Thanks to Pobedonostsev, the project failed
germ of the Constitution, a draft drawn up
on the initiative of Count Loris-Melikov
and which should have been introduced the day before
terrible for Russia, the assassination of the emperor
Alexander II and in the first days of the accession
Alexander III. This is his, Pobedonostsev,
great sin, then the history of Russia
turned out differently, and we probably did not worry
would now be the meanest and craziest
revolution and anarchy.
Sergei Witte. Memories.
Childhood. Pedigree.
I was born in Tiflis on October 19, 1824. It's funny that this day went down in history thanks to Delvig's poem about the Lyceum.
My family is of Armenian origin. One of my ancestors, Prince Melik-Nazar, owned the city of Lori in the 16th century and received from Persian Shah Abbas in 1602, a firman, confirming his ancient rights to this city and the province of the same name, and Nazar himself adopted Mohammedanism; later his descendants returned to the bosom of the Armenian Church and were hereditary bailiffs and princes of the Lori steppe. Loris-Meliki were part of the highest Georgian nobility and were included in the VI part of the genealogical book of the Tiflis province. My father lived in Tiflis, carried on quite a significant trade with Leipzig.
I am twelve years old and I am assigned to the Moscow Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, from where I was expelled for petty hooliganism; And it’s not a pity at all, I managed to learn many languages there. Since 1841, he studied at the school of guards ensigns and cavalry cadets in St. Petersburg, the so-called Nikolaev Cavalry School.
Loris and Nekrasov
I remember with Nikolai, in the year 44, it seems, I ran into on Nevsky. He dragged me to his apartment near the Anichkov Bridge... Yes, the affairs of our poet began to flourish by that time... He himself was a dandy, and his apartment was furnished not without elegance... Then we laughed at one story that happened once....
The impoverished and obscure Nekrasov took shelter with Professor Benetsky. There we met. Later, Nikolai offered me and his friend Naryshkin to rent a small, dirty apartment in Shauman's house. It was difficult to call us rich, I received 25 rubles a month from my parents, well, Naryshkin had the same amount, but my father didn’t give anything to Nekrasov, and only occasionally, little by little, my mother sent me out, and besides, he was a proofreader in one magazine and published there are poorly paid poems ...
And we love to walk...
Once at Christmas, Nekrasov suggested that, disguised as both of us, I should go to a party with a bureaucratic family in the Izmailovsky regiment. In the evening we went into a costume shop, chose costumes, Nekrasov - the Venetian Doge, and I - the Spanish grandee. We immediately changed clothes, left our dresses at the dresser with the idea that the next morning we would pick them up and pay for the costumes. They took a carriage and set off; while still on the road, they checked their capital - would it be enough for a crew and costumes? But for some reason, after the party, we stopped by somewhere else, drank something, and, only returning home in the morning, we realized that there was no money to buy the dress. So we ran around our unheated apartment, in togas and stockings. In order to warm ourselves, we decided to burn the chair from the stove, then a washcloth pulled out of the sofa was used ... We wanted to eat - the shopkeeper, who had previously laid two silver spoons, Nekrasov’s only treasure and a gift from his mother, agreed to let us go on credit for jelly, and doge and the grandee nobly shared this meal among themselves. Only in the evening did Naryshkin get the money ... Soon, on August 2, 1843, the Grodno Hussar Regiment was released as a cornet in the Life Guards, where he served for four years.
Caucasian war
I rushed to the Caucasus - that was my homeland. I myself asked to go there in 1847. I went with the rank of lieutenant, who was on special assignments under the commander-in-chief at that time of the Caucasian Corps, Prince Vorontsov. Then we laid wide clearings in the dense Chechen forests ... The highlanders attacked from all sides, but we didn’t make a mistake either ... We inflicted a severe defeat in Dagestan on Shamil in 1849, for this a special detachment was formed.
Chokh Shamil, standing behind the aul, did not dare to join the battle. After several assaults and heavy bombardment, Chokh was taken, and we returned to our winter quarters….
The year 51 came, and again the expedition - already to Greater Chechnya. against Hadji Murad.
He had an amazing face! Widely spaced eyes and protrusions of the forehead on the eyebrows - wrote Leo Tolstoy. He wrote in my own words, from my Notes, how good it is that this document grew a little later into such a wonderful story.
The thought came to me that Hadji Murad's departure and his stories of enmity with Shamil were a hoax, that he went out to look out for the weak points of the Russians and, having fled again to the mountains, to direct forces to where we were weak.
During the transition to the Russians, he did not manage to take his family away due to the fact that on the way one of the messengers betrayed, fled and let Shamil know.
The village of Tselmes, which Leo Tolstoy renamed Tselbes, Hadji Murad really hid from the Russians for a while. It was said that in his youth he went with Omar Khan for military assistance to Baron Rosen in Tiflis. It was during the officers' revelry that Hadji's dislike for the Russians arose.
And Hadji Murad himself could not but inspire my admiration! When he was elected ruler of Avaria, Ahmed Khan arrested him, tied him to a cannon, sent him to Temir Khan Shur; on the way there, Hadji Murad threw himself off a cliff, took refuge in the village of Tselmes, then the Russians under the command of Bakunin, who had come from St. Petersburg and wanted to distinguish himself, attacked him, but he fought back and killed Bakunin himself.
I remember they asked Haji: who should be the imam after Shamil. He said that the imam will be the one who has a sharp sword.
The Caucasus often needs this sharp saber, but since 1863 for ten whole years, when I was the head of the Terek region, I did not want to take up arms. Tired. It is difficult to avoid violence, and in return to spread education, eradicate savagery….
Crimean War
The activity that soon arose with Turkey caused an intensified hostile activity of the mountain tribes, who began to make raids along the entire line. To stop these raids, a special detachment was assembled at the Kurinsky fortification, under the command of Prince Baryatinsky, in which I was also. The detachment moved to the Michik River and the village of Ista-su, where I became a colonel.
After that, our detachment entered the troops operating on the Caucasian Turkish border against the Turks, and at Bayandur and Bashkadyklar we inflicted a severe defeat on Abdi Pasha.
I was instructed to form a separate team of Armenians, Georgians, Kurds and other Caucasians…. My teachers would have heard how, with the whistle of buckshot, I practiced oriental languages!
In August 55, he was appointed to special assignments under the new commander-in-chief, Count Muravyov, continued to command his Caucasian hunters, together they examined the roads leading to Kars .... Upon the capture of Kars, he was appointed head of the Kars region for a nine-month administration ....
Loris in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78
"Plevna. Kars", "Kars. Plevna ”- everyone repeated among the people ... The Russian soldier is the winner ... Only in the third battle of Plevna, 12 thousand were killed! If you put them shoulder to shoulder, then a road of 8 versts would be formed - why not an avenue for a triumphal procession ...
Only in 1875 did he part with his service in the Caucasus and go abroad for treatment, when a year later he received a telegram from Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich to Wiesbaden ... Calling me “immediately to the Caucasus to take command of the corps destined for operations in Asiatic Turkey.
On the eighth day I was already in Tiflis, I learned that my appointment took place at the choice of the Sovereign, and not at the request of the Grand Duke.
This appointment puzzled most of all the assistant of His Highness, Prince Mirsky, and his henchman General Pavlov, the chief of staff of the Caucasian district, who had previously dreamed of being full masters and chief administrators in the theater of military operations.
Prince Mirsky could not but see in me a person who blocked his path to distinction and glory. I myself tried to tell the Grand Duke that since hostilities had not yet begun, I was willingly ready to refuse to accept the corps in command, unless my appointment was consistent with his desires. The brave field marshal was so frightened that he began to swear and assure that a better and more suitable choice could not be made.
Shortly before the assault on Kars, fortunately, the general of the French service, Count de Courcy, left the area of the troops of the active corps, with his impudence and chatter charmed the Grand Duke and Mirsky to such an extent that without a preliminary consultation with them in their main apartment they did not take a single step . Together they robbed the Russian treasury with money and lands. How, in the presence of dual command and intrigue, could we achieve such brilliant victories? I will answer: many commanders quite honestly and irreproachably treated their duties. As for our valiant officers and inimitable soldiers, it seems to me that the despicable camarilla is not yet able to crush or weaken their excellent qualities.
Even before Kars, we stormed Ardagan... Then we defeated the combined forces of Mukhtar and Ishmael Pasha in the battle of Avliyar-Aladzha... And so we approached Kars, more fortified than in the Crimean War, after which we surrendered Kars to the Turks under the terms of the Paris Peace. But now we have captured 17,000 Turks and 303 guns. St. Vladimir of the First Degree with swords is especially dear to me ... I still wonder how locals and contractors took our Russian rubles? We saved several tens of millions of rubles to the treasury ....
The people paid an excessive price for Plevna and Shipka, but received nothing themselves. Doxology to the Russian soldier got along excellently with the fierce abuse that the officials continued to shower on the shortfalls. Thousands of peasant horses fell on the roads of the war, many farms fell into decay, crop failures plagued ...
Fighting plague in the Volga region
At the subsequent conclusion of peace with Turkey, for military merit, I was elevated to the dignity of a count and appointed to be at the disposal of the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich. But another misfortune came - in 1879, a plague broke out near Vetlyanka near Astrakhan ... He was appointed temporary Astrakhan, Saratov and Samara Governor-General, with almost unlimited powers to fight this dangerous disease. The pulsation of the outbreak acquired such a distinct character that it was heard not only in Russia, but also in Europe ... Even before my arrival in Vetlyanka, thanks to strict quarantine measures, taken in a timely manner and carefully observed, the plague began to subside. Mogo once saw death face to face, but what was here was truly terrifying. The Cossacks suffered from fever with swelling of the liver, spleen, swelling of the lymphatic glands. They cordoned off the entire Astrakhan province with a fourth cordon, personally was in Vetlyanka, inspected the cordons, and soon, after the end of the plague, he had the opportunity to imagine the destruction of his temporary general government. I reported: out of the four million rubles allocated to me for the fight against the plague, no more than three hundred thousand were spent. It is infinitely a pity that my Order of St. Alexander Nevsky and Cossack deaths with diamond signs ....
Kharkiv Governor General
He returned to St. Petersburg at a time when European Russia was divided into six general-governorships… Sedition was searched everywhere… Governor Prince Kropotkin was killed in Kharkov. They sent me in for a replacement. What could I do? Anything but repression! This would further undermine the mechanism of self-government. First of all, it was necessary to establish trust between me and the government.
The province was cleansed of all state criminals, and after those freed from obviously harmful personalities.
Finally, I supported the high importance of the judiciary and prosecutorial oversight, and in return for this I found zealous and conscientious assistants in both institutions. Wolf mouth and fox tail - they spoke about me .... But during my whole administration for 9 months in Kharkov there was not even a single case of an ordinary violation of public order. The roar of applause, with which I was greeted everywhere during the detour of the region, is still in my ears. his looks and intentions.
Chief of the Supreme Administrative Commission
On February 5, 1880, at 7 o'clock in the afternoon, an explosion occurred in the basement of the Winter Palace under the premises of the Main Guard. Stepan Khalturin, an assiduous reader of the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine, was mistaken; again, not the tsar died, but 10 soldiers and 44 were wounded ....
“Decree to the Governing Senate.
In a firm decision to put an end to the incessantly repeated attempts of daring malefactors to shake the state and social order in Russia, we recognize it for the good
Establish in St. Petersburg a Supreme Administrative Commission for the Preservation of State Order and Public Peace...
The chief head of the Supreme Administrative Commission shall be the temporary Kharkiv governor-general, our adjutant general, member of the State Council, cavalry general Count Loris-Melikov.
As Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Commission, I took on the burden of enormous responsibility. And I said to myself: to calm the country, and then reforms.
1. What a time it was!!! The pressure of other great powers forced tsarism to give up a significant part of the booty, to change to its own disadvantage the San Stefano peace concluded with the Turks. The tsar was dissatisfied, the Moscow Slavophiles loudly condemned him: the liberal bourgeoisie was also dissatisfied: even the newborn Bulgarian state was allowed to have a constitution, while in Russia itself even timid dreams of it were looked askance.
In the progressive part Russian society demanded to complete the reforms begun and create conditions for a free economic life of the people. After all, after February 19, 1861, it became clear that the bulk of the “free rural inhabitants” of the central provinces of Russia were not capable of expanded reproduction. Conservatives, on the contrary, believed that the reforms of the 1860s were too drastic; their consequence was the erosion of the foundations of Russian statehood and the surge of extremist forces. And all because going to the people failed, and the radicals embarked on the path of terror ...
My dictatorship had nothing to do with administrative arbitrariness. With revolutionary terrorists, of course, he demanded to act promptly and harshly. Ippolit Mlodetsky, who shot at me two weeks after the explosion of Khalturin, was executed in 24 hours. It later turned out that he wanted to shoot at the king at the festival, but it fell through. The tsar was supposed to be eliminated by members of the "Narodnaya Volya" and Mlodetsky was not given the "go-ahead" for this shot. I just got my hands on...
From the very beginning of the work of the commission, I was ready to lead the grouping of the liberal bourgeoisie in the highest echelons of power.
Already in the first weeks, he considered it necessary to turn to society for support and carried out a number of measures to develop reasonable publicity. There was no need to embarrass all civilians in order to prevent or reveal the crimes of the revolutionaries, on the contrary, the abolition of social restrictions and exceptional events could take away the ground from the revolutionary propagandists.
He dismissed the reactionary Minister of Education Tolstoy. And rightly so. Now fear still controlled him - he did not go out to his waiting room without a revolver in his pocket. In the summer of 1880, I closed the infamous Section III, which had existed since 1826, and the functions of the secret police were transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In the autumn of 1880, the bread and flour merchants conspired to raise the prices of their goods. Then he invited them to his place and persuaded them to release the prices. The merchants objected, pointing to the crop failure. They tell me: the price of bread and flour is not determined by law, and therefore they cannot be forced to lower prices.
This was the last straw, I still spoke to them as Minister of the Interior, obliged to take care of the people's food, but that if they did not want to listen to reasonable arguments, then I spoke as the chief of gendarmes, whose duties were transferred to me.
If prices do not decrease within 24 hours, they will be expelled from the capital by administrative procedure. The merchants did not like this speech very much, but it led to the goal .... Public welfare, gentlemen, is incompatible with the economic arbitrariness and selfishness of individual commercial structures.
What was the “palace recluse” Alexander II thinking about?
On January 28, 1881, I came to report to the Sovereign.
Testified that Russian society is ready to serve with all his might to complete the great cause of state reforms, and this mood in the form of the most stable establishment of order must be used.
The draft Constitution made it possible to smoothly move from autocracy to a representative monarchy in Russia, and such a development would lead to a gradual harmonization of state and public interests and would put an end to the spread of revolutionary sentiment among Russian intellectuals.
I planned to make an order right now so that the materials located in various ministries and other central institutions should be collected. Grouped under similar subjects, and placed in such order as, at the discretion of the responsible Minister, they might conveniently be subjected to the consideration of the Preparatory Commissions.
Set a deadline for the completion of these works, coinciding with the end of the senatorial audits. Upon submission by the senators of the data extracted from the audit, they should supplement the materials collected in the central institutions and establish those questions and assumptions that could be submitted to the preparatory commissions during the autumn of 1881.
Preparatory commissions to be established from members of government departments and invited with the highest permission of knowledgeable - employees and non-employees - persons known for their special works in science or experience in various fields government controlled or folk life. It is the duty of these commissions to entrust the drafting of bills within the limits which will be indicated by the Highest Will.
The bills drawn up by the preparatory commissions, previously submitted to the State Council in accordance with the established procedure, shall be submitted, by the Highest command, for discussion by the general commission, established on the following grounds:
The General Commission, under the chairmanship of a person directly elected by the Supreme Power, is composed of:
A) from those appointed, by the Highest command, to the permanent presence in it of persons who took part in the work of the preparatory commissions;
B) from the elected from the provinces in which the regulation on zemstvo institutions has been introduced, and from some of the most significant cities and in one of the members appointed by a special procedure from those localities in which the regulation on zemstvo institutions does not apply;
From the provinces, in which the regulation on zemstvo institutions has been introduced, one or two members are elected to the general commission, in accordance with the population of the province. The election is granted by the provincial zemstvo assembly.
Members from significant cities are elected by city councils, in the capitals - 2 each, in other cities - one each.
Provincial zemstvo assemblies and city dumas are allowed to elect members of the general commission both from among the vowels and from other persons belonging to the population of the province or city;
The procedure and conditions for the appointment to the general commission of representatives from localities in which the regulation on zemstvo institutions does not apply, have to be specifically determined.
Members of the preparatory commissions, who are not appointed to permanent participation in the sessions of the general commission, are present in it with the right to vote, when discussing those bills in the drafting of which they participated.
The work of the General Commission has an advisory value. Its institutions do not change the current procedure for initiating legislative issues and their final discussion. The bills considered by the General Commission are submitted by law, to the State Council by the relevant ministers, with a statement and the Minister's own conclusion.
With the possibility of a regular and calm development of the general, the general commission would eventually turn into a meeting of elected representatives of the zemstvos, spread throughout Russia, and then, at the will of the Sovereign, could turn into a Legislative Assembly with a decisive vote ...
But…
hatred of Loris' course distinguished both revolutionaries and reactionary-conservative circles. The revolutionaries were afraid of the real danger of the liberalization of the Russian political life, conservatives fought for their own privileges and the right to uncontrolled dominance over a vast country.
……………………………..
What was the “palace recluse” thinking about? Did he remember the poems of his teacher Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky? Did he remember how Father Nikolai sent him on a more than six-month journey through 30 provinces of Russia...? How did you travel around Western Europe after? How terrible were the results of the French Revolution of 1848? But he sincerely and passionately wished that the improvement of the life of the peasants would be not in words, but in deeds, and that the coup would take place without shocks ...
He created something like public opinion and at least a semblance of the press. Replaced preliminary censorship with punishing one. He canceled the general ban on the travel of Russian citizens abroad ... Destroyed huge duties on foreign passports ... Canceled a number of harassment in the laws on military service and corporal punishment by the sentences of the courts ...
Did Alexander II regret on the eve of March 1, 1880 that he sharply criticized the exhibition of the artist Veregashchin? Like, the plots are not attractive and the captions to them are like epigrams ...
Did he regret that he did not argue with his uncle, the German Emperor Wilhelm I, who in 1880 gave his nephew advice of the most reactionary nature, discouraging him from making any concessions to the constitutionalists? Did he understand that partly his policy also provoked terrorists?
Petersburg mayor Trepov, while visiting the house of pre-trial detention, struck and ordered the arrested man to be whipped. Outraged cries, the sound of broken glass did not make him cancel the decision. Zasulich killed Trepov, Stepnyak-Kravchinsky soon shot the chief of the gendarmes Mezentsev in St. Petersburg in broad daylight. When will it end?
Lines of policemen and soldiers now stretched along the railroad tracks, and royal train rushed past empty platforms and tried to bypass big cities at night ..... Will he be saved? Will slip through? The Tsarskoye Selo Palace is like a gloomy fortress: all the entrances are locked, except for one… the gates to the garden are locked… policemen dressed as spies are swarming everywhere…
With frightened eyes, the king followed each approaching lady, if she seemed to him like a nihilist. He probably recalled only one woman now with unbearable pain: the light love affair of the 47-year-old emperor and the 17-year-old beauty Ekaterina Dolgoruky grew into a deep emotional attachment. The birth of children in a new family, the need to be torn between duty and love, gossip and gossip were heavily reflected in his character.
Even the death of the Empress in 1880 and the official recognition of his relationship with Dolgoruky, who has now become Princess Yuryevskaya, did not ease his spiritual tension. It was not for this woman that his son first of all hated Alexander III? Isn't that why, even during the life of his father, he made a tough confrontation with him, insisting on the principles of tough repressive measures and pushing his father to maintain a state of emergency??
Who is behind all this persecution? Questions, questions…..
Ippolit Mlodetsky spent the night before the assassination attempt on the tsar at the police station, and stole the pistol from the provincial bailiff. Did the police themselves arm the terrorist? Who needed to create a nervous situation in the country and accustom the public to the idea that the punishing sword of the revolutionaries can get anyone, including the leaders of the Russian police, regardless of their position??
Was the assassination attempt organized by a group of high-ranking Russian officials, who were extremely worried that as a result of the liberal reforms and changes in the structure of government that Alexander II planned, they would lose their positions???
March 1, 1881
At that time, he practically did not leave the Winter Palace ... He did not have regular routes, and each time he chose different ones. Only a few knew about them. It is still not clear how the terrorists found out the exact route of his passage?! The version that Sofya Perovskaya gave a signal to the bombers by waving her handkerchief is unlikely, since the terrorists simply would not have noticed him on the street where Alexander II turned. It is quite possible that Sofya Perovskaya knew the route of the king, and therefore the attack ended in his death.
On that fateful day, I strongly advised Alexander II to postpone my departure, because I had information about the impending assassination attempt.
Then not only the tsar perished… Not only the draft of my Constitution…
Alexander III arrogantly wrote on my report:
Thank God, this criminal and hasty step towards a constitution was not taken, and this whole fantastic project was rejected in the Council of Ministers.
So Alexander III drew the death sentence of the tsarist government in Russia. It was a Pyrrhic victory for the conservative-monarchist forces. Channel blockage public life led to overheating of the Russian state boiler. The "Pharaoh's chariot" of autocracy returned to the path it followed before the "dictatorship of the heart" and stubbornly moved along it, getting more and more bogged down in mud and blood.
In vain at the meeting of March 8, convened by the new tsar, a group of ministers—among them Abaza, Milyutin, Solsky, Saburov, Nabokov—tried to prove that in my drafts “there is no shadow of a constitution” and that “the throne cannot rely solely on a million bayonets and army of officials. Pale as a sheet, Pobedonostsev made a long speech about the mortal danger threatening Russia from any representative institutions. He recalled the Estates General, convened on the eve of the French Revolution, accused the Zemstvos and the new courts, in which he swore never to step foot, was horrified by the freedom of the press. Even highly experienced ministers trembled nervously at some points in Pobedonostsev's speech, where the speaker prophesied that the reforms of the last reign were a fatal delusion...
If any of them even knew, he preferred to keep quiet about the fact that Pobedonostsev did not always adhere to such views and even contributed ... to Herzen's publications ... Now he spoke differently.
"Strange to hear smart people who can seriously talk about a representative beginning in Russia, like memorized phrases read by them from our lousy journalism and bureaucratic liberalism, ”wrote the tsar to Pobedonostsev on April 21, 1881 about the“ opposition ”ministers. And on April 29, a manifesto appeared, which spoke of the intention of Alexander III to establish and protect autocratic power "for the good of the people, from any encroachments on it." One after another, ministers who preferred more flexible tactics retired - I, Abaza, Milyutin, Saburov.
But notorious obscurantists, dullards and embezzlers raised their heads
The assassination of Alexander II helped many "faithful servants" to improve their affairs. No wonder Shchedrin painted the following picture of "heartbroken" conservatives: "They made noise, drank vodka, rubbed their hands, planned measures to abolish the human race, wrote question points, cursed conscience, truth, honor, shed cheerful crocodile tears." N.P., who replaced me as Minister of the Interior. Ignatiev pandered to the darkest instincts of the unconscious masses. At this time, the intelligentsia is subjected to new persecution, a wave of Jewish pogroms is sweeping in the south of Russia ....
When he was his ambassador in Constantinople, the Turks called Ignatiev Liar Pasha, and even during his appointment as Minister of the Interior, he remains Khlestakov, eager to charm everyone, please everyone, and fool everyone.
He promises - right and left. He promises that the government "will take urgent measures to establish the right methods that would ensure the greatest success for the active participation of local leaders in the fulfillment of the highest predestinations." He promises that the government will take care of adding up the arrears from the peasants: just let them deal with sedition! He carries around with the idea of zemstvo cathedrals, supporting Ivan Aksakov in his calls to create a "locally self-governing land with an autocratic tsar at the head", convenes elected zemstvo "knowledgeable people" to St. Petersburg ....
I could no longer look at all this - I had neither the strength nor the opportunity to act. On May 29, 1883, he was dismissed on indefinite leave with permission to be present in the State Council when health permits. Poor fatherland, will that longed-for time ever come when the Russian, following the example of others, will be allowed to openly and freely express his opinions and convictions, give his assessments, without risking falling into the ranks of ardent revolutionaries and destroyers of the foundations of the state for this? Time will tell who was right...
Wiesbaden. And again Tiflis. Epilogue
POSCRIPTUM:
After the death of Count Loris-Melikov on December 12, 1888, one of the members of the Russian embassy was sent from Paris to Nice to seal his letters and papers. Those documents would not have seen the light of the day if the deceased himself had not communicated copies of them to a now deceased friend with the request that he keep them in his home archive and make them public at the first opportunity. Loris-Melikov destroyed a lot of notes and memoirs for 25 years, leaving intact only documents in papers and letters. But some letters survived. Thus, in particular, he wrote:
Let them lie in your papers, perhaps in 25 years, when the burdock has already gone from us, they will pass into the hands of the future Bartenev or Semevsky and acquaint Russian society with the difficult era of government tyranny and servility of subjects that we are now experiencing.
The late count was afraid of being unfair, he hastened to put the word "majority" in the margins.
His body was brought to Tiflis, where it was buried in the Armenian Vank Cathedral (on the current Atoneli Street; after the destruction of the cathedral, in 1957, the ashes and tombstone were transferred to the courtyard of the Armenian Cathedral of St. George on Meydan).
Based on materials from the State Historical Public Library of Russia
Valeria Olyunina
LORIS-MELIKOV, MIKHAIL TARIELOVICH(1825–1888), Russian military and statesman. Born in 1825 in Tiflis (modern Tbilisi) into a noble and wealthy Armenian family. Having completed his studies at the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in Moscow, in 1839 he entered the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalier Junkers in St. Petersburg; upon graduation in 1843 he received the rank of cornet and was sent to serve in the Life Guards of the Grodno Hussars. In 1844 he was promoted to lieutenant.
In 1847, at his own request, he was transferred to the Caucasus, where an uprising of mountain tribes under the leadership of Shamil was raging. He was on special assignments under the commander-in-chief of the Separate Caucasian Corps M.S. Vorontsov. Participated in expeditions to Dagestan and Chechnya in 1848 and 1849-1853; awarded the order St. Anne of the 4th degree and a saber with the inscription "For courage". During the Crimean War of 1853–1856, he distinguished himself in the battles of Bashkadyklar on November 19 (December 1), 1853 and Kyuryuk-Dara on July 24 (August 5), 1854. From August 1855 he was on special assignments under the commander-in-chief of the Caucasian army N.N. Muravyov. Promoted to colonel and then to major general.
After the capture of Kars by Russian troops in November 1855, he was appointed head of the Kars region; from that moment began his administrative career. Since 1858, he served as chief of troops in Abkhazia and inspector of the line battalions of the Kutaisi General Government. On May 2 (14), 1860, he received the post of military commander of Southern Dagestan and at the same time the mayor of Derbent. March 28 (April 9), 1863 became the head of the Terek region (modern Northern Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria) and the chief ataman of the Terek Cossack army. In an effort to pacify the rebellious North Caucasian regions, he pursued a policy that combined harsh repressive measures with measures for the socio-economic and cultural development of the region. Severely dealt with the irreconcilable opponents of Russia and even organized the mass emigration of disgruntled Chechens to Turkey (1865); on the other hand, he eliminated the serfdom of mountain peasants from local feudal lords, extended the all-Russian tax, administrative and judicial system to the region, built the first in the North Caucasus railway Rostov - Vladikavkaz, at his own expense opened the first educational institution in Vladikavkaz (Vocational School). Trying to secure the support of the local elite, he constantly consulted with the elders and the clergy. In May 1875, at his own request (due to illness), he was relieved of his post; promoted to general of the cavalry. In the same year he went abroad for treatment.
Returned to service with the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878; appointed commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps. He supervised all operations in the Caucasian theater of operations. For the capture of the Ardagan fortress on May 5 (17), 1877, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree; Kars on November 6 (18) - the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st degree. The pinnacle of his success was the capitulation of Erzurum on February 11 (23), 1878. At the end of the war, he was elevated to the dignity of a count.
In January 1879 he was appointed temporary governor of the Astrakhan, Samara and Saratov provinces with unlimited powers to combat the epidemic of the "Vetlyanskaya plague" that began in the Lower Volga region (from the village of Vetlyanskaya, where its first outbreak took place). Thanks to decisive quarantine and sanitary measures, it quickly stopped its spread; moreover, out of the 4 million rubles allocated for these purposes. saved 3 million 700 thousand and returned them to the treasury. To his authority as an outstanding commander was added the reputation of not only an effective, but also an honest administrator, caring about the interests of the state.
In April 1879 he was appointed temporary governor-general of Kharkov with extraordinary powers in connection with the growing wave of revolutionary terror (the former governor-general D.N. Kropotkin was killed by the People's Will G.D. Goldenberg on February 9 (21). He pursued a flexible policy: he limited the scope of repressions against the opposition, tried to win the liberal public over to the side of the authorities (the draft of the reform of urban educational institutions etc.); at the same time reorganized the local police in the spirit of rigid centralization. Thanks to his moderation, he was the only one among the temporary governor-generals who was not included in the list of people sentenced to death by the Executive Committee of the People's Will.
February 12 (24), 1880, after the failed assassination attempt by S.N. Khalturin on Alexander II on February 5 (17), he was appointed, on the recommendation of the Minister of War D.A. there was a supreme oversight of political investigations throughout the country; the Third Branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes were subordinate to her; the unification of the efforts of all punitive organs pursued the goal of the speediest suppression of the revolutionary movement. Widely using the right to act on behalf of the emperor and apply any measures to establish order throughout the territory Russian state actually became a dictator. At the same time, he took a course towards political and socio-economic reforms. On April 11 (23), 1880, he presented his program to the emperor, which provided for the involvement of elected representatives from the nobility, zemstvos, city dumas to discuss drafts of a number of laws and government decrees, restructuring local government, expansion of the rights of Old Believers, tax reform, reform public education, measures to support the peasantry (reducing redemption payments, issuing loans for the purchase of land and resettlement) and easing tensions between workers and entrepreneurs. To reassure the public, he achieved the dismissal of the Minister of Education of the retrograde D.A. Tolstoy (April 1880); on his proposal, on August 6 (18), 1880, the Third Department and the Supreme Administrative Commission itself were abolished. He headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the scope of which was significantly expanded due to the appearance in its structure of the State Police Department, to which the functions of political investigation, which were previously within the competence of the Third Division, were transferred. At the same time he became the chief of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. The abolition of odious institutions was thus accompanied by the centralization of police institutions.
In September 1880, he publicly promised to restore the rights of the zemstvos and the judiciary, to expand the freedom of the press, and to conduct Senate audits not only to check the activities of officials, but also to identify the needs of the population and the "mood of the minds." In October, he proposed to abandon the practice of repressions against liberal publications, which became the reason for his conflict with the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers P.A. Valuev.
The decline of the wave of terror in the second half of 1880 led to the strengthening of the position of M.T. Loris-Melikov at court; was awarded the highest Russian award- Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. On January 28 (February 9), 1881, he presented to Alexander II a plan for the implementation of his April 1880 program, proposing the creation of temporary commissions (financial and administrative) from officials and elected from zemstvos to process the information collected as a result of Senate audits and to prepare the planned reforms; their implementation would actually mean the introduction of representative principles into the system of administration of the Empire. On February 17 (March 1), Alexander II approved the plan and scheduled its discussion for March 4 (16). However, on March 1 (13), 1881, the emperor died at the hands of terrorists. Under his successor Alexander III ruling circles the Conservatives, led by the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, K. P. Pobedonostsev, prevailed. On March 8 (20) the decision on the M.T. Loris-Melikov project was postponed. On April 29 (May 11), Alexander III published the Manifesto proclaiming the inviolability of the autocracy, which marked the complete rejection of any political transformations. On May 4 (16) M.T. Loris-Melikov resigned.
After his retirement, he lived mainly abroad, in France (Nice) and Germany (Wiesbaden). Sometimes he came to St. Petersburg to attend meetings of the State Council. Died 12 (24) December in Nice. Buried in Tiflis.
Ivan Krivushin
(Count Mikhail Tarielovich, 1825-1888) - one of the most remarkable statesmen and military figures of Russia, was born in Tiflis in the family of a wealthy Armenian who conducted extensive trade with Leipzig; studied first at the Lazarevsky Institute of Oriental Languages, then at the school of guards ensigns and junkers. In St. Petersburg, he became close friends with Nekrasov, then still an unknown youth, and lived with him for several months in the same apartment. In 1843, Loris-Melikov was released as a cornet in the Life Guards Grodno Hussars, and in 1847 he was transferred to the Caucasus, where he participated in several expeditions. When during Eastern war 1853-56 N. N. Muraviev besieged Kars, he needed a partisan team that would stop all external relations of the besieged fortress. Loris-Melikov organized a large detachment, consisting of Armenians, Georgians, Kurds and others (here, as in many other things, Loris-Melikov was helped by knowledge of several oriental languages), and brilliantly fulfilled the task assigned to him. In 1861, Loris-Melikov was made the military chief of Southern Dagestan and the mayor of Derbent, and in 1863 - the head of the Terek region. Here he stayed for almost 10 years, demonstrating brilliant administrative abilities: in a few years he prepared the population so well for the perception of citizenship that already in 1869 it was possible to establish the administration of the region on the basis of a general provincial institution and even put into effect the judicial charters of Emperor Alexander II. . Loris-Melikov showed particular concern for public education: the number of educational institutions from several dozen increased under him to 300 too; at his personal expense, a vocational school was established in Vladikavkaz, bearing his name.
At the opening of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78. Loris-Melikov, who was already in the rank of Gen. from the cavalry and with the rank of adjutant general, he was appointed commander of a separate corps on the Caucasian-Turkish border. 12 Apr. 1877 Loris-Melikov entered Turkish possessions, took Ardagan by storm and concentrated his main forces near Kars, detaching the gene. Tergukasov on Erzurum. Meanwhile, the Turks gathered a large force under the command of Mukhtar Pasha and fears for the detachment of the gene. Tergukasov prompted Loris-Melikov to attack them at Zevin (see). The attack was unsuccessful; Mukhtar descended from Saganlug, and the Russian troops lifted the siege of Kars (June 27). Having received reinforcements, Loris-Melikov again went on the offensive, defeated Mukhtar Pasha on Aladzha (see), stormed Kars (see), which was considered impregnable, defeated the combined forces of Mukhtar and Izmail Pasha on Deve-Boina and in the middle of a cruel winter , in a treeless area, at an altitude of 700 ft. undertook the blockade of Erzurum. Thanks to the trust of the local population and contractors in Loris-Melikov, he even waged war on enemy territory with credit money, which brought savings of several tens of millions to the treasury. Upon the conclusion of peace, Loris-Melikov was awarded the title of count (1878).
In January 1879, when the plague appeared in Vetlyanka (see), Loris-Melikov was appointed temporary Astrakhan, Saratov and Samara governor-general, vested with unlimited powers. When he arrived at Tsaritsyn on January 27, the epidemic had already died out, partly due to the extremely severe quarantine measures taken by the population of the plagued villages themselves, so that Loris-Melikov could only prevent its resumption by improving local sanitary conditions. Having cordoned off the entire Astrakhan province with a quadruple cordon of troops, Loris-Melikov personally visited Vetlyanka and, making sure that the danger had passed, he himself presented the destruction of his general government, having spent 4 million rubles from the allowance. loan no more than 308 thousand rubles.
The return of Loris-Melikov to St. Petersburg coincided with the establishment of temporary governor-generals, endowed with almost unlimited powers to eradicate sedition (April 1879). Loris-Melikov was sent as a temporary governor-general of 6 provinces to Kharkov, where the governor, Prince. Krapotkin. Of all the temporary governor-generals, Loris-Melikov was the only one who tried not to shake the legitimate course of affairs, to pacify society and strengthen its ties with the government on the basis of mutual assistance. The exceptional success that crowned the activities of Loris-Melikov in Kharkov led to his call (February 12, 1880) to the post of chief head of the supreme administrative commission (see). This appointment was met with universal sympathy, especially in view of Loris-Melikov's statement that he sees in the support of society "the main force that can assist the authorities in resuming the correct course of state life." On February 20, Mlodetsky made an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Loris-Melikov. After the abolition of the supreme commission (August 6, 1880), Loris-Melikov was appointed Minister of the Interior and continued to play a leadership role; most of the other ministers reported to the sovereign in his presence.
The starting point of Loris-Melikov's activity was the conviction that there was no need to embarrass all civilians in order to prevent or solve the crimes of a handful of people, no matter how dangerous they may be, and that, on the contrary, the abolition of general restrictions and exceptional measures, while calming society, can only take away ground for revolutionary propaganda. Some reflection of the Loris-Melikov system can be found in "Letters on state of the art Russia" by R. A. Fadeev, a former comrade of Loris-Melikov in the service in the Caucasus. Loris-Melikov asked the sovereign for permission to print this book abroad and then admit it to Russia. Outlining the essence of the book, Loris-Melikov in a report to his sovereign (see "Russian Thought", 1889, book I. p. 169) explained that with the abolition of serfdom, which deprived the nobility of its former significance, a kind of gap formed between the government and subjects, giving place and scope to all anti-social phenomena Zemstvo is the only living social force that can become the same indestructible support for power that the nobility used to be; and since the vast majority of Russian people sincerely believe in royal power, then the Zemstvo, which expresses this majority, is at the same time the most trustworthy force.
As preparatory steps for the implementation of the Loris-Melikov system, a number of measures were taken that can be called the general name of liberation (the abolition of the III department, the restriction of administrative reprisals, the actual expansion of the range of actions of the zemstvo and city self-government, facilitating censorship practices, the establishment of a commission to revise laws on press, reforms in education, Count D. A. Tolstoy gave way to A. A. Saburov). At the same time, a number of measures were conceived aimed at improving the economic situation of the people. In order to better understand the needs of the people, senatorial revisions were undertaken, and by a December circular it was proposed to the zemstvo assemblies to discuss desirable changes in the legal provisions on the peasants. The auditing senators were charged with the duty to collect and find out facts that testify both to the economic situation of the peasant and factory population and the influence of government measures on it, and to the mood of the minds and the degree of influence on them of measures practiced by the government in the fight against "unreliable elements of society" such as administrative expulsion; they were also asked to try to uncover "the reason for the failure of the zemstvos' activities", not concealing the fact that such a reason could be found in the poor organization of zemstvo elections or in the embarrassment of zemstvos by the administration, and raising the question "can a convenient form be found for joint judgments of zemstvos of different provinces on issues that would require cumulative measures"; as such issues, the instruction outlined the fight against epidemics, epizootics, harmful insects and the construction of border bridges and crossings.
In an extensive note on the needs of the rural population (an excerpt in the Proceedings of the Moscow Society Agriculture", issue XI, pp. 8-9, M., 1882) Loris-Melikov pointed out that "the improvement of agricultural culture has always been the result of a general rise in both moral and material forces"; that "at the present moment, the improvement of agriculture in among the peasants depends not so much on one or another method of cultivating the land, but on the conditions of their personal situation"; that "only those measures that would put the peasant in better conditions in relation to to already existing forms of culture. "As the most important of these measures, Loris-Melikov outlined: 1) lowering the redemption payments, 2) assisting the peasants in buying land with the help of loans, and 3) facilitating the conditions for resettlement and facilitating the eviction of peasants from densely populated provinces. From the reforms of an economic nature, Loris-Melikov managed to carry out only the abolition of the salt tax and the increase in guild duties.
The course of transformations was hindered by the struggle against revolutionary agitation, which did not stop for a single minute. The opening up of the revolutionary organization proceeded very actively; the number of captured and condemned anarchists was great; it is known that Zhelyabov, the main organizer of the disaster on March 1, was arrested earlier that day. Nevertheless, Loris-Melikov continued to develop general plan reforms. By the time the senatorial audits were completed, the central institutions were supposed to be charged with collecting material related to the issues raised by the Minister of the Interior and establishing the main tasks that needed to be resolved. The assumptions developed by these institutions, as well as the materials of the senatorial revisions, were to be submitted for consideration by "preparatory commissions", which would be composed of members of government departments and knowledgeable persons (employees and non-employees) invited with the highest permission; the preparatory commissions were obliged to work out bills, which, before being submitted to the State Council, would be submitted for discussion by the "general commission". The latter was meant to call: 1) persons who took part in the work of the preparatory commissions, 2) elected from the provincial zemstvos of those provinces in which the regulation on zemstvo institutions was introduced (one or two members, depending on the population of the province), and from the city dumas of some significant cities (in the capitals - two, in other cities - one member), and the choice could fall both on vowels and on other persons belonging to the population of the province or city, and 3) members appointed in a special order from foreign provinces. A certain period was appointed for the classes of the general commission; her work was to have only deliberative value in the eyes of the government. This plan was approved by the imp. Alexander II on February 17, 1881, and March 4 was appointed for his hearing at a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The terrible event of March 1 turned out to be fatal for the undertakings of Loris-Melikov. Shaken morally and physically, Loris-Melikov remained true to his former views, but soon became convinced of the impossibility of their implementation. On May 7, 1881, he resigned as Minister of the Interior and last years spent his life, due to poor health, abroad; mind. December 12, 1888 in Nice, buried in Tiflis. Despite the removal of Loris-Melikov, many features of his program, which later received the ironic name of "new trends" in the well-known camp, were not forgotten and led to fairly large results. These include the land arrangement of those groups of peasants who were not subject to the provisions of 1861, some other legal provisions of the 1880s on peasants (see), the protection of factory workers, the transfer of part of the tax burden to more sufficient classes of the population (inheritance tax, tax for money capital, layout fee, etc.).
A man of rare disinterestedness, a witty and cheerful interlocutor, accessible to everyone, courteous to everyone, Loris-Melikov willingly and attentively listened to objections, but, distinguished by tolerance for other people's opinions, remained unshakable in his basic convictions. According to his political views, says the well-known doctor N. A. Belogolovy, who became close friends with Loris-Melikov during his life abroad (see Belogolovy’s memoirs in Russian Antiquity, 1889, No. 9), Loris-Melikov was "a moderate gradualist, a consistent liberal, a strictly convinced defender of organic progress, with the same incompassion for all phenomena that retard normal growth and proper development peoples, no matter from which side these phenomena are discovered. Unshakably believing in the progress of mankind and in the need for Russia to join its benefits, he stood for the widest possible dissemination of public education, for the unfetteredness of science, for the expansion and greater independence of self-government, and for involving elected representatives of society in the discussion of legislative issues as advisory members. Further than this, his reformist ideals did not go.
An outstanding orator, Loris-Melikov was also good at writing. The following works of his appeared in the press: "On the Caucasian rulers from 1776 to late XVIII table., on the affairs of the Stavropol archive" ("Russian archive", 1873); "Note on Hadji Murad" ("Russian antiquity", 1881, vol. XXX); "On shipping in the Kuban" ( "New time", 1882) and "Note on the state of the Terek region" ("Russian antiquity", 1889 No. 8). Letters to him by H. N. Muravyov and Prince M. S. Vorontsov - in "Russian antiquity" ( 1884, Vol. XLII) See Internal Review in Vestnik Evropy, 1881, No. 6, and 1889, No. 1.
About the conversation of Count Loris-Melikov with representatives of the St. Petersburg periodicals, which took place on September 6, 1880, see. No. 9 of Otechestvennye Zapiski and No. 11 of Vestnik Evropy for 1880 (internal review).
Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov
M.T. Loris-Melikov.
Photo from the site http://narovol.narod.ru/visel.htm
A man of rare selflessness
Loris-Melikov Mikhail Tarielovich (October 1, 1825, Tiflis - December 12, 1888, Nice), Armenian by birth. From the count and noble Armenian family. Their ancestors in the XVI century. were the rulers of the city of Lori. In 1602, melik Nazar and melik Dai of Lori received a firman from Shah Abbas of Persia, confirming their old rights, and they converted to Islam. Subsequently, the L.-Melikovs returned to Christianity and continued to be hereditary bailiffs of the Lori steppe, which was part of the Georgian kingdom, as a result of which they also belonged to the highest Georgian nobility. IN Russian nobility the genus L.-Melikovs was approved in 1832. From Dai Lori comes gr. Mikhail Tarielovich. The Loris-Melikov family was included in the 6th part of the noble family tree of the book of the Tiflis province.
Son of Tariel Zurabovich and his wife Ekaterina Akhverdova. He was educated at the Lazarevsky Institute of Oriental Languages, then at the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers. In St. Petersburg, he became close friends with Nekrasov, then still an unknown youth, and lived with him for several months in the same apartment. In 1843, the Grodno Hussar Regiment was released as a cornet in the Life Guards. In 1847, at his own request, Loris-Melikov was transferred to the Caucasus, where an uprising of mountain tribes under the leadership of Shamil was raging.
He was an officer for special assignments under the commander-in-chief of the Separate Caucasian Corps M.S. Vorontsov. Participated in expeditions to Dagestan and Chechnya in 1848 and 1849-1853. In 1852, he was appointed head of the Terek region. He was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 4th degree and a saber with the inscription "For Courage".
In 1853 - 1856. L. -Melikov participates in the Transcaucasian theater of the Crimean War, where he was promoted to colonel, and then at the age of 30 - to major general. From August 1855 he was an officer for special assignments under the commander-in-chief of the Caucasian army N.N. Muravyov. When N. N. Muravyov besieged Kars, he needed a partisan team that would stop all external relations of the besieged fortress. L.-Melikov organized a large detachment, consisting of Armenians, Georgians, Kurds and others (here, as in many other things, knowledge of several Eastern languages helped L.-Melikov), and brilliantly fulfilled the task assigned to him.
“... the corps commander, later Count Loris-Melikov, on the basis of plans General Staff, sent his brother, with his adjutant and two hundred Cossacks, to make reconnaissance near Kars, and Alexander was given a map along which he had to travel in one direction near Kars and return in another. From the stories of my brother, I know that the following happened: when he went on reconnaissance, and the adjutant, or the officer who was with him, held this map in front of him, he suddenly met with several Turkish battalions, and since Alexander had the order to drive around and return with on the other hand, he ordered "to attack." His squadron broke through the chain of Turkish infantry, leaving a relatively small number of people. We started to jump further; suddenly he sees in front of him a huge abyss that it was impossible to pass, and if he jumped into this abyss, then everyone, without exception, would perish in it. Then Alexander ordered to roll up and attack in the opposite direction. At this time, help arrived in time for the Turkish battalion, from which many people had already been destroyed by them, and Alexander had to attack again and break through again, and in these two attacks he left half the people on the field.
All this happened because the officers of the General Staff drew up the wrong plan. In the attacks all the time with his brother was the flag of this detachment, and he returned without losing this flag, for which, according to the statute, he was entitled to "George". But this put Loris-Melikov in the most difficult position, because if he reported everything that had happened, then the officers of the General Staff would have to go to trial. Then Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich called my brother, explained the situation to him and said: “My friend, excuse me, but this matter must be forgotten, as if it had never happened, because otherwise I will have to hand over all the officers of the General Staff.” And so it was decided ... "(pp. 10 - 11, ch. 1, Graf S.Yu. Witte, Memories, Slovo Publishing House, Berlin, 1923).
In 1861, L.-Melikov was made the military chief of South Dagestan and the mayor of Derbent, and in 1863 - the head of the Terek region. Here he stayed for almost 10 years, showing excellent administrative skills. In an effort to pacify the rebellious North Caucasian regions, he pursued a policy that combined harsh repressive measures with measures for the socio-economic and cultural development of the region. Severely dealt with the irreconcilable opponents of Russia, and even organized the mass emigration of disgruntled Chechens to Turkey (1865). In a few years, he so well prepared the population for the perception of citizenship that already in 1869 it was possible to establish the administration of the region on the basis of a common provincial institution and even put into effect the judicial charters of Emperor Alexander II. He built the first railway in the North Caucasus Rostov - Vladikavkaz. L.-Melikov showed special concern for public education: the number of educational institutions from several dozen increased under him to 300 too. At his personal expense, a vocational school was established in Vladikavkaz, bearing his name. Trying to secure the support of the local elite, he constantly consulted with the elders and the clergy.
In May 1875, at his own request (due to illness), he was relieved of his post; promoted to general of the cavalry. In the same year he went abroad for treatment.
He returned to service with the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. L.-Melikov, who was already in the rank of cavalry general and in the rank of adjutant general, was appointed commander of a separate corps on the Caucasian-Turkish border. On April 12, 1877, L.-Melikov entered Turkish possessions, took Ardagan by storm and concentrated his main forces near Kars, detaching General Tergukasov to Erzerum. Meanwhile, the Turks gathered large forces under the command of Mukhtar Pasha, and fears for the detachment of General Tergukasov prompted L.-Melikov to attack them at Zevin. The task of the attack was completed - the detachment of General Tergukasava was saved. The reinforcements that approached Mukhtar Pasha forced L.-Melikov to descend from Saganlug and lift the siege of Kars (June 27).
Having received reinforcements, L.-Melikov carried out a strategic bypass of the position of Mukhtar Pasha on Aladzha (performed by the column of General Lazarev). Finally, on October 3, the Turks, simultaneously attacked from the front and from the rear, were utterly defeated. Some of them fled to Kars, and about 7 thousand surrendered. The battle of October 3 radically changed the position of the Russian troops in Asia Minor, revolutionized the mood of the local population, especially the Kurds, and opened the way to a series of brilliant victories.
L.-Melikov stormed Kars, which was considered impregnable, defeated the combined forces of Mukhtar and Ishmael Pasha at Deve-Boina and in the middle of a cruel winter, in a treeless area, at an altitude of 700 feet. undertook the blockade of Erzurum. Thanks to the trust of the local population and contractors in L.-Melikov, he even waged war on credit money on enemy territory, which brought savings of several tens of millions to the treasury. Upon the conclusion of peace in 1878, L.-Melikov was awarded the title of count.
When in October 1878 a plague broke out in the Vetlyaninskaya village of the Enotaevsky district of the Astrakhan province, which had long been forgotten in Europe - its last epidemic was at the end of the 20s of this century - the news of its appearance within Russia caused extraordinary alarm and panic. not only in our country, but throughout Europe, which had good consequences: a general cleansing of cities and villages began, fearing the introduction of infection.
“... Germany threatened to mobilize its army and declare Russia under quarantine if the epidemic is not stopped. Now, when Alexander II saw that he could not trust the vigilance even of the palace police, he gave dictatorial rights to Loris-Melikov ... ”(section VII, ch. Western Europe, part 2, P.A. Kropotkin, Notes of a Revolutionary, M, Moscow Worker, 1988).
Count Loris-Melikov was sent to the Astrakhan region with unlimited powers to eradicate the epidemic. The measures taken by the count themselves, with all their diversity, boiled down mainly to isolating the houses and cordoning off the villages in which the sick were, and the houses and all movable property were burned, with the issuance of their value to the owners. Thanks to this, the epidemic did not go further and stopped in January of the following 1879. In the same period, L.-Melikov was appointed temporary Astrakhan, Saratov and Samara governor-general, vested with unlimited powers.
When he arrived in Tsaritsyn on January 27, the epidemic had already died out here, L.-Melikov personally visited Vetlyanka and, convinced that the danger had passed, he himself presented an idea of \u200b\u200bdestroying his general government, having spent 4 million rubles from the allowance for him. loan no more than 308 thousand rubles. The return of L.-Melikov to St. Petersburg coincided with the establishment of temporary governor-generals, vested with almost unlimited powers in the form of eradicating sedition (April 1879). L.-Melikov was sent as a temporary governor-general of 6 provinces to Kharkov, where shortly before that the governor, Prince. Krapotkin. Of all the temporary governor-generals, L.-Melikov was the only one who tried not to shake the legitimate course of affairs, to pacify society and strengthen its ties with the government on the basis of mutual assistance.
February 12, 1880, after the failed assassination attempt on S.N. Khalturin “... When the Executive Committee made a bold attempt to blow up Winter Palace, Alexander II took a step before that unprecedented. He created a kind of dictatorship and endowed Loris-Melikov with emergency powers. This general, an Armenian by birth, had already been given dictatorial powers by Alexander II before when the plague broke out in Vetlyanka, on the lower reaches of the Volga, and Germany threatened to mobilize its army and declare Russia under quarantine if the epidemic was not stopped. Now, when Alexander II saw that he could not trust the vigilance of even the palace police, he gave dictatorial rights to Loris-Melikov, and since Melikov was considered a liberal, then new step interpreted in the sense that the Zemsky Sobor will soon be convened ... ”(Chapter VIII, Part II, Book P.A. Kropotkin, Notes of a Revolutionary, - M .: Moskovsky Rabochiy, 1988)
The Supreme Administrative Commission for the Preservation of State Order and Public Peace, - was established in St. Petersburg by a personal decree of Emperor Alexander II, given to the Senate on February 12, 1880 (P. S. Z., No. 60492), in the form of stopping attempts on state and social system of Russia. The commission consisted of the chief commander, Adjutant General Count M. T. Loris-Melikov, and members appointed to assist him at his direct discretion. The members of the commission were: member of the State Council K.P. Pobedonostsev, Adjutant General Prince. A. K. Imeretinsky, Secretary of State M. S. Kakhanov, secret advisers M. E. Kovalevsky, I. I. Shamshin, P. A. Markov; retinues E. I. V. major generals P. A. Cherevin and M. I. Batyanov and actions. Art. owls. S. S. PERFILIEV More than that, chief boss could invite to the commission all persons whose presence was recognized by him as useful. On March 5, a conversation took place between the chief chief and representatives of the St. Petersburg city public administration - the city head of the bar. P. L. Korf, and vowels I. I. Glazunov, Ts. A. Kavos, V. I. Likhachev and M. P. Mitkov. The office of the chief commander was managed by A. A. Skalkovsky.
The chief commander was given emergency powers to achieve the task assigned to him. In addition to the rights of the commander-in-chief in St. Petersburg and the direct conduct of cases of state crimes in the capital and the local military district, he was granted the supreme direction of these cases in all other places of the empire, as well as the right to make all orders and take all measures that he considers necessary for the protection of state order and public peace, at the same time determining the penalties and the procedure for liability for failure to comply with their orders and measures. These orders and measures were subject to unconditional execution and observance by everyone and everyone and could only be canceled by the sovereign and the chief commander himself. All departments were obliged to provide the chief commander with full assistance and immediately fulfill all his requirements. Finally, the chief commander was left to directly request, when he deemed it necessary, the orders and instructions of the sovereign. Thus, Loris-Melikov appeared as a dictator.
Later, in a letter to A.F. Koni, M.T. Loris-Melikov writes about his rapid rise “... Then they call to“ pacify the plague. I don't know the Volga at all. No! Go. And there, a satrap for 12 million in Kharkov. Do what you want. I barely had time to look around, think, learn, suddenly - bam! - go to manage the entire state already. I had the authority to issue, at my own discretion, the highest commands. Not a single temporary worker - neither Menshikov, nor Biron, nor Arakcheev - has ever had such comprehensive power. (from a letter from M.T. Loris-Melikov to A.F. Koni, see http://narovol.narod.ru/visel.htm).
This appointment was met with universal sympathy, especially in view of L.-Melikov's appeal, made on February 14, 1880, to the residents of the capital, in which he expressed his view of the upcoming difficult task. He thought of fighting evil in two ways: 1) criminal police, not stopping at any strict measures to punish criminal acts, and 2) state - aimed at calming and protecting the interests of the well-meaning part of society, restoring shocked order and returning the fatherland on the path of peaceful prosperity. At the same time, the chief commander counted on the support of society as a means that could assist the authorities in resuming the correct course of state life.
N.V. Mezentseva had already appealed to society “for assistance”, as if giving the command to provide herself with this assistance, and, accordingly, her appeal did not receive public resonance at that time 286 . Loris-Melikov's speech was distinguished by an unusual tone, style and content for the authorities. “The society was declared to have the right to an original existence. Whether the meaning of the count's statement was conveyed correctly or not is not the point. The fact is that this meaning was given to it by word of mouth, and this expressed the public mood, the public feeling. The Zemstvo newspaper wrote about the count's appeal as a symptom of "a sharp turn in the direction of our domestic policy." It seemed that the government had come to the conclusion that “peace can be achieved not by repressions, that in society the state should see not an enemy, but an ally. Society breathed more freely, hopes for a radical improvement in our inner life were resurrected in it.
Quoting Loris-Melikov's address "To the Residents of the Capital", the editorial of Golos stated: "If these are the words of a dictator, then we must admit that his dictatorship is a dictatorship of the heart and mind" 289 . This definition of Loris-Melikov's dictatorship will be repeated more than once in the press: in the liberal press with enthusiasm, in the conservative press with caustic mockery (see Document No. 30).
He took a different approach to the appeal of Loris-Melikov to the society for the assistance of the government of M.N. Katkov. “In a society that has not been established and is going through a period of transition, in addition to malicious people, there are many cowardly and unreasonable people, people who are haughty with personal knowledge, dreamers and idle talkers. Will the help and action of such people be useful to the government, ”Katkov posed the question rather to the authorities than to society, implying one possible answer to it. He dwells on this first, in fact, program action of Loris-Melikov and in subsequent advanced ones, realizing its special significance, clearly delineating his attitude towards it: “There is no need to turn to society for support and benefits. It will itself turn to the government for all kind help and assistance, as long as the government properly disciplines its leaders from top to bottom and seeks support in the patriotic spirit and Russian opinion.
COUNT LORIS-MELIKOV AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES
The nihilistic assessment by the ideologist of the autocracy of society and its role in the life of the country had an effect here in full measure. But it must be admitted that in solving the problem of "government and society" Katkov was logical in his own way, based on the nature of power in the empire. To be autocratic, it had to remain omnipotent and all-encompassing, not in need of public support. Only society had to seek support from the authorities, and not vice versa: the traditional image of autocracy, carefully guarded by its ideologist, was violated.
Whether Loris-Melikov perceived the hopes associated with his coming to power with enthusiasm, or they instilled alarm, making him feel a huge responsibility, but he began to act in the very first days after his appointment. However, only a week had passed after the signing of the decree, which dramatically changed the fate of the count, as his very life almost ended.
On February 20, Loris-Melikov arrived home on Morskaya Street to have lunch and rest: a long and difficult continuation of the working day was ahead, usually ending around midnight. Mikhail Tarielovich got out of the sleigh and, heading to the entrance, was overtaken by a shot from a terrorist waiting in ambush. The shot was fired, although point-blank, but, apparently, with an unsteady hand: the bullet only pierced the overcoat, but did not touch the count. He did not lose his presence of mind, helping the Cossack escort to twist the intruder. After reassuring the family, in a shot through overcoat, he immediately went to the palace to report what had happened to the emperor. The news of the assassination attempt on the head of the Supreme Administrative Commission instantly spread throughout the capital. On February 20, 1880, General A.V. Bogdanovich writes in his diary that “after the assassination attempt, the Tsarevich, the entire royal family, ministers, ambassadors, and many townsfolk gathered at Loris’s” 291 . Events followed with hitherto unusual speed: on February 21, a military court sentenced I.P. Mlodetsky to death penalty. On February 22, Mlodetsky was hanged on the Semyonovsky parade ground. F.M. was present at the place of execution. Dostoevsky, who survived it hard.
On the night before the execution, Aoris-Melikov was visited by V.M. Garshin, at that time already enough famous writer so that Mikhail Tarielovich could not help but know about him, moreover, he had stories about Russian-Turkish war. He came to convince the dictator to cancel the execution and thereby "kill the moral strength of the people who put into his hand
revolver" - to break the chain of violence, when terror breeds executions, and executions cause more and more assassination attempts. Garshin got the impression that the count would try to talk to the tsar, show him the writer's letter and prevent the execution of the sentence.
The day after the assassination attempt, Loris-Melikov was a true hero in the eyes of society: the event of February 20 testified to how dangerous and risky the role of the "savior of Russia" is. The execution of Mlodetsky, which began the fight against the seditious, left its mark on the perception of the "dictatorship of the heart." If such personalities as V. Garshin or F. Dostoevsky acutely experienced what happened, linking thoughts about the fate of their homeland with it, then for many ordinary people it became a bad omen - a kind of "sign of trouble" preceding the reign of the dictator.
The executive committee of Narodnaya Volya explained in a special proclamation that the assassination attempt on the dictator was not authorized and that Mlodetsky committed it on his own initiative. Loris-Melikov was the only governor-general who was not sentenced to death: the revolutionaries had to reckon with public opinion. That is why, when appointing the count to a new post, the Narodnaya Volya refrained from making statements. The execution of Mlodetsky created an opportunity to give the first assessment of Loris-Melikov, which could no longer be perceived as biased and groundless, but made one think. "The moral character of this dictator, the renovator of Russia, is heavy," the Narodnaya Volya people said about Loris-Melikov, who signed the first death sentence in his new post 293 . But, while rightly condemning the gallows, those who, in an effort to “renew” the country through a coup, acted with dynamite, charged the authorities from the standpoint of morality.
By decree of Alexander II on February 12, 1880, the head of the Supreme Administrative Commission was granted the right to "call on the commission all persons whose presence would be useful." They should be appointed according to the orders of the king, requested by the head of the commission 294 . The freedom of Loris-Melikov in choosing the members of the commission he needed for cooperation, in fact, was limited by the need to take into account the opinion of the king and heir, as well as representatives of various groups in the “top”. The members of the Supreme Administrative Commission were: Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and such persons from his inner circle as a member of the State Council K.P. Pobedonostsev and major general of the retinue of the emperor P.A. Cherevin. The heir had no doubt that it was he who managed to defend the idea of a dictatorship with the broadest and toughest methods of administration, and Loris-Melikov supported this confidence. From the military, Major General of the retinue M.I. Batyanov and Prince A.K. Imeretinsky, whom Loris-Melikov knew from the Caucasus, and then as an associate of M.D. Skobelev. Somewhat later, General E.V., close to the heir, were added to the commission. Bogdanovich, Colonel N.M. Baranov and Major General R.A. Fadeev, who was attached to the General Staff 295 . Senators M.E. Kovalevsky and I.I. Shamshin, Chief Prosecutor of the Senate P.A. Markov, manager of the Committee of Ministers M.S. Kakhanov, head of the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs S.S. Perfiliev was represented in the commission by the administrative and management element.
As a result, the new government body included both conservatives, opponents of changes, and people who keenly feel the need for them. But for all the diversity and heterogeneity of the composition of the commission, it was not accidental. Coordinating candidates with the king and heir, consulting with those whose opinion he considered significant (D.A. Milyutin, A.A. Abaza, P.A. Valuev), the count was guided by his own thoughts about the functions of the commission. He invited to cooperation both influential people, with big connections in the state apparatus, and those who had extensive managerial experience. Mikhail Tarielovich was not disappointed in the business qualities of many of them. Senators M.E. Kovalevsky and I.I. Shamshin did not belong to the liberal bureaucracy, but their competence, honesty, objectivity were a great support for Aoris-Melikov in his endeavors. M.I. Batyanov, M.S. Kakhanov will support the dictator as like-minded people, and the heir, K.P. Pobedonostsev, P.A. Cherevin, S.S. Perfiliev will become at first hidden, and then his obvious enemies. But on March 4, 1880, at the first meeting of the Supreme Administrative Commission, its members gathered, equally inspired by the task of restoring the shaken order in the country, providing it with "the path of further peaceful prosperity" 296 .
