Nicholas I (6July 1796 – 2 March 1855) was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the younger brother of his childless predecessor, Alexander I. Nicholas inherited his brother's throne despite the failed Decembrist revolt against him, and went on to become the most reactionary of Russian monarchs. In his last years, Nicholas I led the Russian army in the unsuccessful Crimean War. However he was also instrumental in helping to create an independent Greek state and defeated the Ottoman empire in the Russo-Turkish war of 1828-1829. Thus he was a key player in the ascendency of Russia as a world power and helped hasten the disintegration of the aging Ottoman empire. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith, spanning over 20 million square kilometres (7.7 million square miles)
Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, was born in Gatchina to Emperor PaulI and Empress Maria Feodorovna. He was a brother of Alexander I of Russia and of Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia.
Nicholas had not been brought up to become the Emperor of Russia; he had two elder brothers. In 1825, when Alexander I died suddenly of typhus, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother, Constantine Pavlovich, and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine Pavlovich, who was in Warsaw at that time, confirmed his refusal. Additionally, on 25 December, Nicholas issued the manifesto proclaiming his accession to the throne. That manifesto retroactively named 1 December,the date of Alexander I's death, as the beginning of his reign. During this confusion, a plot was hatched by some members of the military to overthrow Nicholas and to seize power. This led to the Decembrist Revolt on 26 December1825, an uprising Nicholas was successful in quickly suppressing.
Nicholas completely lacked his brother's spiritual and intellectual breadth; he saw his role simply as that of a paternal autocrat ruling his people by whatever means necessary. Nicholas I began his reign on 14 December 1825, which fell on a Monday; Russian superstition held that Mondays were unlucky days. This particular Monday dawned very cold, with temperatures of −8 degrees Celsius. This was regarded by the Russian people as a bad omen for the coming reign. The accession of Nicholas I was marred by a demonstration of 3,000 young Imperial Army officers and other liberal-minded citizens. This demonstration was an attempt to force the government to accept a constitution and a representative form of government. Nicolas ordered the army out to smash the demonstration. The uprising was quickly put down and became known as the Decembrist Revolt. Having experienced the trauma of the Decembrist Revolt on the very first day ofhis reign, Nicholas I was determined to restrain Russian society. The Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery ran a huge network of spies and informers with the help of Gendarmes. The government exercised censorship and other forms of control over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life.
From 1839, Tsar Nicholas used a former Byzantine Catholic priest as a means to force Orthodoxy upon the Eastern Rite Catholics of Ukraine,Belarus, and Lithuania. This caused Tsar Nicholas to be condemned by a succession of Roman Pontiffs, the Marquis de Custine, Charles Dickens, and many Western governments.
Nicholas died on 2 March 1855, during the Crimean War. He caught a chill, refused medical treatmentand died of pneumonia, although there were rumours he committed suicide.
On 13 July 1817, Nicholas married Charlotte of Prussia(1798–1860), who thereafter went by the name Alexandra Feodorovna. Charlotte's parents were Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Nicholas and Charlotte were third cousins, as they were both great-great-grandchildren of Frederick William I of Prussia.