"The most faithful and unerring judgment of the public about the chief of gendarmes will be at the time when he is gone," Benckendorff wrote about himself. But he could hardly even imagine how distant this time would be …
The most famous of the gendarmes of Russia was the eldest of four children of the general from infantry, the civil governor of Riga in the years 1796-1799, Christopher Ivanovich Benckendorff and Baroness Anna-Juliana Schelling von Kanstadt. His grandfather Johann-Michael Benckendorff, in Russian Ivan Ivanovich, was the lieutenant general and chief commandant of Revel. With him, who died in the rank of lieutenant-general, the Benckendorffs' approach to the Russian throne is associated. Catherine II, already after the death of Ivan Ivanovich, in memory of 25 years of "blameless service in the Russian army" made him a widow, Sophia Ivanovna, nee Levenshtern, an educator of the great princes - Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich. In this role, she stayed for less than four years, but this period was enough to play a big role in the fate and career of future grandchildren.
Alexander was born on June 23, 1783. (It is believed that this date may also fluctuate between 1781 and 1784. - Approx. Auth.) Thanks to the palace connections of his grandmother and mother, who came to Russia from Denmark in the retinue of the future Empress Maria Feodorovna, his career was arranged immediately. At the age of 15, the young man was enlisted as a non-commissioned officer in the privileged Semenovsky Life Guards regiment. The production of him as a lieutenant also followed very quickly. And it was in this rank that he became the aide-de-camp of Paul I. Moreover, unlike many of his predecessors, who were pretty much worn out around the unpredictable emperor, young Benckendorff did not know such problems.
Although, I must say, the favorable prospects associated with the honorary position of aide-de-camp did not appeal to him. At the risk of causing the highest displeasure, in 1803 he asked for leave to the Caucasus, and this did not even remotely resemble diplomatic voyages to Germany, Greece and the Mediterranean, where the emperor sent young Benckendorff.
The Caucasus, with its grueling and bloody war with the highlanders, was a real test of personal courage and ability to lead people. Benckendorff passed it with dignity. For the horse attack during the storming of the Ganzhi fortress, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anna and St. Vladimir, IV degree. In 1805, together with the "flying detachment" of the Cossacks, which he commanded, Benckendorff defeated the advanced enemy posts at the Gamlyu fortress.
Caucasian battles were replaced by European ones. In the Prussian campaign of 1806-1807 for the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, he was promoted to captain, and then to colonel. This was followed by the Russian-Turkish wars under the command of the ataman M. I. Platov, the hardest battles while crossing the Danube, the capture of Silistria. In 1811, Benckendorf, at the head of two regiments, makes a desperate sortie from the Lovchi fortress to the Ruschuk fortress through enemy territory. This breakthrough brings him "George" IV degree.
In the first weeks of the Napoleonic invasion, Benckendorff commanded the vanguard of the detachment of Baron Vincengorod, on July 27, under his leadership, the detachment made a brilliant attack in the case at Velizh. After the liberation of Moscow from the enemy, Benckendorf was appointed commandant of the ruined capital. During the period of the pursuit of the Napoleonic army, he distinguished himself in many cases, took prisoner three generals and more than 6,000 Napoleonic soldiers. In the campaign of 1813, becoming the head of the so-called "flying" detachments, he first defeated the French at Tempelberg, for which he was awarded "George" III degree, then forced the enemy to surrender Furstenwald. Soon he and the detachment were already in Berlin. For the unparalleled courage shown during the three-day cover of the passage of the Russian troops to Dessau and Roskau, he was awarded a golden saber with diamonds.
Further - a rapid raid into Holland and a complete defeat of the enemy there, then Belgium - his detachment took the cities of Louvain and Mecheln, where 24 guns and 600 British prisoners were repulsed from the French. Then, in 1814, there was Luttich, the battle of Krasnoye, where he commanded all the cavalry of Count Vorontsov. Awards followed one after another - in addition to "George" III and IV degrees, also "Anna" I degree, "Vladimir", several foreign orders. He had three swords for bravery. He ended the war with the rank of major general.
In March 1819 Benckendorff was appointed Chief of Staff of the Guards Corps.
The seemingly impeccable reputation of a warrior for the Fatherland, which put Alexander Khristoforovich among the most outstanding military leaders, did not bring him, however, that glory among fellow citizens that accompanied people who went through the crucible of the Patriotic War. Benckendorff did not manage to be like heroes either during life or after death. His portrait in the famous gallery of heroes of 1812 causes undisguised surprise among many. But he was a brave soldier and an excellent military leader. Although there are many human destinies in history, in which one half of life seems to cancel the other. Benckendorff's life is a prime example of this.
How did it all start? The formal reason for the colleagues to look at Benckendorff from a different angle was a clash with the commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment K. K. Kirch. Concerned about the interest shown by the youth of the Guards in the revolutionary events taking place in Spain, Benckendorff ordered Kirch to prepare a detailed memorandum on "dangerous conversations". He refused, saying that he did not want to be an informer. The Chief of the Guards Staff, in anger, threw him out the door. The officers of the Preobrazhensky regiment found out about what had happened, of course, they condemned Benckendorff's initiative with might and main. There could be no justification for this act, not only was denunciation not honored, but the main thing was that the spirit of free-thinking, brought from overseas campaigns, literally bubbled among people in uniforms, and even more than among civilians.
Several months passed, and the so-called "Semenovskaya story" broke out. Cruelty towards F. E. Schwartz, the commander of Benckendorff's native regiment, angered not only the soldiers, but also the officers. The uprising of the Semyonovsky Life Guards regiment lasted only two days - from October 16 to 18, 1820, but this was enough to bury the government's confidence in the absolute loyalty of not only the guards, but also the majority of the army people.
Emperor Alexander I
Benckendorff was one of the first to understand what the "ferment of minds" could lead to, the reasoning, disputes and plans that were ripening at the heart of close officers' meetings. In September 1821, a note was put on the table to Emperor Alexander I about the secret societies that exist in Russia, and in particular about the "Union of Prosperity." It had an analytical character: the author considered the reasons accompanying the emergence of secret societies, their tasks and goals. Here, the idea was expressed about the need to create a special body in the state that could keep the mood of public opinion under supervision, and, if necessary, suppress illegal activities. But among other things, the author named in it by name those in whose minds the spirit of free thought has settled. And this circumstance made the note related to the denunciation.
A sincere desire to prevent the breakdown of the existing state order and the hope that Alexander would delve into the essence of what he had written did not come true. It is well-known what Alexander said about the members of secret societies: "It is not for me to judge them." It looked noble: the emperor himself, it was the case, freethinking, plotting extremely bold reforms.
But Benckendorff's act was just far from nobleness. On December 1, 1821, the irritated emperor removed Benckendorf from command of the Guards Headquarters, appointing him as commander of the Guards Cuirassier Division. It was a clear disfavor. Benckendorff, in vain attempts to understand what caused it, again wrote to Alexander. It is unlikely that he guessed that the emperor was jarred by this paper and he taught him a lesson. And yet the paper fell under the cloth without a single mark from the king. Benckendorff fell silent …
“Furious waves raged on Palace Square, which with the Neva constituted one huge lake, pouring out from Nevsky Prospekt,” wrote an eyewitness to the terrible November night of 1824. The water in some places in St. Petersburg then rose by 13 feet and 7 inches (that is, more than four meters). Carriages, books, police booths, cradles with babies and coffins with the dead from washed-out graves floated around the city, which had turned into a huge turbulent lake.
Natural disasters have always found both villains in a hurry to take advantage of someone else's misfortune, and desperate brave men who saved others without taking care of themselves.
So, crossing the embankment, when the water was already up to his shoulders, General Benckendorff reached the boat, which was the midshipman of the guards crew, Belyaev. Until 3 am together, they managed to save a huge number of people. Alexander I, who received many testimonies of Benckendorff's courageous behavior in those days, awarded him a diamond snuffbox.
Several months passed, and the emperor was gone. And on December 14, 1925, St. Petersburg exploded with Senate Square. What eventually became perhaps the most sublime and romantic page in Russian history did not seem to the witnesses of that memorable December day. Eyewitnesses write about the city numb with horror, about direct-fire volleys into the dense ranks of the rebels, about those who fell dead face down in the snow, about streams of blood flowing down onto the Neva ice. Then - about the fucked-up soldiers, hanged, officers exiled to the mines. Some people regretted that, they say, "they are terribly far from the people," and therefore the scale was not the same. And then, you see, it would have burst into flames: brother against brother, regiment against regiment … It seemed to Benckendorff that there was an obvious overbearing blunder and a terrible loss to the state, even in the fact that an excellent man, midshipman Belyaev, with whom they scurried on that crazy night like by sea, all over Petersburg, 15 years now to rot in Siberian mines.
But it was precisely those tragic days that marked the beginning of the trust and even friendly affection of the new Emperor Nicholas I and Benckendorff. There is evidence that on the morning of December 14, upon learning of the riot, Nikolai said to Alexander Khristoforovich: "Tonight, perhaps we both will no longer be in the world, but at least we will die, having fulfilled our duty."
Benckendorff saw his duty in protecting the autocrat, and therefore the state. On the day of the riot, he commanded government troops located on Vasilievsky Island. Then he was a member of the Investigative Commission on the case of the Decembrists. Sitting in the Supreme Criminal Court, he repeatedly turned to the emperor with requests to mitigate the fate of the conspirators, while knowing well how much any mention of criminals was taken by Nicholas with hostility.
The cruel lesson taught to the emperor on December 14 was not in vain. By the will of fate, the same day changed the fate of Benckendorff.
Unlike the royal brother, Nicholas I carefully examined the old "note" and found it very useful. After the reprisals against the Decembrists, which cost him many dark minutes, the young emperor did his best to eliminate possible repetitions of this in the future. And, I must say, not in vain. A contemporary of those events N. S. Shchukin wrote about the atmosphere prevailing in Russian society after December 14: “The general mood of minds was against the government, and the sovereign was not spared either. Young people sang abusive songs, rewrote outrageous poems, and scolding the government was considered fashionable conversation. Some preached a constitution, others a republic …"
Benckendorff's project was, in fact, a program for the creation of a political police in Russia. What was to be done? Engage in political investigations, obtaining the necessary information, suppressing the activities of persons who have become opposition to the regime. When the question of what exactly the political commission would be engaged in was decided, another arose - who would be engaged in detecting, collecting information and suppressing illegal actions. Benckendorff answered the tsar - the gendarmes.
In January 1826, Benckendorff presented Nikolai with the "Project on the Arrangement of the Higher Police", in which, by the way, he wrote both about what qualities its chief should have and about the need for his unconditional one-man command.
"In order for the police to be good and to embrace all points of the Empire, it is necessary that it obey a system of strict centralization, that it is feared and respected, and that respect is inspired by the moral qualities of its chief …"
Alexander Khristoforovich explained why it is useful for society to have such an institution: "Villains, intriguers and narrow-minded people, repenting of their mistakes or trying to redeem their guilt by denunciation, will at least know where to turn."
In 1826, more than 4 thousand people served in the gendarme corps. No one was driven here by force, on the contrary, there were much fewer vacancies than those willing: only literate soldiers were selected, officers were accepted only with a good recommendation. However, some doubts overwhelmed those who changed the army uniform for the gendarme one. How will their responsibilities be combined with the noble and officer's notions of honor?
By the way, the well-known L. V. Dubelt, who later made a very successful career in the Gendarme Corps. Despite the fact that, being in retirement "without a place", he lived almost from hand to mouth, the decision to put on a blue uniform was not easy for him. He consulted with his wife for a long time, shared with her doubts about the correctness of his choice: “If I, joining the Gendarme Corps, become an informer, an earpiece, then my good name, of course, will be tarnished. But if, on the contrary, I … will be the support of the poor, the protection of the unfortunate; if I, acting openly, will force to give justice to the oppressed, I will observe that in places of court they give grave cases a direct and just direction - then what will you call me?.. Should I not assume thoroughly that Benckendorff himself, as a virtuous and noble man will not give me instructions that are not characteristic of an honest man?"
The first conclusions and even generalizations soon followed. Benckendorff points out to the emperor the true autocrats of the Russian state - the bureaucrats. “Theft, meanness, misinterpretation of laws - this is their trade,” he informs Nikolai. "Unfortunately, they are the ones who rule …"
Benckendorff and his closest assistant M. Ya. Fock believed: "To suppress the intrigues of the bureaucracy is the most important task of the III Section." I wonder if they were aware of the utter doom of this struggle? Probably yes. For example, Benckendorff reports that a certain official on special assignments, through fraud, "acquired a great benefit." How to deal with it? The emperor replies: "I do not intend to hire dishonest people." And nothing more …
I must say that Benckendorff not only reported, he sought to analyze the actions of the government, to understand what exactly irritates the public. In his opinion, the revolt of the Decembrists was the result of the "deceived expectations" of the people. And therefore, he believed, public opinion must be respected, "it cannot be imposed, it must be followed … You cannot put him in jail, but by pressing him, you can only drive him to bitterness."
In 1838, the chief of the Third Department points out the need to build a railway between Moscow and St. sets.
The year 1828 was the time of the approval of the new censorship charter. Now the literary world, formally remaining under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education, passed into the jurisdiction of the Third Section.
Censors were recruited, and at the same time people are very visible. Among them are F. I. Tyutchev, S. T. Aksakov, P. A. Vyazemsky. What did Mr. Benckendorff charge them with? They had to make sure that the press did not discuss the persons of the imperial family and that the authors avoid such an interpretation of events that could "draw the state into an abyss of misfortunes."
It must be said that the greatest troubles awaited the chief of gendarmes precisely at the moments of contact with the intellectual elite. Everyone was dissatisfied with him: both those who controlled and those who were controlled.
The irritated Vyazemsky, who wrote epigrams against Benckendorff, was reassured by Pushkin: “But since in essence this honest and worthy man, too careless to be vindictive, and too noble to try to harm you, do not allow hostile feelings in yourself and try to talk frankly with him. But Pushkin was extremely rarely mistaken in assessing people. His own attitude to the chief of Section III did not differ in the least from the general, a kind of ironic-benevolent one.
Portrait of A. S. Pushkin, artist O. A. Kiprensky
It is known that Nicholas I volunteered to take over the censorship of the work of Pushkin, whose genius, by the way, was fully aware. For example, after reading Bulgarin's negative review of the poet, the emperor wrote to Benckendorff: “I forgot to tell you, my dear friend, that in today's issue of Northern Bee there is again an unfair and pamphlet article directed against Pushkin: therefore I suggest you call Bulgarin and prohibit he will henceforth publish any kind of criticism of the literary works of Mr. Pushkin."
And nevertheless, in 1826-1829, the Third Department actively carried out secret supervision of the poet. Benckendorff personally investigated a very unpleasant for Pushkin case "about the distribution of" Andrei Chenier "and" Gabrieliada ". The perlustration of private letters, widely introduced into practice by Benckendorff in the 30s, literally infuriated the poet. "The police unseal letters from a husband to his wife and bring them to read to the king (a well-bred and honest man), and the king is not ashamed to confess that …"
These lines were written as if in the expectation that both the tsar and Benckendorff would read them. Difficult service, however, for the mighty of this world, and it is unlikely that the words of a man, whose exclusivity was recognized by both, slipped past, without touching either the heart or the mind.
Alexander Khristoforovich perfectly understood all the negative aspects of his profession. It was no accident that he wrote in his "Notes" that during a serious illness that happened to him in 1837, he was pleasantly amazed that his house "became a meeting place for the most motley society", and most importantly, as he emphasized, "absolutely independent in its position."
Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff
In general, it seems that Benckendorff never indulged in special joy about the power that he had. Apparently, both his natural mind and life experience taught him to class her as a kind of phantom.
Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff died on a steamer taking him from Germany, where he was undergoing long-term treatment, to his homeland. He was over sixty. His wife was waiting for him in Falla, their estate near Reval (now Tallinn). The ship has already brought the deceased. This was the first grave in their cozy estate, although the count's hands never reached the farm.
In his study of the Castle of Falla, he kept a wooden fragment left over from the coffin of Alexander I, set in bronze in the form of a mausoleum. On the wall, in addition to the portraits of the sovereigns, hung the famous watercolor by Kohlman "Riot on Senate Square". The boulevard, generals with plumes, soldiers with white belts on dark uniforms, a monument to Peter the Great in cannon smoke …
Something, apparently, did not let the count go, if he held this picture in front of his eyes. Probably, Alexander Khristoforovich was not a bad person at all. But the trouble is: every time you have to prove it.
The first gendarme regiment, formed from the Gatchina units by the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, appeared in Russia in 1792 and until 1796 served as a military police. Later, already being emperor, Pavel included the Gatchina gendarmes in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. Since 1815, already under Alexander I, the gendarmes, dispersed in small groups throughout the army units, were charged with the duty of "monitoring order on the bivouacs … withdrawing the wounded during battles to dressing points, capturing looters", they also performed informational functions. From February 1817, gendarme units, increasingly acquiring police functions, were used to maintain order in the capital, provincial and port cities. Benckendorff was firsthand familiar with their "activities" - Emperor Alexander I in January 1821 entrusted him with overseeing the mood in the troops, and he, as the then Chief of Staff of the Guards Corps, "took it upon himself to watch." But now that was not enough. It was necessary to deal with the organization of state security. The system created by Benckendorf was not particularly complex, which, in his opinion, practically excluded possible malfunctions in work and ensured maximum efficiency.
Thinking Center - Section 3 with 72 employees. Benckendorff picked them meticulously, according to three main criteria - honesty, intelligence, good thinking.
Employees of the service entrusted to Benckendorff delved into the activities of ministries, departments, committees. The assessment of the functioning of all structures was based on one condition: they should not overshadow the interests of the state. To provide the emperor with a clear picture of what was happening in the empire, Benckendorff, based on numerous reports from his employees, compiled an annual analytical report, likening it to a topographic map, warning where the swamp is and where is completely abyss.
With his characteristic scrupulousness, Alexander Khristoforovich divided Russia into 8 state districts. Each has from 8 to 11 provinces. Each district has its own gendarme general. Each province has a gendarme department. And all these threads converged in an ocher-colored building at the corner of Moika and Gorokhovaya embankments, at the headquarters of the Third Department.
The gendarme corps was conceived as an elite one, providing solid material support. In July 1826, the Third Section was created - an institution designed to carry out secret supervision of society, and Benckendorff was appointed its head. In April 1827, the emperor signed a decree on the organization of the Gendarme Corps with the rights of the army. Benckendorff became his commander.
In his own way, the Chief of Section III was of the utmost integrity. Having realized once the principles of his service to the Fatherland, he no longer betrayed them. As literally all his life he did not change another inclination, which seemed to redeem his both severe military and controversial police craft.
“… I met Alexander Benckendorff,” wrote Nikolai's wife Alexandra Feodorovna in 1819.- I heard a lot about him during the war, even in Berlin and Dobberen; everyone extolled his courage and regretted his careless life, at the same time laughed at her. I was struck by his sedate appearance, which is not at all characteristic of his established reputation as a rake."
Yes, Count Benckendorff was extremely amorous and had a lot of novels, one more exciting than the other and - alas! - faster. Let us repeat after the now forgotten poet Myatlev: "We have not heard of it, but only they say …" was associated not so much with the tour as with the search for Mr. Benckendorff, who had promised to marry her. But what can you not promise in Paris!
As befits a classic ladies' man, Alexander Khristoforovich hastily married at the age of 37. I was sitting in some house. They ask him: "Will you be at Elizaveta Andreyevna's in the evening?" - "Which Elizaveta Andreevna?" Sees astonished faces. "Oh yes! Well, of course I will! " In the evening he is at the requested address. The guests are already sitting on the sofas. This and that. The hostess Elizaveta Andreevna, the widow of General P. G. Bibikov. Then at once his fate was decided …
