History of Russia: 19th century

Many people are interested in the history of Russia, the 19th century in which it became one of the most controversial epochs. And it is not surprising, because this is a special time in our country, full of reforms and transformations, comparable only with the era of Peter the Great.

The history of Russia, the 19th century, which fell on the reign of the three emperors, is of great interest to researchers. At the beginning of the century, Russia entered as a feudal-serf, autocratic state. In terms of population and military power, it was in the first place among the European powers during this period.

But the history of Russia, the 19th century in which it became almost one of the most reactionary and at the same time progressive, testifies to the archaic nature of the country's economy due to backwardness in the development of the economy. The country's budget was based on peasant taxes.

By law, the emperor ruled the country with the help of officials who concentrated in their hands a serious power.

History of Russia: 19th century, briefly

This is the story of the three emperors and their associates from among the numerous officials. The government was in charge both in central government bodies and in the localities. The country was ruled by bureaucracy.

When Alexander I was on the throne , he was associated with great hopes for reforming the country right up to the abolition of the feudal system. However, these hopes were not to come true. Then all the people's aspirations were transferred to Emperor Nicholas I.

But the reforms were never carried out by either emperor. Both rulers acted almost identically.

The liberal mood at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I was replaced by a reactionary stage at the end. With this emperor in power, in fact, Arakcheev, who was so cruel, that his name became a household name.

The history of Russia, the 19th century in particular, is of interest from the point of view of the formation of various new ideological currents. Several main trends of socio-political thought appear. This time was a period of an extraordinary rise in social thought, which the history of Russia did not know before, the xix century becomes epochal in this sense.

The official ideology is the "theory of official nationality" Uvarov. This theory was built on three pillars: "autocracy" - "Orthodoxy" - "nationality". To a certain degree, the Slavophiles agreed with this theory, they favored a special way of development of the Russian state, which did not coincide with the Western (European) path of development.

Westernizers, in contrast to the Slavophiles, on the contrary, offered to orient themselves towards developed European countries in order to overcome backwardness in development.

At the same time, another stream of social thought appears in Russia, which in its own way interprets the political and economic development of the country. It was called socialist.

Even the very existence of several theories, which unequally interpreted the ways of the country's development, indicates that the country was in a rather difficult situation and badly needed reform.

The second half of the 19th century became a special time for Russia, when, finally, the long-awaited period of transformation did come. It is associated with the name of Emperor Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom in Russia .