by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Born on July 6, 1796, at Gatchina Palace in Gatchina, Russia, Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia (Nikolay Pavlovich) was the third of the four sons and the ninth of the ten children of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (Empress Maria Feodorovna). Because he had two, much older brothers, Nicholas was not expected to become Emperor.

Nicholas had seven older siblings and one younger sibling. Only one of his siblings did not survive childhood.

• Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia (1777 – 1825), married Luise of Baden (Elizabeth Alexeievna), had two daughters who both died in childhood
• Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich (1779 – 1831), married (1) Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Anna Feodorovna), no children, marriage annulled (2) Joanna Grudzińska, no children, a morganatic marriage that cost Constantine the crown
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna (1783 – 1801), married Archduke Joseph of Austria, Count Palatine of Hungary, had one daughter who died at birth, Alexandra died of childbirth complications a week later
• Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (1784 – 1803), married Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had two children
• Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1786 – 1859), married Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, had four children including Augusta who married Wilhelm I, German Emperor, King of Prussia
• Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna (1788 – 1819), married (1) Georg of Oldenburg, had two sons (2) King Wilhelm I of Württemberg, had two daughters including Sophie who married King Willem III of the Netherlands
• Grand Duchess Olga Pavlovna (1792 – 1795), died in early childhood
• Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna (1795 – 1865), married King Willem II of the Netherlands, had five children including King Willem III of the Netherlands
• Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich (1798 – 1849), married Charlotte of Württemberg (Elena Pavlovna), had five children

Four months after his birth, Nicholas’ grandmother Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia died and his father succeeded her as Emperor. His grandmother had taken away Nicholas’ two older brothers Alexander and Constantine to raise them in her apartments. Now Nicholas’ parents would be able to oversee his upbringing. For the first seven years of his life, Nicholas was under the care of his governess, the Russian noble Countess Charlotte Karlovna Lieven. Countess Lieven had previously been entrusted with the education of Nicholas’ sisters but with the death of his grandmother, the countess would also be responsible for Nicholas and his younger brother Michael. When Nicholas was four-years-old, Matvey Ivanovich Lamsdorf, an army general, was appointed as his tutor. General Lamsdorf stayed with Nicholas for seventeen years.

Nicholas’ father Emperor Paul was disliked by the nobility because he planned to adopt policies that annoyed the nobility. A conspiracy was formed to depose Paul. On the night of March 23, 1801, the conspirators charged into Paul’s bedroom, forced him to abdicate, and then strangled and trampled him to death. Paul was succeeded by his 23-year-old son Alexander I who did not punish the conspirators. Nicholas was only four-year-old and yet he vividly recalled that day for the rest of his life.

Since Nicholas’ widowed mother Maria Feodorovna had been entrusted by her husband with the upbringing and care of their two younger sons Nicholas and Michael, Alexander I abstained from any influence on the upbringing of his younger brothers. Maria Feodorovna’s greatest concern regarding Nicholas was his enthusiasm for the military, an influence from his father Paul. Nicholas only excelled in his military studies, particularly military engineering and fortification. Later in life, Nicholas was horrified by his ignorance and made attempts to rectify the gaps in his education.

In the autumn of 1814, Nicholas and his younger brother Michael visited Berlin, then in the Kingdom of Prussia. There he met Princess Charlotte of Prussia, the eldest daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. It was love at first sight. In November 1815, arrangements were made for nineteen-year-old Nicholas to marry seventeen-year-old Charlotte to strengthen the alliance between Russia and Prussia. Nicholas’ brother Alexander I had no surviving children but Nicholas was not expected to inherit the Russian throne as his elder brother Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich was the heir. Charlotte was glad that she would not be the empress and would be able to live away from palace intrigues.

Charlotte arrived in Russia in June 1817. She converted to Russian Orthodoxy on July 6, 1817, and took the name Alexandra Feodorovna. The next day, she was officially engaged to Nicholas and was created a Grand Duchess of Russia. The wedding was held on Alexandra Feodorovna’s 19th birthday, July 13, 1817, at the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Alexandra and Nicholas had seven children who would revive the Romanov dynasty:

• Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia (1818 – 1881), married (1) Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Maria Alexandrovna), had six children including Alexander III and Maria Alexandrovna who married Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, son of Queen Victoria; (2) Princess Catherine Dolgorukov, morganatic marriage, had four children
• Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1819 – 1876), married (1) Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, had seven children; (2) Count Grigori Stroganov, morganatic marriage, had two children
• Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1822 – 1892), married 1846, Karl, King of Württemberg, no children
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (1825 – 1844), married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel, had one son who died shortly after birth along with Alexandra
• Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaevich (1827 – 1892), married Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (Alexandra Iosifovna), had six children including Olga Constantinivna who married King George I of Greece
• Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (1831 – 1891), married Alexandra of Oldenburg (Alexandra Petrovna), had two children
• Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich (1832 – 1909), married Cecilie of Baden (Olga Feodorovna); had seven children including Alexander Mikhailovich who married Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia; three of Michael’s sons were killed by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution

Because Nicholas’ eldest brother Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia had no surviving children, the second brother Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich was the heir to the throne. Constantine had married Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1796. Juliane was very unhappy in the marriage, separated from Constantine in 1799, and went back to her homeland permanently in 1801. In 1814, Constantine tried to reconcile with Juliana but was firmly rebuffed. In 1815, Constantine started a relationship with Polish noble Joanna Grudzińska, Princess of Łowicz. Finally, in 1820, after 19 years of separation, Constantine and Juliana’s marriage was officially annulled by Alexander I. Two months later, Grand Duke Constantine morganatically married Joanna Grudzińska. However, for Alexander I to give his approval to the marriage, Constantine was required to forfeit his rights to the Russian throne in favor of his younger brother Nicholas. The decision was kept secret and was known only to a very few people in St. Petersburg.

When Alexander I told Alexandra and Nicholas that they were to be Emperor and Empress, they were taken aback. Nicholas wrote, describing his feelings, “My wife and I remained in a position which I can liken only to the sensation that would strike a man if he were going calmly along a comfortable road sown with flowers and with marvelous scenery on all sides when, suddenly, an abyss yawns wide beneath his feet, and an irresistible force draws him into it, without allowing him to step back or turn aside.”

On December 1, 1825, 47-year-old Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia died from typhus, not in St. Petersburg, but in Taganrog, Russia. Because of his wife’s health issues, Alexander and Elizabeth Alexeievna had been living in a warmer climate, in the city of Taganrog, Russia by the Sea of Azov, 1155 miles/1,858 km from St. Petersburg. The secrecy of the decision to replace Constantine with Nicholas as heir to the throne backfired. Only three men, apart from Alexander himself, were aware of his decision, and none of them was present in the Winter Palace when the news of Alexander’s death reached Saint Petersburg on December 9, 1825.

Military governor Mikhail Miloradovich persuaded the hesitant Nicholas to pledge allegiance to Constantine, who then lived in Warsaw as the viceroy of Poland. The State Council agreed with Miloradovich and all the troops stationed in Saint Petersburg recognized Constantine as their Emperor. Still in Poland, Constantine repeated his rejection of the throne and blessed Nicholas as the Emperor. However, Constantine refused to come to Saint Petersburg, leaving the dangerous task of resolving the crisis to Nicholas.

Evidence of a revolt (called the Decembrist Revolt) being planned that would involve Russian army officers leading soldiers in revolt against Nicholas becoming Emperor, forced Nicholas to act. On December 26, 1825, Nicholas proclaimed himself Emperor of All Russia. By noon, the government and most of the troops of Saint Petersburg pledged allegiance to Nicholas but the Decembrists incited three thousand soldiers in support of Constantine and took a stand on Senate Square in St. Petersburg.  The battle in Senate Square cost over 1,200 lives, crushed the revolt, and resulted in 29-year-old Nicholas becoming the undisputed Emperor of All Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna becoming Empress. Alexandra and Nicholas were crowned at the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin on September 3, 1826.

Nicholas ruled the Russian Empire in an authoritative and reactionary manner for 29 years. Among the events of Nicholas I’s reign were:

• The establishment of an authoritarian regime
• The abolition of serfdom was rejected
• A variety of repressive provisions against Jews were issued
• Censorship statute forbidding the printing of anything with a political background
• The Russification of various nationalities accompanied by attempts to convert Protestants and Catholics to Russian Orthodoxy occurred
• Development of industry which led to an increase in the growth of cities
• Russo-Persian War
• Russo-Turkish War
• Uprising in Poland
• Opening of the first railway in Russia from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo
• Peasant reforms
• Financial reform
• Russian troops suppressed the Hungarian uprising
• Completion of the construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway
• Opening of the State Hermitage Museum
• Crimean War

Although Nicholas had mistresses and illegitimate children, his love for Alexandra continued. When part of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1837 caught on fire, Nicholas ordered that a small box with letters Alexandra had written him during their engagement be saved. Alexandra’s health had always been frail and she suffered several minor heart attacks. Nicholas had a villa built for Alexandra in the Crimea where the climate was warmer but because of the Crimean War, Alexandra only stayed there once. In 1854, Alexandra was very ill and close to death but she survived.

The next year, Nicholas caught a chill, refused medical treatment, and developed pneumonia. Knowing he was dying, Nicholas retained his composure and said goodbye to his children and grandchildren. He blessed them and reminded them that they should remain friendly with each other. In the early afternoon of March 2, 1855, Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia died at the age of 58 at the Winter Palace.  He was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. His eldest son succeeded him as Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Alexandra Feodorovna survived her husband by five years and was buried next to him.

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Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. (2018). Nikolaus I. (Russland). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_I._(Russland) [Accessed 30 Jan. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Nicholas I of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_I_of_Russia [Accessed 30 Jan. 2018].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2018). Николай I. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_I [Accessed 30 Jan. 2018].