The Russian emperor Nicholas I came to power, one might say, against his will. He had no ambitious aspirations, and did not claim the throne, but still he showed character and did not give up this burden when it was his turn to take care of the country. The era of his reign was marked by important events, and though not everything was cloudless, but the emperor did everything possible so that the Russian Empire flourished.
Since childhood, the future autocrat adored the army and everything connected with it. His favorite pastimes were observing military parades and other events. He even made a special uniform of military cut, when he was only three years old. When Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin fell out of favor and was exiled, it was Nicholas I who, taking the imperial throne, returned him from exile to the court. Despite the mercy described above, Pushkin spoke rather dismissively of the emperor. In his diary, he wrote that in Nicholas I there is more from some ensign than from his ancestor Peter the Great. When the emperor ascended the throne, the Russian industrial sector was in deep decline. Thanks to competent management, Nicholas I managed to revive it and introduce numerous technological innovations.
The emperor devoted an average of 15 hours a day to business, leaving himself very little time to rest. Nicholas I, apparently, was a real giant – surviving sources indicate that his growth was 2.05 meters. The famous Decembrist uprising took place precisely on the day of the accession of Nicholas I to the throne. Everyone knows how it ended – the uprising was crushed, and some of its instigators were executed. Nicholas I was the third son in the imperial family, and therefore was not considered as a contender for the throne. However, he still had to shoulder this overwhelming burden. The British prince Philip is Nicholas the First great-great-grandson.
During the reign of the emperor, the Russian embassy in Persia, in Tehran, was brutally carved during the unrest. In the course of this tragic event, Griboedov, a famous writer and diplomat, who defended the entrance to the building with a saber in his hand, died. The Persian Shah, to make amends, sent Nicholas I a huge diamond, which is still kept in the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation. It’s called “Shah”. Nicholas I was a very pious man. He voluntarily avoided various excesses, and regularly attended divine services on Sundays.
