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the age of nicholas i represented in many ways the pinnacle
of achievement for the russian monarchy. never in its whole
history was it as powerful both at home and abroad. nicholas
i managed to maintain the status quo within the country by
doing everything in his power to freeze its social and
political development for the three decades of his reign.
however, he turned away from reform at a time when the rest
of europe was undergoing rapid transformation under the
influence of the developing capitalism. while capitalism was
only slowly beginning to affect russia, it was
revolutionizing great britain, belgium, and france. the
great industrial revolution spreading across the continent
of europe stopped short of the russian borders. in
agriculture, the institution of serfdom and the inability of
most landowners to modernize their estates blocked any major
change. the empire of the tsars failed to keep pace with
other european countries. by the middle of the nineteenth
century it appeared to many 慳 colossus on feet of clay?
century it appeared to many 慳 colossus on feet of clay?
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russian
backwardness was dramatically revealed at the close of nicholas?
reign during the crimean warmake money amazon alibaba(1853-56) in which an isolated russia was
opposed by the british, french, turks and piedmontese. the war
showed russia to be military inferior to the more industrialized
countries of western europe. the russians?weapons and military
equipment proved obsolete. russian infantry抯 small-arms were no
match for modern west european rifles which could open fire at four
times the distance of russian antiquated handguns. the black sea
fleet, composed of wooden sailing vessels, could not compete with
the steam-propelled warships of the allies. in addition, the
country抯 transportation system failed to serve adequately the needs
of the war. unlike their stand in 1812 against napoleon, in the
crimea the russians were unable to defend their own territory
crimea the russians were unable to defend their own territory
against outside invasion.
russia抯
defeats in the crimean war seriously undermined her military
prestige and dealt a severe blow to national self-esteem. they even
provided grounds for talks about nicholas having deliberately taken
his own life. the catastrophe of the war underlined the pressing
need for fundamental reforms. it sounded a painful alarm call and
was one of the causes of the series of important internal reforms
which were carried out by nicholas抯 heir, alexander ii (1855-1881).
the crimean
war and the subsequent reforms of alexander ii underscored with
absolute clarity, for the second time since peter抯 reign, the
significance of
competition with the west as one of the key factors in
russian history. the entire russian history of the past three
centuries, ever since the days of peter the great, has been
punctuated by reforms induced by the russian government抯 efforts to
catch up with and overtake their western rivals. dominic lieven
presents russian modern and contemporary history in terms of three
great cycles of modernization spread over the past three centuries,
all of them triggered by the factor of competition with the west.
each of the three cycles was initiated from above, by the state, and
each was designed to achieve parity or better in the competition
with the leading western great powers.
