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Grand Ducal Role and Identity As a Reflection on the Interaction of State and Dynasty in Imperial Russia

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Grand Ducal Role and Identity As a Reflection on the Interaction of State and Dynasty in Imperial Russia Grand Ducal Role and Identity as a Reflection on the Interaction of State and Dynasty in Imperial Russia William Cary Lee PhD School of Slavonic and East European Studies m Page 1 ProQuest Number: U644000 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest U644000 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Grand Ducal Role and Identity as a Reflection on the Interaction of State and Dynasty in Imperial Russia This study seeks to illuminate the historical significance of non-ruling male Romanovs within the life of the Russian Empire. Crucial to this work are the issues of state-centred versus tsar-centred ideology and the evolution of the service ethos. Thus we begin with a brief overview of seventeenth-century Muscovy, the reign of Peter I, and the post-Petrine eighteenth-century. The 'thread' of Petrine heritage, as interpreted by successive rulers and their servitors, runs through every chapter, sometimes obliquely, sometimes to the fore. Our examination of the grand dukes themselves is divided between the objective issue of role, and the subjective one of identity. With regard to the former, it is our hope to present a more thorough picture of the range and nature of grand ducal duties, honours, appointments, etc., than has hitherto been available in a single work. With regard to the latter, it is here that we seek to identify patterns of behaviour, the power dynamics within the imperial family, and the grand dukes' position in relation to the public at large, service colleagues, and disaffected portions of society. Important questions emerge concerning the consequences of grand ducal independence and/or non-comformity, the way behaviour was perceived and represented (e.g., as patriotic, Petrine, treasonous, etc.), the effects of modernization and family growth (upon both role and identity), and grand ducal response to conflict between state and crown. Our study focuses upon the nineteenth-century, encompassing the maturation of the first generation of adult grand dukes, the emergence of several junior branches of the imperial family, the evolution of the service establishment into a more modem, state-centred entity, and the origins of both revolution and reaction. Inevitably, certain individuals demand more attention than others. In this instance, grand dukes Konstantin Pavlovich and Konstantin Nikolaevich — men who have already been written about at some length - emerge as figures of particular note, but only insofar as they reveal patterns of behaviour with enduring relevance to our Page 2 central theme, that of evolving relations between state and dynasty, and grand ducal allegiance to both entities. We conclude with a brief overview of relevant developments in the twentieth century. Page 3 Table of Contents & List of Illustrations 1. A Note on Transliteration, Dates, and Abbreviations .......................................................................................... 6 2. P re fa c e .................................................................................................. 7-15 3. Section One: The Roots of Grand Ducal R o le I. Grand Dukes Defined .................................................................16-17 II. Service and Autocracy, 1613-1682 18-29 III. The Dawn of Russia's Imperial Age, 1682-1725 ........................................................................................... 29-39 IV. The Post-Petrine Eighteenth-Century 39-45 4. Section Two: The First Generation of Romanov Grand Dukes I. Catherine II's Reign, 1762-1796 45-59 II. The Reign of Paul I, 1796-1801 59-82 III. The Reign of Alexander 1, 18 0 1 -1 8 2 5........................................................................................ 82-11 1 IV. The Pavlovich Grand Dukes After the Death of Alexander I ............................................... 111-148 5. Section Three: The Nikolaevich Grand Dukes I. Nicholas I's Russia, 1825-1855 148-176 II. The Beginning of Alexander ll's Reign, 1855-1863 ................................................................... 176-213 III. The Grand Ducal Viceregencies ............................. 213-232 IV. Military Reform ....................................................................... 232-245 6 . Section Four: The Last Generation of Romanov Grand Dukes I. Military Education ............................................................... 245-268 II. Alexander II's Reign Concluded, 1 8 6 3 -1 8 8 1 ........................................................................................ 268 -2 8 3 III. The End of Imperial Russia and Beyond 283-300 IV. Conclusions...................................................................................... 300-313 7. Bibliography ................................................................................................ 314- 325 8. Illustrations & Geneaology...........................................................326-338 Page 4 List of Illustrations 1. Romanov Succession........................................................................................ 326 2. The Romanov Grand Dukes from Paul ....................................................1 327 3. Konstantin Pavlovich........................................................................................328 4. Konstantin, Nikolai, and Mikhail Nikolaevich..........................................329 5. Aleksei Aleksandrovich ...................................................................................330 6. Nikolai Konstantinovich................................................................................. 331 7. Nikolai Nikolaevich, Jr ..................................................................................332 8. Sergei and Pavel Aleksandrovich ................................................................333 9. Georgy Mikhailovich........................................................................................334 10. A leksandr M ik h ailo v ich .................................................................................335 11. Sergei Mikhailovich......................................................................................... 336 12. The Vladimirovichi and Vladimir Aleksandrovich..337 13. D m itry P a v lo v ic h .............................................................................................. 338 Page 5 A Note on Transliteration, Dates, and Abbreviations The names of Rulers and heirs have been Anglicised. All others are presented in their Russian form. To avoid confusion between Alexander II and the future Alexander III, however, the latter is referred to as Aleksandr in chapters dealing with his father's reign. Transliteration follows the Library of Congress model, though names ending in "ii" have been given the more common "y" ending. Dates adhere to the Julian (i.e., "old style") calendar, except where otherwise specified. Common abbreviations found in the text and footnotes are B.L. for British Library, LG for Life Guards, SIRIO for Sbornik Imperatorskago Russkago Istoricheskago Obshchestva, and MERSH for the Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History. Page 6 PREFACE This project began as an investigation into the role of the last generation of Romanov grand dukes, during the reign of Nicholas II. For a number of reasons, an extended study visit to Russia proved impossible during the completion of this work, a fact which, ultimately, produced some positive consequences insofar as it forced the author to scrutinise the rich and varied materials available in the West, with an eye toward finding hitherto unremarked upon patterns of grand ducal development. Particularly intriguing were the views expressed in post-revolutionary exile by men such as Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (1891-1942). Dmitry, like his cousin, Nikolai Nikolaevich, Jr. (1856-1929), refused to view his link to his fatherland and its service solely, or even primarily, in a dynastic context. He embraced the Provisional Government until it rejected him, and rejoiced in perceived Russian advances during the Stalinist period. This provocative viewpoint awakened the author's thirst to gain a deeper understanding of Russia's grand dukes, so often simply dismissed as one-dimensional figures. The key to achieving this aim, however, lay not in an examination of Nicholas II's reign itself, but in a careful scrutiny of the development of the grand ducal experience over the course of several centuries, with particular emphasis upon the nineteenth-century as the most intensive period of this development. With the single exception of the autobiography of Grand Duke Aleksandr Mikhailovich (1866-1933; Once a Grand Duke, Garden City, 1932), grand ducal memoirs, both published and unpublished, fail to touch upon our primary period of focus, the nineteenth century, to any significant degree. Fortunately, we do have a portion of the diaries of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (1827-1892;1857- 1861, Dnevnik velikogo kniazia Konstantina Nikolaevicha, L. Zakharova, ed., Moscow, 1994). Also available are collections
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