Emperor of Russia

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Emperor of All Russia
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Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia
Император и Самодержец Всероссийский
Imperial
Nicholas II

1 November 1894 – 15 March 1917
Details
Style
AppointerHereditary
Pretender(s)

The Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia[1] (Russian: Император и Самодержец Всероссийский),[a] also translated as Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias,[2] was the official title of the Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917.

The title originated in connection with Russia's victory in the

tsar and grand prince of all Russia
. The old title tsar (or tsaritsa) continued to be popularly used to refer to the emperor (or empress) until the monarchy was abolished in 1917.

Title

Article 1 of the

Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire stated that "the Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic and unrestricted monarch. To obey his supreme authority, not only out of fear but out of conscience as well, God himself commands".[3]

The full title of the emperor in the 20th century (Art. 37 of the Fundamental Laws) was:

By the Grace of God, We, NN,

Mountainous Princes and of others; Lord of Turkestan; Heir of Norway; Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, and Oldenburg, and others, and others, and others.[4]

Tsarist autocracy

The tsar himself, the embodiment of sovereign authority, stood at the center of the tsarist autocracy, with full power over the state and its people.[5] The autocrat delegated power to persons and institutions acting on his orders, and within the limits of his laws, for the common good of all Russia.[5] The tsar was metaphorically a father and all of his subjects were his children; this metaphor even appeared in Orthodox primers,[6] and is remembered in the common Russian expression "царь-батюшка" tsar-batyushka ("tsar-dear father").

Furthermore, contrary to the movement for separation of church and state in West European monarchies, the Russian Empire combined monarchy with the supreme authority on religious issues (see

Church reform of Peter I and caesaropapism
for details).

Another key feature related to patrimonialism. In Russia, the tsar owned a much higher proportion of the state (lands, enterprises, etc.) than did Western monarchs.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

The tsarist autocracy had many supporters within Russia. Major Russian advocates and theorists of the autocracy included writer

Fyodor Dostoyevsky,[13][14] Mikhail Katkov,[15] Konstantin Aksakov,[16] Nikolay Karamzin,[14] Konstantin Pobedonostsev[13][5] and Pyotr Semyonov. They all argued that a strong and prosperous Russia needed a strong tsar and that philosophies of republicanism and liberal democracy were alien to it.[13]

History

Regalia of the Emperor

Peter I realized the need to secure the position of Russia within the European states system, including the importance of securing recognition from the Holy Roman Emperor of the equality of the titles of tsar and emperor.[17] Following his victory at the Battle of Poltava, Peter I brought up the question of the title of emperor to the Viennese court.[17] In 1717, Peter I defended his right to use the title of imperator, using the letter from Maximilian I to Vasily III to support his claim.[18]

The title of Emperor of all Russia was introduced for Peter the Great. After his victory in the Great Northern War and the signing the Treaty of Nystad in September 1721, the Senate and Synod decided to award Peter with the title of Emperor of all Russia with the following statement: "in the manner of the Roman Senate for the noble cause of emperors such titles publicly given them as a gift and into statues for the everlasting generations inscribed".

On this 20th day of October, after a consultation of the Senate together with the Holy Synod accepted the intention, to his majesty, in the testimony of a proper gratitude for his high grace and paternalism and effort which he for the welfare of state in all his glorious time of ruling and especially during the past Swedish War, deigned to manifest, and all-Russian state in such a strong and good fortune, and his people subjected to such fame over the whole world through his unique ruling led, as that to all quite known, by the name of all the Russian people to ask, so graciously to accept, following the example of others, from them title: the Father of the Fatherland, the Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great ...

— Laws of the Russian Empire at Large. Vol.VI. No.3840

On November 2, 1721, Peter I accepted the title. The

Spain in 1745, and finally the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1764. From then on, the Russian state was referred to as the Russian Empire
.

On February 16, 1722, Peter I issued the Decree of Succession by which he abolished the old custom of passing the throne to the direct descendants in the male line, but allowed the appointment of an heir through any decent person, at the will of the monarch.

Coronation ceremony

Coronations in the Russian Empire involved a highly developed religious ceremony in which the emperor was

Ivan IV.[19]

The modern coronation style, introducing "European-style" elements, replaced the previous "crowning" ceremony and was first used for

Catherine I in 1724.[20][21] Since tsarist Russia claimed to be the "Third Rome" and the successor to Byzantium,[22] the Russian rite was designed to link its rulers and prerogatives to those of the so-called "Second Rome" (Constantinople).[23]

While months or even years could pass between the initial accession of the sovereign and the performance of this ritual, church policy held that the monarch must be anointed and crowned according to the Orthodox rite to have a successful tenure.

medieval
period.

Even when the imperial capital was located at

Alexandra Feodorovna, who would be the final emperor and empresses of Russia. The Russian Imperial regalia survived the subsequent Russian Revolution and the Soviet period, and are currently on exhibit at the Diamond Fund in the Kremlin Armoury
.

List of emperors

Emperors of Russia - lifespan age (1721–1918)
NameLifespanReign startReign endNotesFamilyImage
Executed by the Bolsheviks
Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov

Nicholas II abdicated in favour of his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, but the next day, after a nominal reign of only 18 hours, "Emperor Michael II" declined power, ending dynastic rule in Russia.

See

List of leaders of Russia
for the continuation of leadership.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In pre-1918 orthography: Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссійскій, Императрица и Самодержица Всероссійская.
  2. ^ Vienna initially refused to accept the title, but eventually conceded after the letter was deemed to be genuine.[17]

References

  1. .
  2. .
  3. ^ "Chapter One On the Essence of Supreme Sovereign Power, Article 7." Archived 2018-09-05 at the Wayback Machine, Russian Imperial House: Official site of the Romanov Dynasty. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. ^ "On the Title of His Imperial Majesty and the State Coat of Arms", Russian Imperial House: Official site of the Romanov Dynasty. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. ^
  6. ^
  7. ^
  8. ^ .
  9. .
  10. ^ Muscovy, Sections "The Evolution of the Russian Aristocracy" and "Ivan IV". For crownings of earlier rulers of Muscovy, see Alfred Rambaugh Rambaud on the Rise of the Grand Princes of Moscow Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. .
  12. ^ "Museums of the Moscow Kremlin: ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL".
  13. ^ Moscow the Third Rome[full citation needed]. See also Moscow Becomes the Third Rome.
  14. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy; the second (Constantinople) had equally apostatized by accepting Roman Catholicism at the Council of Florence and had subsequently fallen to the Turks; Moscow and "Holy Russia" were the third Rome, and (according to this doctrine) "a fourth there shall never be". A History of Russia
    , Chapter 1: Medieval Russia, Section "Ivan the Great".
  15. ^ New York Times, May 31, 1896. Quoted in Wortman, Introduction. See also Blech, Annalise, The Russian Orthodox Church: History and Influence Archived 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, University of Texas at Austin, 2008, pg. 9.

External links