Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/635

* NICHOLAS I. 541 NICHOLAS. ity in these branches. He traveled in England and on the Continent in 1810, and also made a tour through the Russian provinees. On .July 13, 1817, he married Charlotte, the eldest daughter of Frederick William HI. of Prussia. The death of Alexander I., in December, Isio, and the previ- ous renunciation by his elder l)rothcr, the (Jrand Duke Constantine (q.v. ), of liis claims to the throne (1822), made Nicholas Kniperor, but he was oldiged to meet at the outset a military con- spirac_y, which was stamped out with ruthless severity — the celebrated rising of the Decem- brists. (See Ru.ssiA. ) Capital punishment, abolished by the Empress Elizabeth, was revived, for the purpose of indicting it upon the leaders of the insurrection. Xicholas, like other czars, showed at the beginning of his reign some zeal for reform; but the spirit died out, giving place to the old despotism, and he became the embodi- ment of the reactionary' spirit of the Holy Alli- ance. Nevertheless, his first great measure, the codification of Russian law, commenced in 1827, was continued and completed in 184G. A war with Persia began soon after his accession, and was concluded on February 28, 1828, by the peace of Turkmantchai, which gave Persian Armenia to Russia. Close upon this followed a successful but costly war with Turkey, concluded by the Peace of ' Adrianople (q.v.) which obtained for Russia another increase of territory, the free navigation of the Danube, the riglit of free pass- age between the Black and Mediterranean .seas, and the protectorate over Jtoldavi.a and Wal- lachia. The revolutionary agitation of 1830 eom- nuinicatcd itself to Russian Poland, where there was a national rising, suppressed after a contest of nine months, which ta.xed the military re- sources of the Empire. Nicholas converted the Kingdom of Poland into a Russian province, and began the process of Russification. which has since been in progress. Russia, which had been approaching more closely the standards of West- ern Europe, gradually lost its newer aspect. The press was placed under a strict censorship, and education was directed, not to the development of the people, but to preparation for the work of the State. The process, begun in Poland, was to be carried out all over the Empire, until all the foreign elements were completely Russianized and unified in people and religion. The independence of the mountaineers of the Caucasus was incon- sistent with the Emperor's schemes, and war was waged against them with the greatest energy and perseverance, but at the cost of immense sacrifices both of money and lives. Nicholas sought to check the advance of British influence in Central Asia, and to counteract it tried vari- ous means, among which was the expedition for the conquest of Khiva in 18.30, Avhicli ended in disaster. Between 1844 and 184G he visited Eng- land, -•iustria, and Italy. When the Revolution of 1848 broke upon Europe. Nicholas refrained from interference until, by aiding in the suppres- sion of the Hungarian national uprising against Austria, he was able to win Austria's gratitude and strike a blow at the MagA'ars. who interfered with Panslavism. Nicholas was intent on carry- ing into efTeet the hereditary Russian designs upon Constantinople, and in 1S.')3 provoked a war with the Sultan: but the oppiisitinn of Great Britain and France plunged Nicholas into a much more terrible struggle than he had anticipated. (See Crime. War.) In the course of the war he died at Saint Petersburg. March 2, 1855, his death having undoubtedly been hastened by chagrin at the repeated defeats which his arms sustained, and the e.xcessive labor he under- went to repair his losses. He was remarkable for tcmpeiance, frugality, and patriotism, but equally so for. vanity and ostentation. Consult: iSmucker, Nicholas /". ( Philadelpliia. 1800) ; Bal- leydier, Histoire de Vciiiijcrciir Xicalii.s (Paris, 1857) ; Lacroix, Histoire de Nicolus I. (ib.. 1864- 73); Edwards, The Romanoffs (London, 1890). NICHOLAS II. (1808—). Emperor of Rus- sia from 1894. lie was born at Saint Petersburg, May 18 (old style May 0), 1808, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III. and Maria Feodorovna (Princess Dagmar, daughter of Christian IX. of Denmarlc). In 1800-01 he traveled extensively in the East, and while in Japan narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of a maniac. He traversed the length and breadth of the Russian Empire and went through Siberia by the old con- veyances along the route of the Siberian railway, thus obtaining an adequate appreciation of the importance to Russia of that gigantic undertak- ing. On the death of his father, Alexander III. (November 1, 1894), he succeeded to the throne. Although regarded prior to his accession as a mild and somewhat indefinite character, his ad- ministrative acts exhibited energy and decision. He brought into his service some of the ablest statesmen of Russia. The Empire in the reign cf Alexander III. was inlliieiiced politically by the reaction from liberal agitation caused by the assassination of the Liberator Czar; the conser- vative national Russian party had become domi- nant, and this was not changed through the ac- cession of Nicholas. The process of Russification went on uninterruptedly in Pcdand and the Baltic Provinces, and even extended to Finland (q.v.), which liy all previous czars had been allowed to retain its national existence. The great oliject of the internal policy of the Government has been to consolidate Russian nationality and to develop the strength and resources of the Empire. Nicholas and his advisers were apparently inclined to be- lieve that in the present state of eivilizaticn among the Russian people this can best be done under the autocracy. Under him Russia stead- ily advanced its interests in the far East, won by its diplomacy open harbors on the Pacific, develojjed a great railway system on strategic lines through the whole Empire, and accom- plished much in the upbuilding of its own indu ;- tries. Perhaps the most notable act of the Czar was the peace rescript of 1898, looking to a re- duction of national armaments, the result of which was the peace conference at The Hague. (See Hagit: Peace Conference.) Nicholas married, November 20 (14), 1804, Princess Alex- andra Alix, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse. Consult: Leudet, Nicolas II. intinie (Paris, 1809) ; Prince Ukhtomski, Voyage en Orient, Grece, Egypte, Inde, 1890-01, de son alfesse im- periale le C6sarevitch (French translation by T^ger, with preface by A. Leroy-Beaulieu (ib., 1803). NICHOLAS, Sir Edward ( I.'JOS-IGGO) . A minister of Charles I. of England. He was born at Winteiiinurne Earls. Wiltshire. He was ,a mem- ber of Parliament in 1020-21, 1023-24. and 1027- 28. and in 1041 was made Secretary of State and Privy Councilor. When the Royalist cause was lost, Nicholas went to live in Normandy, but was