Editing Nicholas I of Russia (section)

== Treatment of Jews ==
In 1851 the Jewish population numbered at 2.4 million, including 212,000 in [[Congress Poland|Russian-controlled Poland]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gartner|first=Lloyd P.|title=History of the Jews in Modern Times|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1978|location=Tel-Aviv University|page=164}}</ref> This made them one of the largest ''[[inorodtsy]]'' (non-Slavic) minorities in the Russian Empire.

On 26 August 1827 the edict of military conscription (''Ustav rekrutskoi povinnosti'') was introduced, which required Jewish boys to serve in the Russian military for 25 years from the age of 18. Before that many of them were forcibly conscripted into [[Cantonist]] schools from the age of 12, while being a Cantonist did not count into the time of military service.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Gartner|first=Lloyd P.|title=History of Jews in Modern Times|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1979|location=Tel-Aviv University|page=168}}</ref> They were sent far away from their families to serve in the military so that they would have difficulty practising [[Judaism]] and become [[Russification|Russified]], and sometimes compelled to convert to [[Christianity]]. The poorer village Jews, those without families, and unmarried Jews were especially targeted for military service.<ref name=":0" /> Between 1827 and 1854 it is estimated that there were 70,000 Jews conscripted. {{fact|date=April 2025}}

Under Nicholas I, the [[Jewish agricultural colonisation of Ukraine]] continued with the transfer of Siberian Jews to Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gartner|first=Lloyd P.|title=History of Jews in Modern Times|publisher=Oxford University press|year=1978|location=Tel-Aviv University|page=171}}</ref> In Ukraine, Jews were offered the opportunity to buy land, which left very little to support their families. On the other hand, these Jews were exempt from forced military conscription.{{fact|date=April 2025}}

Under Nicholas I there were attempts to reform the education of Jews with the object of [[Russification]]. Study of the [[Talmud]] was disfavored. Nicholas I further toughened censorship of Jewish books in [[Yiddish]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] by allowing these to be printed only in [[Zhitomir]] and [[Vilna]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gartner|first=Lloyd P.|title=History of Jews in Modern Times|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1978|location=Tel-Aviv University|page=170}}</ref>