Editing Nicholas I of Russia (section)

===Local policies===
{{see also|Abolition of serfdom in Livonia}}
Tsar Nicholas abolished several areas of local autonomy. [[Bessarabia]]'s autonomy was removed in 1828, Poland's in 1830 and the Jewish [[Qahal]] was abolished in 1843. As an exception to this trend, [[Finland]] was able to keep its autonomy partly due to Finnish soldiers' loyal participation in crushing the [[November Uprising]] in Poland.<ref>Lifgardets 3 Finska Skarpskyttebataljon 1812–1905 ett minnesblad. 1905 Helsinki by Söderström & Co</ref>

Russia's first railway was opened in 1837, a {{convert|16|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} line between [[St. Petersburg]] and the suburban residence of [[Tsarskoye Selo]]. The second was the [[Saint Petersburg–Moscow railway]], built-in 1842–51. Nevertheless, by 1855 there were only {{convert|570|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} of Russian railways.<ref>Henry Reichman, ''Railwaymen and Revolution: Russia'', 1905 p. 16</ref>

[[File: Russia 1836 1½ Ruble.jpg|thumb|250px|Nicholas I "Family Ruble" (1836) depicting the Tsar on the obverse and his family on the reverse: [[Tsarina]] [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia)|Alexandra Feodorovna]] (center) surrounded by [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] as [[Tsarevich]], [[Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1819–1876)|Maria]], [[Olga Nikolaevna of Russia|Olga]], [[Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891)|Nicholas]], [[Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia|Michael]], [[Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia|Konstantin]], and [[Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia|Alexandra]] ]]

In 1833, [[Sergey Uvarov]], of the [[Ministry of National Education (Russian Empire)|Ministry of National Education]], devised a program of "[[Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality]]" as the guiding principle of the regime. It was a [[reactionary]] policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and the state-founding role of the Russian nationality and equal citizen rights for all other peoples inhabiting Russia, with the exclusion of Jews.<ref>Nicholas Riasanovsky, ''A History of Russia'' (4th edition 1984) pp. 323–24</ref> The people were to show loyalty to the unrestricted authority of the [[tsar]], to the traditions of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], and the [[Russian language]]. These romantic and conservative principles outlined by Uvarov were also espoused by [[Vasily Zhukovsky]], one of the tutors of the Grand Duke Alexander.<ref>W. Bruce Lincoln, ''The Romanovs'', p. 428.</ref> The results of these [[Slavophile]] principles led, broadly speaking, to increasing repression of all classes, excessive censorship, and surveillance of independent-minded intellectuals like [[Pushkin]] and [[Lermontov]] and to the persecution of non-Russian languages and non-Orthodox religions.<ref>W. Bruce Lincoln, ''The Romanovs'', p. 490.</ref> [[Taras Shevchenko]], later to become known as the [[List of national poets|national poet]] of [[Ukraine]], was exiled to [[Siberia]] by a direct order of Tsar Nicholas after composing a poem that mocked the Tsar, his wife, and his domestic policies. By order of the Tsar, Shevchenko was kept under strict surveillance and prevented from writing or painting.

From 1839, Tsar Nicholas also used a former [[Byzantine Catholic]] Bishop named [[Joseph Semashko]] as his agent to re-unite Orthodoxy with the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Rite Catholics]] of [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], and [[Lithuania]] with the [[Synod of Polotsk]]. This caused Tsar Nicholas to be condemned by a succession of [[Roman Pontiff]]s, the [[Marquis de Custine]], [[Charles Dickens]],<ref>Charles Dickens, "The true story of the nuns of Minsk", ''[[Household Words]]'', Issue No. 216. Volume IX, pp. 290–295.</ref> and many Western governments. (See also [[Cantonist]]s.)

Nicholas disliked [[serfdom]] and toyed with the idea of abolishing it in Russia, but declined to do so for reasons of state. He feared the aristocracy and believed they might turn against him if he abolished serfdom. However, he did make some efforts to improve the lot of the Crown Serfs (serfs owned by the government) with the help of his minister [[Pavel Kiselyov]]. During most of his reign he tried to increase his control over the landowners and other influential groups in Russia. In 1831, Nicholas restricted the votes in the Noble Assembly to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters.<ref>Richard Pipes, ''Russia under the Old Regime'', p. 179</ref> In 1841, landless nobles were banned from selling [[serfs]] separate from the land.<ref>Geroid Tanquary Robinson, ''Rural Russia under the Old Régime: A History of the Landlord-Peasant World'', p. 37</ref> From 1845, attainment of the 5th highest rank (out of 14) in the [[Table of Ranks]] was required to be ennobled, previously it had been the 8th rank.<ref>Geoffrey Hosking, ''Russia: People and Empire'', p. 155</ref>