward the Japanese Empire . "Neo-reactionary" is a term that is sometimes a self-description of an informal group of online political theorists who have been active since the 2000s. The phrase "neo-reactionary" was coined by "Mencius Moldbug" (the pseudonym of Curtis Yarvin ,

7684-403: The liberties that existed under the constitutional monarchy in Congress Poland . Nicholas was outraged when he learned of the Belgian revolt against the Dutch in 1830 and ordered the Imperial Russian Army to mobilize. Nicholas then petitioned the Prussian ambassador for Russian troops to be granted transit rights in order to march across Europe and restore Dutch hegemony over Belgium. But at

7797-399: The main source of recognition and support for artists. Nicholas I decided to control it personally, reserving the final say on artistic honors. As the tsar reprimanded and humiliated artists whose works he found distasteful, the result was fear, insecurity, and artistic mediocrity. Despite the repressions of this period, Russians outside official control produced a flowering of literature and

7910-405: The men who served as a minister under him had seen action in the wars against France, the Ottoman Empire, and Sweden. This proved to be something of a handicap in the sense that the sort of qualities that could make a man distinguished on the battlefields such as bravery did not necessarily make a man capable of running a ministry. The most notorious case was Prince Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov ,

8023-423: The middle classes. By 1848 the tsar, fearing that political upheavals in the West might spread to Russia, ended Uvarov's innovations. The universities were small and closely monitored, especially the potentially dangerous philosophy departments. Their main mission was to train a loyal, vigorous, manly senior bureaucracy unspoiled by effeminate office work. The Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg became

8136-517: The monarch [Nicholas] is especially concerned to keep the sultan on his tottering throne." At the same time, Nicholas argued that because of the economic importance to Russia of the Turkish straits, through which Russia exports its grain, that Russia had the "right" to intervene in Ottoman affairs. In 1833, Nicholas told the Austrian ambassador Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont that "Oriental affairs are above all

8249-609: The monarchs of Russia , Prussia and Austria formed the Holy Alliance , a form of collective security against revolution and Bonapartism . This instance of reaction was surpassed by a movement that developed in France when, after the second fall of Napoleon , the Bourbon Restoration , or reinstatement of the Bourbon dynasty, ensued. This time it was to be a constitutional monarchy , with an elected lower house of parliament,

8362-609: The new emperor took Russia out of the war on very unfavorable terms, which included the loss of a naval fleet on the Black Sea. Nicholas died on 2 March 1855, during the Crimean War, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg . He caught a chill, refused medical treatment and died of pneumonia , although there were rumors he was committing a passive suicide by refusing treatment. He was buried in

8475-448: The ninth child of Grand Duke Paul , heir to the Russian throne, and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia (née Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg ). He had six older sisters and two older brothers, namely the future Emperor Alexander I of Russia and Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia . Four months after Nicholas's birth, his grandmother, Catherine the Great , died and his parents became Emperor and Empress of Russia. In 1800, at

8588-403: The performing arts. Through the works of Aleksandr Pushkin , Nikolai Gogol , Ivan Turgenev and numerous others, Russian literature gained international stature and recognition. Ballet took root in Russia after its importation from France , and classical music became firmly established with the compositions of Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857). Minister of Finance Georg von Cancrin persuaded

8701-481: The persecution of non-Russian languages and non-Orthodox religions. Taras Shevchenko , later to become known as the national poet of Ukraine , was exiled to Siberia by a direct order of Tsar Nicholas after composing a poem that mocked the Tsar, his wife, and his domestic policies. By order of the Tsar, Shevchenko was kept under strict surveillance and prevented from writing or painting. From 1839, Tsar Nicholas also used

8814-555: The pre-modern era—before the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution—when economies were mostly agrarian , a landed aristocracy dominated society, a hereditary king ruled, and the Catholic Church was society's moral center. Those labeled "reactionary" favored the aristocracy instead of the middle and working classes . Reactionaries opposed democracy and parliamentarism . The Thermidorian Reaction

8927-589: The protector of ruling legitimism and as guardian against revolution. It has often been noted that such policies were linked with the Metternich counter-revolutionary system through the Austrian ambassador Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont . Nicholas's offers to suppress revolution on the European continent, trying to follow the pattern set by his eldest brother, Alexander I, earned him the label of "gendarme of Europe". Immediately on his succession Nicholas began to limit

9040-687: The remainder of modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan from Qajar Iran during the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) . He ended the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) successfully as well. He crushed the November Uprising in Poland in 1831 and decisively aided Austria during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Later on, however, he led Russia into the Crimean War (1853–1856), with disastrous results. Historians emphasize that his micromanagement of

9153-403: The rococoils were gilded. Citations Bibliography 59°56′29″N 30°18′51″E  /  59.9413°N 30.3141°E  / 59.9413; 30.3141 Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I (6 July [ O.S. 25 June] 1796 – 2 March [ O.S. 18 February] 1855) was Emperor of Russia , King of Congress Poland , and Grand Duke of Finland . He

9266-560: The same time, a cholera epidemic was decimating Russian troops and the revolt in Poland tied down Russian soldiers which might have been deployed against the Belgians. It seems likely that Nicholas's hawkish stance was not a sincere prelude towards invasion of the Low Countries, but rather an attempt to apply pressure on the other European powers. Nicholas made it clear he would only act if Prussia and Britain also participated as he feared that

9379-461: The sandriques of the large windows. Rastrelli was commissioned by F. Fontebasso in Italy to create the picturesque plafond. The banisters and balusters of the stairs, the vases as well as the bases of the columns were to be made of gilded copper. The walls were to be painted pink, while the stucco rocaille would remain white. However, by 1761 the walls and wooden columns were clad in artificial marble and

9492-484: The saying that "it was impossible to sneeze in one's house before it is reported to the emperor" became Benckendorff's creed. Tsar Nicholas abolished several areas of local autonomy. Bessarabia's autonomy was removed in 1828, Poland's in 1830 and the Jewish Qahal was abolished in 1843. As an exception to this trend, Finland was able to keep its autonomy partly due to Finnish soldiers' loyal participation in crushing

9605-539: The self-styled Le roi citoyen ("the Citizen King") as a renegade nobleman and an "usurper," and his foreign policy starting in 1830 was primarily anti-French , based upon reviving the coalition that had existed during the Napoleonic era of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Britain, to isolate France. Nicholas detested Louis-Philippe to the point that he refused to use his name, referring to him merely as "the usurper". Britain

9718-400: The sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions. To some writers, the term reactionary carries negative connotations— Peter King observed that it is "an unsought-for label, used as a torment rather than a badge of honor." Despite this, the descriptor "political reactionary" has been adopted by writers such as the Austrian monarchist Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn ,

9831-436: The soldiers for six months of the year. Curtiss finds that "The pedantry of Nicholas's military system, which stressed unthinking obedience and parade ground evolutions rather than combat training, produced ineffective commanders in time of war." His commanders in the Crimean War were old and incompetent, and indeed so were his muskets as the colonels sold the best equipment and the best food. For much of Nicholas' reign, Russia

9944-529: The space by twin columns. The main entrance to the suit of the Neva is decorated by a magnificent portal with columns supporting a pediment with a cartouche and a sculpture. On either side of the portal are niches with statues of Mars and Apollo. In 1758 the finishing work began. On the second tier of the walls on pedestals, allegorical statues of Justice, Mercy, Military Valour and Prosperity of Trade were set up. Bas-reliefs of banners and trophies of war have been placed in

10057-655: The term reactionary polemically to label their enemies, such as the White Armies , who fought in the Russian Civil War against the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution . In Marxist terminology, reactionary is a pejorative adjective denoting people whose ideas might appear to be socialist but, in their opinion, contain elements of feudalism , capitalism , nationalism , fascism , or other characteristics of

10170-512: The territories of Iran in both the North Caucasus and South Caucasus , comprising modern-day Georgia , Dagestan , Armenia , and Azerbaijan , through the course of the 19th century. The treaty further conceded extraterritoriality to Russian subjects in Iran (capitulation). As Professor Virginia Aksan adds, the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay "removed Iran from the military equation." Russia fought

10283-560: The throne. That manifesto retroactively named 1 December (19 November Old Style ), the date of Alexander I's death, as the beginning of his reign. During this confusion, a plot was hatched by some members of the military to overthrow Nicholas and seize power. This led to the Decembrist Revolt on 26 (14 Old Style ) December 1825, an uprising Nicholas quickly suppressed. Defunct Nicholas completely lacked his brother's spiritual and intellectual breadth; he saw his role simply as that of

10396-482: The title. The official emphasis on Russian nationalism fueled 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 adopting European culture and institutions. Another group, the Slavophiles , enthusiastically favored Slavic culture and customs, and disdained

10509-578: The traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church , and the Russian language . These romantic and conservative principles outlined by Uvarov were also espoused by Vasily Zhukovsky , one of the tutors of the Grand Duke Alexander. The results of these Slavophile principles led, broadly speaking, to increasing repression of all classes, excessive censorship, and surveillance of independent-minded intellectuals like Pushkin and Lermontov and to

10622-578: The tsar's policies. In 1851 the Jewish population numbered at 2.4 million, including 212,000 in Russian-controlled Poland . This made them one of the largest inorodtsy (non-Slavic) minorities in the Russian Empire. On 26 August 1827 the edict of military conscription ( Ustav rekrutskoi povinnosti ) was introduced, which required Jewish boys to serve in the Russian military for 25 years from

10735-687: The two tiers of windows on the Neva, which was reflected in the mirrors of the symmetrical set of portholes on the opposite side. Rastrelli had used this idea before: in the Dancing Hall of the Great Peterhof Palace (1751-1752), in the Grand Staircase and the Great Hall of the Palace at Tsarskoye Selo (1751-1756). At the top of the stairs, Rastrelli arranged a small gallery separated from the rest of

10848-543: The war's end, Russia's leaders were determined to reform their military and society. As Fuller notes, "Russia had been beaten on the Crimean Peninsula, and the military feared that it would inevitably be beaten again unless steps were taken to surmount its military weakness." An intensely militaristic man, Nicholas regarded the Army as the best and greatest institution in Russia and as a model for society, saying: "Here [in

10961-437: The word réaction , "reaction") and " conservative " from conservateur , identifying monarchist parliamentarians opposed to the revolution. In this French usage, reactionary denotes "a movement towards the reversal of an existing tendency or state" and a "return to a previous condition of affairs". The Oxford English Dictionary cites the first English language usage in 1799 in a translation of Lazare Carnot 's letter on

11074-646: Was a movement within the French Revolution against the perceived excesses of the Jacobins . Maximilien Robespierre 's Reign of Terror ended on 27 July 1794 (9 Thermidor year II in the French Republican Calendar ). The overthrow of Robespierre signaled the reassertion of the French National Convention over the Committee of Public Safety . The Jacobins were suppressed, the prisons were emptied, and

11187-489: Was all a mistake." In 1891 Lev Tolstoy popularised the nickname Николай Палкин (Nicholas the Stick) in reference to the late emperor's passion for military discipline. Historian Barbara Jelavich points to many failures, including the "catastrophic state of Russian finances", the badly-equipped army, the inadequate transportation system, and a bureaucracy "characterized by graft, corruption, and inefficiency". Kiev University

11300-411: Was also the means used by diminished aristocrats to get themselves a bigger piece of the pie. In the 18th century, those gentry whose fortunes and prestige had diminished to the level of peasants would search diligently for every ancient feudal statute that might give them something. For example, the "ban" meant that all peasants had to grind their grain in their lord's mill. Therefore, these gentry came to

11413-473: Was attempting to maintain the status quo in Europe, he followed a somewhat more aggressive policy toward the neighbouring empires to the south, the Ottoman Empire and Persia . Nicholas was widely believed at the time to be following the traditional Russian policy of resolving the so-called Eastern Question by seeking to partition the Ottoman Empire and establish a protectorate over the Orthodox population of

11526-475: Was caught between swearing allegiance to Constantine and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine, who was in Warsaw at that time, officially forfeited his right to succession. This had been required by Tsar Alexander as a condition of Constantine's marriage to his second wife Joanna Grudzinska . On 25 (13 Old Style ) December, Nicholas issued the manifesto proclaiming his accession to

11639-446: Was continually wracked by quarrels between right-wing legitimists and left-wing revolutionaries. Herein arose the clerical philosophers— Joseph de Maistre , Louis de Bonald , François-René de Chateaubriand —whose answer was restoring the House of Bourbon and reinstalling the Catholic Church as the established church . Since then, France's political spectrum has featured similar divisions (see Action Française ). The teachings of

11752-490: Was founded in 1834 by Nicholas. In 1854, there were 3600 university students in Russia, 1000 fewer than in 1848. Censorship was omnipresent; historian Hugh Seton-Watson writes: "the intellectual atmosphere remained oppressive until the end of the reign." The Frenchman Marquis de Custine wrote the widely-read travel book La Russie en 1839 ( Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia ). He speculated that Nicholas had

11865-482: Was made supervisor of Church affairs. The army became the vehicle of upward social mobility for noble youths from non-Russian areas, such as Poland, the Baltic, Finland, and Georgia. On the other hand, many miscreants, petty criminals, and undesirables were punished by local officials by being enlisted for life in the Army. The conscription system was highly unpopular with people, as was the practice of forcing peasants to house

11978-520: Was marred by a demonstration of 3000 young army officers and other liberal-minded citizens. This demonstration was an attempt to force the government to accept a constitution and a representative form of government. Nicholas ordered the Imperial Russian Army to smash the demonstration. The "uprising" was quickly put down and became known as the Decembrist revolt . Having experienced the trauma of

12091-553: Was not found in the period prior to the French Revolution. Although the German Nazis did not consider themselves fascists or reactionaries and condemned the traditional German forces of reaction (Prussian monarchists , Junker nobility, and Roman Catholic clergy ) as being among their enemies, next to their Red Front enemies in the Nazi Party march Die Fahne hoch , they virulently opposed revolutionary leftism. The fact that

12204-453: Was often exasperated by the slow pace of the Russian bureaucracy and had a marked preference for appointing generals and admirals to high government rank because of their perceived efficiency, overlooking or ignoring whether or not they were actually qualified for the role. Of the men who served as Nicholas's ministers, 61% had previously served as a general or an admiral. Nicholas liked to appoint generals who had seen combat, and at least 30 of

12317-442: Was seen as a major military power, with considerable strength. The Crimean War, fought shortly before Nicholas' death, demonstrated to both Russia and the world what few had previously realized: Russia was militarily weak, technologically backward, and administratively incompetent. Despite his grand ambitions toward the south and Turkey, Russia had not built railroad network in that direction, and communications were bad. The bureaucracy

12430-579: Was the Declaration of Saint-Ouen that prepared the way for the Restoration. Before the French Revolution, which radically and bloodily overthrew most aspects of French society's organization, the only way constitutional change could be instituted was by extracting it from old legal documents that could be interpreted as agreeing with the proposal. Everything new had to be expressed as a righteous revival of something old that had lapsed and had been forgotten. This

12543-468: Was the third son of Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I . Nicholas's thirty-year reign began with the failed Decembrist revolt . He is mainly remembered as a reactionary whose controversial reign was marked by geographical expansion, centralisation of administrative policies, and repression of dissent both in Russia and among its neighbors. Nicholas had a happy marriage that produced

12656-429: Was unprepared for war being riddled with graft, corruption, and inefficiency. The Navy had few competent officers, the rank and file were poorly trained and most importantly of its vessels were outdated; the army, although very large, was good only for parades, suffered from colonels who pocketed their men's pay, poor morale, and was even more out of touch with the latest technology as developed by Britain and France . By

12769-406: Was unwilling to join the anti-French coalition, but Nicholas was successful in cementing existing close ties with Austria and Prussia and the three imperial states regularly held joint military reviews during this time. For much of the 1830s, a sort of "cold war" existed between the liberal "western bloc" of France and Britain vs. the reactionary "eastern bloc" of Austria, Prussia and Russia. After

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