"Black Legend" of Count Arakcheev
M. Astangov as Arakcheev, film "Suvorov", 1940
When studying stories of any country, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the cause of the crisis, which puts it on the brink of a national catastrophe, is always the elite.
At a certain stage of development, "high society" inevitably closes in on itself and begins to jealously protect their rights and privileges. All kinds of "rank books" appear, according to which the place at the royal table, and the state or military position, which can and should be occupied by a representative of one or another family, are determined.
The inequality is consolidated even in the appeal to the monarch. In pre-Petrine Russia, the official naming of oneself when addressing the tsar for the common people was "an orphan", noblemen and boyars called themselves "slaves." The number of changes of dishes at the dinner table and the number of horses harnessed to the carriage are strictly regulated. In medieval Europe, only members of the royal family could use gyrfalcons for hunting, peregrine falcons - dukes and counts, sparrowhawks - priests.
And even in the second half of the 1th century, when the "raznochintsy" despised by the aristocrats began to raise their heads in Russia, on July 1877, XNUMX, Minister of Education I. Delyanov formulated the famous circular "On the reduction of gymnasium education", popularly called the "Law on Cook's Children." It was jealously required to limit as much as possible
admission to gymnasium
"The children of coachmen, lackeys, cooks, laundresses, small shopkeepers and the like, whose children, except perhaps gifted with genius, should not at all strive for secondary and higher education."
It was with this circular, by the way, that V. I. Lenin argued in his article "Will the Bolsheviks Retain State Power?" (October 1917):
"We demand an immediate break with the prejudice that only the rich or officials taken from rich families are able to manage the state, to carry out the everyday work of management."
And further:
“We are not utopians. We know that any laborer and any cook are not capable of immediately taking control of the state. ”
In some incomprehensible and magical way, this quote was transformed into the famous fake about the fact that "every cook can rule the state."
And only during the breakdown of the old state system the way up opens up for people from the common people. The results are always truly amazing. The clearest example is Russia after the fall of the monarchy. The state was practically destroyed during the Civil War. The country has lost almost all of its not too numerous intelligentsia. There were not even cadres to organize a full-fledged system of general public education. And it was necessary to teach not only children, but also adults.
When they began to organize the training of the first Soviet diplomats, they had to hire some old-regime old man who simply told the students how to behave at the table during official dinners "with the bourgeoisie." The country fell to the ground in the Middle Ages, and the wolves had to howl on the ruins of the Third Rome.
But what do we see in 10 years?
The "cook's children", whom narrow-minded aristocrats tried with all their might to keep out of grammar schools and universities, took advantage of their chance to change their destiny. A whole generation of great scientists, great architects, brilliant designers, excellent engineers and outstanding military leaders has grown up. Together, they ensured large-scale industrialization and organized victory in a terrible war against the "cultured and educated" united Europe of the Third Reich. This is the most beautiful in the history of Russia, the golden generation suffered huge losses during the Great Patriotic War, in which the best of the best perished.
Their premature death has deformed the structure of Russian society. Requiem for them are the lines of the front-line poet D. Samoilov:
"They roared with lush forest,
They had faith and trust.
And they were knocked out with iron,
And there is no forest — only trees. ”
They had faith and trust.
And they were knocked out with iron,
And there is no forest — only trees. ”
Sometimes new people break into power within the existing system.
This usually happens after coups d'état. We see this during the reign of Peter I, who actually seized power from his sister Sophia. And under Catherine II, who, having no rights to the Russian throne, relied on the stray guards of St. Petersburg.
The result was different.
Peter I, with all the contradictory personality and shortcomings of this emperor, managed to create a whole class of managers out of the “new people”, who then influenced the course of Russian history for a long time. And Catherine II, who feared a new coup, all her life tried in every possible way to please the nobility and especially the corrupted officers of the capital's guards regiments. And because the social elevators practically stopped working, the serfs turned into real slaves, but the little noble and for the most part mediocre favorites of the empress came to the royal palace and occupied the highest positions.
As a result, as one of the secretaries of Paul I later recalled,
"About 20 oligarchs divided Russia among themselves under the auspices of another favorite ... The upstarts and lovers turned out to be such hungry leeches that they had to be pumped with the purest blood of the state and the sweat of the people."
And the historian A.V. Stepanov at the beginning of the XNUMXth century gave the following description to Catherine's favorites:
"A gang of godless insolences ... have now attacked the state treasury and began to endow themselves with various insignia and honorary positions."
These words in many respects can be attributed even to G. Potemkin, who cost the Russian treasury extremely dearly. In addition, the prince's administrative talents were largely offset by his mental illness. During long periods of depression, this favorite is all business in Novorossiya
practically stopped - sometimes for several months. An exception, perhaps, can be Alexei Orlov, who was not exactly Catherine's favorite - just the brother of her lover, the mediocre handsome Grigory.
A very sad example is the last Russian pseudo-revolution, in the course of which the absolutely degraded elite of the USSR limply surrendered the country entrusted to it to a narrow circle of crooks and crooks. The same can be said about the "collapsed" and slipping under the external control of Ukraine. The accession to the throne of Catherine's unloved son, Paul, who, despising the people who surrounded his mother, lived in Gatchina, practically did not appear at her court. High officials of the state and court sycophants responded to him with "warm reciprocity." With undisguised fear they awaited the death of the Empress and until the last minute they hoped to convince her to hand over the throne to her grandson Alexander.
Paul came to power practically as a representative of another, hostile dynasty. And immediately he began to restore order both in the country and in St. Petersburg, brutally breaking the resistance of the dismissed guards and aristocrats. The years of his reign were a nightmare for the upper strata of society and a huge boon for Russia.
The emperor limited corvee to three days a week, forgave the peasants for arrears in the poll tax in the amount of more than 7 million rubles, forbade the sale of peasants without land and splitting up peasant families when they were transferred to new owners. Cossack ranks they were equated with officers. During the 34 years of the reign of Catherine II, only 12 thousand people were trained in soldiers' schools. Under Paul I, 164 thousand soldiers underwent such training in four and a half years. Old Believers in 1798 received the right to have co-religion churches, in which Orthodox priests served, but according to old books.
The Austrian ambassador Lobkowitz wrote in 1775:
"Paul is the idol of his people."
The Prussian envoy Brühl reported in 1797:
"Everyone is dissatisfied, except for the urban mob and peasants."
August von Kotzebue testifies:
"Out of 36 million Russians, at least 33 million had a reason to bless the emperor."
Decembrist M. Fonvizin (playwright's nephew) later recalled:
“In this disastrous time for the Russian nobility, the disenfranchised majority of the people throughout the empire remained indifferent to what was happening in St. Petersburg - before it did not touch the cruel measures that threatened the nobility. The common people even loved Paul. "
One of Paul's killers, Bennigsen, writes about the same:
"The emperor never did injustice to the soldier and tied him to himself."
Langeron agrees with him:
"The soldiers loved Paul."
And here is the testimony of D. H. Lieven (sister of the chief of gendarmes A. H. Benckendorff, who in London and Paris was called the "diplomatic Sibyl"):
“Everyone was in awe of the emperor. Only soldiers alone loved him. "
As a result, the palace coup on March 11, 1801 was the only one in which not a single private or non-commissioned officer took part. And most of all the conspirators were afraid that the soldiers would find out about the danger to the emperor.
The same Daria Lieven claims:
"Had Paul had time to escape and if he had appeared to the troops, the soldiers would have saved him and saved him."
With the new emperor, new people came to power, including the hero of our article - A. Arakcheev.
"Black legend" about Arakcheev
Arakcheev's reputation is nowhere worse.
Even the appearance of this official did not suit his contemporaries. NA Sandukovsky in his notes declares that "in appearance Arakcheev looked like a big monkey in a uniform" - no more, no less. Further, it turns out that Arakcheev was thin and stooped, his neck was thin, and his ears were fleshy, his head was ugly, his complexion was unclean, and the expression on this face "represented a strange mixture of intelligence and malice." In general, you can immediately see the scoundrel and the scoundrel.
Meanwhile, in the portrait presented below by Vendramini, we do not see anything particularly terrible in the appearance of Arakcheev:
The same can be said of Danielson's portrait:
Not Apollo, but it's hard to call a freak either.
If Alexei Andreevich Arakcheev had been not thin, but fat, his enemies, no doubt, would have said: "fat as a pig." And if, God forbid, he would have turned out to be a handsome man, they would have called him a soulless idol or would have come up with something else of that kind.
Memoirists, without hesitation in expressions, called Arakcheev "Gatchina corporal", "Nero" and even "Serpent Gorynych". They said that one head of the two-headed eagle in the Russian state emblem belongs to the emperor, the second to Arakcheev.
NM Karamzin called Arakcheev "the most harmful person in the state." Thus, he showed monstrous ingratitude. M. Pogodin recalled:
"All efforts and all means ended in nothing. Goodbye to Count Arakcheev, who promised to seek an audience and kept his word the next day: Karamzin was received and showered with affection and favors."
And the future historiographer himself wrote about his meeting with Arakcheev:
"I found in him a man with intelligence and good rules."
After a rendezvous with the emperor arranged for Karamzin by Arakcheev, he received funds for the publication of the "History of the Russian State" and the Order of St. Anna, XNUMXst class. But class solidarity, as you see, turned out to be higher than gratitude.
Well, two epigrams of Pushkin are always cited as a “control shot to the head”. As for the first, 1819, the researchers, however, are not sure:
“In the capital, he is a corporal, in Chuguev, Nero:
He is worthy of the dagger of Zandov everywhere. "
He is worthy of the dagger of Zandov everywhere. "
But the second, obscene, like Alexander Sergeevich:
“All Russia is an oppressor,
Governors tormentor
And the Council he is a teacher,
And he is a friend and brother to the king.
Full of anger, full of revenge
Without mind, without feelings, without honor,
Who is he? A devotee without flattery
B ... a penny soldier. "
Governors tormentor
And the Council he is a teacher,
And he is a friend and brother to the king.
Full of anger, full of revenge
Without mind, without feelings, without honor,
Who is he? A devotee without flattery
B ... a penny soldier. "
(We will talk about the woman with the letter "b", whose "soldier" was Arakcheev).
But, having learned about the death of the "temporary worker", Pushkin suddenly writes to his wife:
“I am the only one regretting this in all of Russia - I didn’t manage to meet and talk to him.”
What is it? Is it just the awakened interest of a historian who regrets that he will never now be able to hear the voice of the most influential person of his era? And he will never know the secrets that he took with him to the grave? Or a rethinking of the views of a matured poet, who now looked differently at the personality of the faithful servant of the two emperors?
I must say that against the general critical (or rather even critical) background, more objective reviews were heard. At a time when the ill-wishers said that Arakcheev, delving into everything, "is engaged in trifles", others argued: the graph is "active, like an ant." Even the critical F. Wigel wrote in his memoirs:
"At a time when the powerless gerontocracy was dozing at the helm of the state ... for all the hated Arakcheev was awake."
Enemies called Arakcheev "poisonous like a tarantula," but there is evidence of people noting his "indulgence towards those below him." He is said to have repeatedly punished officers for the brutal treatment of rank-and-file soldiers.
Thaddeus Bulgarin recalled:
“The main merit of Count AA Arakcheev was, in my opinion, that he was a real hare, as we say in common parlance. Everything Russian pleased him, and everything that, in his opinion, promoted the glory of Russia, found in him protection. "
Thanks to the assistance of Arakcheev, the budget of the Russian Academy of Sciences was increased from 9 thousand to 60 thousand rubles. The President of the Academy A. Shishkov, before meeting with Arakcheev, had been unsuccessfully trying to achieve this for two years.
Archimandrite Photius Spassky wrote in his "Note on Count Arakcheev" (1824):
“Count A. A. Arakcheev ... is wise and reasonable. I will say briefly - he is the right eye of the king, the pillar of the Fatherland, and such people will be born for centuries. I saw nothing but good in it. You can trust him, and with God's help (he) can do everything. Now both the people and all states love him more than before, and everyone wants more truth from him, even the enemy».
It seems that he positively assessed the activities of Arakcheev and F. Bellingshausen, who named one of the islands he discovered in his honor (now Fangatau, French Polynesia). There is no reason to think that this was done in the hope of getting some kind of benefit: Arakcheev was absolutely indifferent to flattery. Rather, the opposite result could be expected.
A rather flattering comparison can be found in L. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace": the writer describes the tough and demanding of Louis Nicolas Davout's subordinates as "Arakcheev Emperor Napoleon." Probably, Tolstoy wanted to offend Davout, but for someone who knows history, this is a compliment: both for the marshal and for Arakcheev. There is, perhaps, not a single spot on Davout's reputation. Stendhal called him "a great man", and Napoleon - "one of the most glorious and pure heroes of France."
In the minds of the majority of our compatriots, the activities of Arakcheev are usually associated with the period of the reign of Paul I. Meanwhile, during the reign of Paul, the career of Alexei Andreevich was just beginning and was cut short by his resignation. Some believe that it was thanks to the disgrace of Arakcheev that the conspiracy became possible, which ended with the assassination of this emperor. In full force, Arakcheev entered the reign of Alexander I.
Decembrist M. Yakushin recalled:
“Upon the emperor's return to Russia in 1815 ... he handed over almost all the administration of the state to Count Arakcheev. His Duma was in Europe; in Russia, however, most of all he cared about increasing the troops ... Shagistika entered into full force. "
F.F.Vigel wrote about how Alexander I used Arakcheev:
"At first it was used by him as a corrective measure for artillery, then as a punishment for the entire army and, in the end, as revenge on the entire Russian people."
Note:
Alexander I "punished" the army and "took revenge" on the Russian people, but not himself, but with the hands of Arakcheev.
Alexei Andreevich, perhaps, can be compared with the sharpened blade of a machete, which can be used for chopping sugar cane, or as a cold weapons... Arakcheev's trouble, not his fault, is that the emperors he served, using him as their tool, often chose the "weapon" option.
It was Alexander I who, by the way, came up with the idea of creating military settlements, the first of which was founded in the Mogilev province back in 1810. He returned to this idea in 1816, stating:
"Military settlements will be founded by all means, even if I have to cover the road from St. Petersburg to Chudov (now a city in the Novgorod region) with corpses."
These are the words of the emperor, whose reign Vigel called "meek"!
Arakcheev was initially opposed to military settlements, pointing out both their economic inefficiency and the poor quality of military training of the settlers. But nevertheless, he resignedly assumed the leadership of the practical implementation of this defective idea of the emperor. As a result, the infamous term "arakcheevshchina" appeared. However, in all fairness, this bloody epic should be called "Aleksandrovschina".
But let's not get ahead.
A. A. Arakcheev, childhood and early career
This man was from the "breed" of people who are called Self-Made Men in the United States. This term was first used by Henry Clay in 1842 to characterize Benjamin Franklin. Later, Frederick Douglas gave the following definition to "a man who made himself":
"A person who does not owe his success to birth, a friendly environment, inherited wealth or special methods of upbringing, and is able to achieve a high position in society, despite difficulties and unfavorable circumstances."
He also called such people "the architects of their destiny."
Alexey Andreevich Arakcheev was born into a poor noble family (20 "souls" of serfs) in the village of Garusovo in 1769. Now it is located in the Tver region, and earlier it was part of the Novgorod province.
The decaying house of the Arakcheevs in Garusovo
The local sexton Pavel Sokolov taught him to read, write and count, so he could not boast of a good education at home. Later, Arakcheev often said that his father spent only 4 rubles in copper on his education. And also that he would be a great man if he had at least a third of Speransky's mind. In a letter to the same Speransky, he called himself "a truly Russian nobleman of Novgorod" (1819). By the way, returning to the sexton Sokolov: according to legend, his grandson was DI Mendeleev.
Reading about these self-critical words of Arakcheev, as well as recalling the derogatory reviews of his ill-wishers, do not forget that the future count and minister of war with a gilded medal graduated from one of the best military schools in Russia - the Artillery Cadet Corps, whose senior courses were conducted exclusively in foreign languages. And he was left in it as a teacher.
Later he wrote extremely sensible manuals for gunners. In addition to French and German, Arakcheev knew Latin well, collected one of the largest libraries in St. Petersburg (according to various estimates, from 11 to 15 thousand volumes in four languages). But, as already mentioned, he was extremely self-critical, did not harbor illusions about his origin. When Alexander I decided to appoint Arakcheev's mother as a state lady, he did not even consider it necessary to inform her about it. The emperor, however, replied that his mother, who had spent her whole life in the village, would look ridiculous at court.
Matyushin I. Portrait of Arakcheev's mother, Elizaveta Andreevna
The following facts testify to the degree of well-being of this family. In 1783, in order to raise money for the trip of the father and son of the Arakcheevs to enroll in the Artillery Cadet Corps, the family had to sell two cows and almost all the grain they had. In the capital, it took 10 days only to submit a petition to the office. Then father and son waited for an answer for almost six months, literally starving and had to turn to Metropolitan Gabriel for financial assistance, who allocated them three rubles in silver.
Arakcheev did not forget about this period of his life and in the future always gave answers to appeals to him as soon as possible (he demanded the same from his subordinates). For studying in the building, it was required to pay 200 rubles. I had to fall at the feet of its director PI Melissino, who, in an outburst of mercy, ordered the boy to be admitted to his institution.
I.-B. Lumpy the Elder. Portrait of P. Melissino
Later, Arakcheev would transfer a huge amount of 300 thousand rubles to the account of the Novgorod cadet corps: the children of the poor nobles of the Novgorod and Tver provinces studied there with interest from this capital. Another 50 thousand were donated by him to the Pavlovsk Institute for the upbringing of girls from poor families in the same provinces.
Melissino never regretted his decision: the new student quickly became one of the best cadets in the corps. Other pupils, trying to achieve good relations with teachers, constantly gave them various gifts. Young Arakcheev quickly won their favor with his academic success and exemplary behavior. A side effect was the hostility of other cadets towards him. At first, they wholeheartedly mocked the half-impoverished classmate, mistaking his diligence and efforts for sycophancy. And then, when he was promoted to sergeant for his academic success, they began to amicably complain about his exactingness, pickiness and severity.
Upon graduation (1787), the young lieutenant Arakcheev immediately received the position of a teacher of arithmetic, geometry and artillery in his corps, and also became the head of the library. It seems that this fact speaks volumes, and does not need special comments. It was then that he wrote his first textbook - "A Brief Artillery Note in Questions and Answers."
During the Russo-Swedish War, he also trained recruits in artillery (1788-1790).
In 1790, Arakcheev became an adjutant to the director of his corps, P. Melissino, who recommended him as a tutor for the son of the President of the Military Collegium N.I.Saltykov.
Johann Friedrich August Tischbein. Portrait of N. Saltykov with his wife and children
The employer was pleased and, in turn, gave Arakcheev patronage in the Gatchina troops of Tsarevich Pavel. It happened in 1792. The new officer impressed everyone with his knowledge and diligence so much that after three weeks of service he received the rank of captain and the right to dine with the heir. Arakcheev himself recalled that time as follows:
"In Gatchina, the service was difficult, but pleasant, because diligence was always noticed, and knowledge of the matter and serviceability were distinguished."
A. Chagadaev. Divorce of the guard in Gatchina
Arakcheev first headed the artillery units of the Gatchins, and then all the land formations (2399 people). In addition, fulfilling the teachings of Paul, Arakcheev led the work on the organization of the Pavlovsk military orphanage.
By 1796, Arakcheev had risen to the rank of colonel and became commandant of Gatchina.
Arakcheev and Emperor Paul I
After Paul's accession to the throne, Arakcheev's career went up sharply: he received the rank of major general and was appointed commandant of St. Petersburg. He was also granted the title of baron, to which the Gruzino estate and two thousand serfs were attached. It was not one village, but a patrimony - several dozen settlements (A.P. Yazykov claims that in 1826 there were 32 of them), among which Gruzino was the largest. The central estate was located in it.
This is the first reason for the hatred of the aristocrats towards Arakcheev: he was a stranger in their midst and took someone else's place. An excellent illustration of the jealous attitude of representatives of the highest nobility to such upstarts is Pushkin's poem "My Genealogy", in which he proudly declares:
“My grandfather did not sell pancakes,
Not waxed royal boots,
I didn’t sing with the court clerks,
I didn’t jump to the princes from Ukrainians,
And he was not a fugitive soldier
Austrian powdered squads ".
Not waxed royal boots,
I didn’t sing with the court clerks,
I didn’t jump to the princes from Ukrainians,
And he was not a fugitive soldier
Austrian powdered squads ".
I hope you recognized in this "manifesto of class arrogance" Menshikov, who traded pancakes, the tsar's orderlies Buturlin, Rumyantsev, Yaguzhinsky, Kutaisov, "Ukrainians" Razumovsky and Bezborodko, and finally, Kleinmichel, whose grandson was "a confidant in Arakcheevnaya's poem and is mentioned road".
Let's return to Arakcheev to note: the patrimony of Gruzino is the only gift of material value that Arakcheev accepted in his entire life. Even the diamonds from the frame of the portrait of Alexander I, presented to him by the emperor, he returned to the treasury. After the death of Arakcheev, Gruzino returned to state ownership, and the Novgorod Cadet Corps began to be in charge of the proceeds from it, by order of Nicholas I.
In April 1797, Arakcheev was appointed commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment, as well as chief of the emperor's retinue, quartermaster general of the Russian army and chief of the General Staff. In January 1798 he became an inspector of the Russian artillery.
In February, this is followed by the first disgrace of Arakcheev.
The reason was the suicide of Lieutenant Colonel Lena, offended by him. He challenged Arakcheev to a duel, and when he was refused, he shot himself. But already in May of the same year, Paul I returned him to the service. The reason for this was the administrative talents of Arakcheev, who, unlike many others, somehow managed to conscientiously fulfill his official duties in all five positions.
His merits in reorganizing and strengthening the combat capability of the Russian army are very high and undeniable. Arakcheev fully shared Paul I's contempt for the capital's guards regiments that had been disbanded and corrupted by the former empress. He openly called their banners "Catherine's skirts" (a clear allusion to the active participation of their officers in satisfying the empress's considerable sexual appetites).
To be honest, Paul I inherited from his mother several “Janissary Ojaks” stationed in St. Petersburg - undisciplined and poorly controlled units, whose officers felt they were the masters of the capital. As you know, Paul could not completely take control of these "Janissaries". Having entered into an agreement with the heir to the throne, they killed the emperor. By the way, if, talking about the coup that brought Catherine II to power, replace Russian names with Turkish ones, you get a typical Ottoman story of the times of the infamous "Law of Fatih" (about which at the end of 2020 you could read in the Ottoman Empire ").
But back to Arakcheev.
Not only was he a stranger and an upstart among the St. Petersburg aristocrats, they would have forgiven him, reluctantly. The trouble was, he didn't want to "fit into the system." He encroached on the "sacred right" of the aristocrats, granted by Catherine II, without any obligation to sit on the neck of the Russian people and the Russian state.
It was the work of Arakcheev to establish elementary order in the guards units that became the reason for the hatred of the aristocrats of St. Petersburg towards him. Then the "black legend" about the "soulless tyrant" and "cruel temporary worker" was laid. And you can't argue: to make the "lieutenants Golitsyns" and "Obolensky's cornets" go to the service and fulfill their duties in the barracks was really the height of "cruelty and inhumanity."
And Paul I in 1799 appreciated the efforts of Arakcheev, assigning him the title of count with the motto "Betrayed without flattery."
Coat of arms of the noble family of the Arakcheevs
Coat of arms of Count A.A.Arakcheev with a handwritten inscription below
The envious ones immediately changed the count's motto, replacing one letter: "The demon is betrayed by flattery." But this was already blatant slander.
It is impossible to reproach Arakcheev for his love of flattery and disposition to sycophants even with a very strong desire.
In October 1799, Pavel I again dismissed Arakcheev.
This time, the cause of the emperor's anger was Arakcheev's attempt to free his brother Andrei from punishment. The fact is that during the watch of the subordinates of Andrei Andreevich Arakcheev in the arsenal, someone cut off the gold embroidery from the ceremonial artillery chariot. Defending his brother, Alexey Andreevich said that the theft had taken place earlier, but the slandered officer turned to another promoted Pavel - Kutaisov. He gladly reported this to the emperor. The incident was not very significant, but Paul was offended that they tried to deceive him.
Arakcheev left for Gruzino and returned to the service only three and a half years later - after the assassination of Paul I and the accession of his son Alexander.
In the next article we will talk about the landowner Arakcheev, his estate Gruzino, and then we will talk about the Alexander period of A.A.Arakcheev's service.
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