Acid Reign: The Rule of Nicholas I
Nicholas I has been portrayed, and perhaps rightfully so, as a strict and reactionary tsar. Indeed, his internal policies were often repressive -- he sought to nip any liberalism in the bud, often brutally. His approach to solving problems in the Empire and keeping control was to create the "Nicholas system", a bureaucratic system defined by and completely based on absolute monarchy. Nicholas revamped govermental structure by strengthening and centralizing bureaucratic structures to an unprecedented degree. He did this as an attempt to deal with all of Russia's problems himself. At most importantly the structure known as "His Majesty's own Chancery," which was the nerve-center of the empire's administrative mechanisms. With his new governmental structure, he hoped to create a machine that would, in theory, more quickly and efficiently carry out his will. The reality, however, was a little bit different than what he planned.However strict or repressive Nicholas may have been, his policies are somewhat understandble considering what domestic and foreign events marked his reign. His accession in 1825 was threatened by an uprising of a group of noblemen who came to be known as the Decembrist
This means that the more centralized a bureaucratic system is, the less possible it will be for the individual with the decision-making authority to obtain first-hand knowledge of the problems they are required to deal with. It eventually came to have six departments: The first received frequent reports from almost all central government agences, and eventally reviewed the records of civil servants. He also created ad hoc committees as necessary. Further, anotherer main problem, besides the unwieldliness of the system was the problem of attracting qualified people. On the night of November 29, a conspiracy of young cadets seized the residence of the Grand Duke Konstantin, the brother of the Tsar. Local officials were poorly educated and badly trained, often having learned their narrow routines through a crude apprenticeship system. On top of all these reasons to be strict, Nicholas was also very militarily-oriented. Nicholas' laws about who could enter the civil service placed emphasis on receiving degrees from institutions of higher learning, many of which were open to all sections of the community. He dealt with the uprising quickly and firmly. The head of the Third Department reported in early 1830s that educated and established people were reluctant to become provincial governors because they knew the degree of responsibility which they would have, and how few resources would be available to them. This setup has problems because decisions in any bureaucracy must be made at the locus of power. He insisted that the power, and therefore the authority to make decisions, should remain in his hands. Nick saw it as an institution existing only for the purpose on giving its point of view on questions that Nick asks it about and nothing more. Through his opressiveness, strictness, and love for bureaucracy, he put obstacles in the way of the "racing troika," as Nikolai Gogol once called Russia, and effectively tripped the horses. Mobs were formed and on July 3, there was serious rioting in the capital of St.
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