RESIGNATION OF M.M. SPERANSKY: GUILTY PARTIES, CAUSES, THE OUTCOME

DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2025-1-5-12

УДК 9.929.73

ББК 63.3(2)521

Maya A. ALEKSENKO, Olga Yu. MALAKHOVA, Anatoly N. POPOV

Key words

M.M. Speransky, Alexander I, court intrigues, resignation, exile, return.

Abstract

The article is devoted to considering the guilty parties and causes of discrediting and disgrace of one of the most literate reformers of Russia in the XIX century – M.M. Speransky. His rapid career growth and rapid rapprochement with the Emperor Alexander I frightened and irritated his entourage, the reformer, and the monarch. The ill-wishers, who expected the genius Secretary of State to fall soon, were among the closest people to the ruling person and Speransky himself.

The problem was that, despite the good perspectives of M.M. Speransky’s ideas and projects, the Russian bureaucracy and the nobility, who were as close to the emperor as possible, remained dissatisfied with him, which provoked conspiracies in narrow circles. They were not even deterred by the prospect of Russia’s becoming a rule-of-law state thanks to Mikhail Mikhailovich’s efforts and projects.

The purpose of the study is to identify those involved in the reformer’s resignation and to study the reasons for Speransky’s discrediting in the eyes of the Emperor Alexander I during the court intrigues.

Materials and methods. The research used published author’s development results on the activities of M.M. Speransky, the biographical information from the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods, and materials from the periodical press of the post-Soviet period. The chronological scope of the study is limited to the first third of the XIX century (from the beginning of the reign of Alexander I to the publication of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, created with the help of Speransky). The principles of historicism, the retrospective and historical-genetic methods were used in the article, contributing to a comprehensive consideration of the research topic.

Research results. In the process of analyzing the reasons and persons involved in the reformer’s resignation, it was found out that many courtiers, officials and even monarchs had their aspirations to remove from the court the main generator of transformations of the time of Alexander I. For Alexander I’s sister, this was a personal grudge, for the Swedish Baron Gustav-Moritz Armfeld it was unimplemented expectations, and for most of his colleagues-civil servants, personal dislike or envy of Speransky’s rapid career growth. Fearing the wrath of the nobility, Alexander Pavlovich, the “two-faced Janus,” succumbed to the opinion of the court and dismissed and then exiled Mikhail Mikhailovich, who had once been the second person in the state.

Unlike his elder brother, Nicholay I, who was much less interested in the opinion of the nobility, recruited Speransky to help with the work of His Imperial Majesty’s Own chancellery to compile the code of laws.

Conclusion. The emperor’s sister, the nobility, the civil servants, all longed for the hated M.M. Speransky’s resignation. Despite his grandiose reformist ideas, Alexander I was influenced by his environment, having determined the fate of his administrator not in his favor.

References

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Information about the authors

Maya A. Aleksenko – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Lecturer, Orenburg Technical School of Railway Transport (OTGT); Researcher, Orenburg Institute of Railway Engineering – Branch of the Volga State University of Railway Engineering, Russia, Orenburg (krutaya.20112011@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0437-3730).

Olga Yu. Malakhovа – Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Deputy Director for Science and Innovation, Orenburg Institute of Railway Engineering – Branch of the Volga State University of Railway Engineering, Russia, Orenburg (olgamal74@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7806-0407).

Anatoly N. Popov – Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Director, Orenburg Institute of Railway Engineering – Branch of the Volga State University of Railway Engineering, Russia, Orenburg (a.n.popov@origt.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1478-7935).

For citations

Aleksenko M.A., Malakhova O.Yu., Popov A.N. Resignation of M.M. Speransky: guilty parties, causes, the outcome. Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, 2025, no. 1, pp. 5–12. DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2025-1-5-12 (in Russian).

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