Nicholas I of Russia - Early Life and Road To Power

Early Life and Road To Power

Nicholas was not brought up to be the Emperor of Russia; he had two elder brothers. In 1825, when Alexander I suddenly died of typhus, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother Constantine Pavlovich and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine Pavlovich, who was in Warsaw at that time, confirmed his refusal. Additionally, on 25 December (13 Old Style) Nicholas issued the manifesto claiming his accession to 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 the military to overthrow Nicholas and to usurp power. This led to the Decembrist Revolt on 26 December (14 Old Style) 1825, an uprising Nicholas was successful in suppressing.

Read more about this topic:  Nicholas I Of Russia

Famous quotes containing the words early, life, road and/or power:

    The shift from the perception of the child as innocent to the perception of the child as competent has greatly increased the demands on contemporary children for maturity, for participating in competitive sports, for early academic achievement, and for protecting themselves against adults who might do them harm. While children might be able to cope with any one of those demands taken singly, taken together they often exceed children’s adaptive capacity.
    David Elkind (20th century)

    This form, this face, this life
    Living to live in a world of time beyond me; let me
    Resign my life for this life, my speech for that unspoken,
    The awakened, lips parted, the hope, the new ships.
    —T.S. (Thomas Stearns)

    Through the hollow globe, a ring
    of frayed rusty scrapiron,
    is it the sea that shines?
    Is it a road at the world’s edge?
    Denise Levertov (b. 1923)

    To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.
    Simone Weil (1909–1943)