William Tyler
From Successful War to Failed Revolution
Monday 13.06.2022
Summary
The groundwork for a modern European Russia, laid down in the previous century by Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, was eschewed by Alexander I (1801-25) and his younger brother, Nicholas I (1825-55).
Why? The French Revolution. Everybody and everywhere in Europe would be affected by the wars of Napoleon and by the ideas of The Revolution. Alexander I was able to push Napoleon’s Army out of Russia following the French invasion of 1812, but dealing with ideas was much more difficult. Both he and Nicholas I fell back on the the well trodden path of Russian repression of threatening ideas.
Russia turned towards its Slavic heritage. As a result, isolationism spawned hubris, and the Russian Army was exposed during The Crimean War at the end of Nicholas’ reign. A crisis that the new Tsar Alexander II would have to meet in the second half of the century.
William Tyler
