When Alexander I died (Dec. 1 [Nov. 19], 1825), however, there was confusion over his successor. On the day that the guards were to swear allegiance to Constantine's younger brother Nicholas (Dec. 26 [Dec. 14], 1825), a group of revolutionaries, including many officers (later known as the Dekabrists, or Decembrists), convinced the soldiers to call for “Constantine and Constitution” in an attempt to start a rebellion.
Though Constantine had played no part in the rising, which was swiftly suppressed, differences soon arose between him and Nicholas because Constantine insisted that the Polish army and bureaucracy were loyal to the Russian Empire despite the large role Poles had played in the Decembrist conspiracy. Later, the two brothers also disagreed over Nicholas' foreign policy; because of Constantine's opposition, the Polish army did not participate in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29.
Constantine was convinced that the Polish army was loyal, and so he was taken completely by surprise when a Polish insurrection broke out in Warsaw in November 1830. Because of his utter failure to grasp the situation, the Polish army passed over to the side of the rebels, and as the revolution wore on, Constantine showed himself as incompetent as he was lacking in judgment. He did not live to see the uprising suppressed, for he died of cholera in June 1831.
Uvarov, Sergey Semyonovich, Count
▪ Russian statesman
(Graf)
born Aug. 25 [Sept. 5, New Style], 1786, Moscow, Russia
died Sept. 4 [Sept. 16], 1855, Moscow
Russian statesman and administrator, an influential minister of education during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I.
Uvarov served as a diplomat (1806–10), head of the St. Petersburg educational district (1811–22), and deputy minister of education (1832) before being named minister of education in 1833. In an important report to the tsar in 1833 he declared that education must be conducted “with faith in the . . . principles of orthodoxy (Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality), autocracy, and nationality.” These words were subsequently adopted by various periodicals and associations as articles of faith. The ideology that they came to represent was rooted in loyalty to dynastic rule, traditional religious faith, and romantic glorification of the Russian homeland. Uvarov's subsequent educational policies were reactionary: he restricted the educational opportunities of nonnoble students and tightened government control over university and secondary-school curricula. During his tenure the educational system did expand significantly, however, particularly in the fields of technical and vocational instruction.
Uvarov was minister of education from 1833 to 1849 and president of the Academy of Science from 1818 until his death. He was created a count in 1846.
Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality
▪ Russian slogan
Russian Pravoslaviye, Samoderzhaviye, I Narodnost,
in Russian history, slogan created in 1832 by Count Sergey S. Uvarov (Uvarov, Sergey Semyonovich, Count), minister of education 1833–49, that came to represent the official ideology of the imperial government of Nicholas I (reigned 1825–55) and remained the guiding principle behind government policy during later periods of imperial rule.
Uvarov presented the phrase in a report to Nicholas on the state of education in the Moscow university and secondary schools (gimnazii). In the report he recommended that the state's future educational program stress the value of the Orthodox Church, the autocratic government, and the national character of the Russian people; he considered these to be the fundamental factors distinguishing Russian society and protecting it from the corrupting influence of western Europe.
As the official ideology became the basis of Russian education, the study of theology and the classics, as well as vocational training, received much emphasis. Philosophy, however, considered to be the main medium through which corrupting Western ideas were transmitted, was virtually eliminated from the curriculum. Outside the schools, strict censorship was imposed on all publications that were critical of the system of autocracy.
Furthermore, official adherence to the slogan “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality” gave an impetus (not entirely approved of by the Emperor) to the cause of the Russian nationalists, many of whom were employed in government and other influential positions. Interpreting narodnost to mean “nationalism” rather than “nationality,” they used their authority to institute Russification policies in schools in non-Russian areas of the empire, to pressure non-Orthodox religious groups to convert, and to enact various restrictive measures that suppressed non-Russian nationality groups. The nationalists also encouraged the government to support the efforts of other Slavic peoples to achieve national autonomy and, thereby, contributed to the developing rivalry between Russia and Austria (one of Russia's chief allies) for dominance in the Slavic-populated Balkans.
Third Department
▪ Russian political office
Russian Tretye Otdeleniye, also called Third Section Of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancery In Russia,
office created by Emperor Nicholas I (July 15 [July 3, old style], 1826) to conduct secret police operations. Designed by Count A.Kh. Benckendorff (Benckendorff, Aleksandr Khristoforovich, Count), who was also its first chief administrator (1826–44), the department was responsible for political security.
It conducted surveillances and gathered information on political dissidents, religious schismatics, and foreigners. It banished suspected political criminals to remote regions and operated prisons for “state criminals.” It was also responsible for prosecuting counterfeiters of money and official documents and for conducting censorship. It functioned in conjunction with the Corps of Gendarmes (formed in 1836), a well-organized military force that operated throughout the empire, and with a network of anonymous spies and informers.
Originally intended to protect the common people of Russia from the exploitation and corrupt practices of the dominant classes, it became a particularly repressive institution. In the 1870s it was responsible for the arrest of many Narodniki (Populists), who had gone into the countryside to improve conditions and agitate politically among the peasantry; it became a major target for revolutionary terrorists, who assassinated its head, Gen. N.V. Mezentsev, in 1878.
The department was abolished in 1880 by Gen. M.T. Loris-Melikov (Loris-Melikov, Mikhail Tariyelovich, Graf), who was appointed by Alexander II to assume many executive responsibilities and to undermine the revolutionary movement by instigating a series of moderate reforms. The department's functions were transferred to the department of the police of the Ministry of Interior.
Benckendorff, Aleksandr Khristoforovich, Count
▪ Russian general and statesman
(Graf)
born 1783, Tallinn, Russia [now in Estonia]
died Sept. 23 [Oct. 5, New Style], 1844, St. Petersburg
general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Napoleonic Wars and later served as Tsar Nicholas I's (Nicholas I) chief of police.
Of Baltic-German origin, Benckendorff joined the Russian army and was one of the officers who assassinated Emperor Paul I in 1801. Between 1806 and 1815 he fought in numerous military campaigns, distinguishing himself particularly when he became commandant of Moscow, joined the pursuit of the French forces as they fled from Russia (1812), and engaged in many battles against the French in Germany and the Low Countries and Belgium.
Benckendorff then served as aide-de-camp to Tsar Alexander I (1819–21) and, having been promoted to lieutenant general, was given command of the cuirassier division of the guards (1821). In 1825, when the liberal Decembrists (Decembrist) attempted to prevent the succession of Nicholas to the throne and to force the establishment of constitutional government in Russia, Benckendorff commanded the troops that suppressed their uprising; later, he played a leading role in prosecuting them. The relentless way in which he and fellow generals of German origin in Russia tracked down members of eminent Russian noble families who had been connected with the Decembrist movement aroused popular belief that the German generals were trying to liquidate their Slav rivals in the government.