Online Encyclopedia

Gatchina. Arakcheev speedily won the entire confidence of Paul by his scrupulous zeal and undeniable technical ability. His inexorable discipline (magnified into See also:

CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty by later legends) soon made the Gatchina corps a See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model for the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of the Russian army. On the See also:

ACCESSION (from Lat. accedere, to go to, to approach)

accession of Paul to the See also:

THRONE

throne Arakcheev was promptly summoned to St See also:

PETERSBURG

Petersburg, appointed military commandant in the See also:

capital, and See also:

major-See also:

general in the See also:

GRENADIER

grenadier See also:

BATTALION

battalion of the Preobrazhenskoe Guard. On the 12th of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1796, he received the ribbon of St See also:

Anne and a See also:

rich See also:

ESTATE (through O. Fr. estat, mod. flat, from Lat. status, state, condition, position, stare, to stand)

estate at Gruzina in the See also:

government of Novgorod, the only substantial See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift ever accepted by him during the whole of his career. At the See also:

CORONATION (Lat. corona, crown)

coronation (5th of See also:

APRIL

April 1797) Paul created him a See also:

baron, and he was, subsequently made quartermaster-general and See also:

COLONEL (derived either from Lat. column, Fr. colonne, column, or Lat. corona, a crown)

colonel of the whole Preobrazhenskoe Guard. It was to Arakcheev that Paul entrusted the reorganization of the army, which during the latter days of See also:

Catherine had fallen into a See also:

state of disorder and demoralization.

Arakcheev remorselessly applied the See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron Gatchina discipline to the whole of the imperial forces, beginning with the See also:

GUARDS, AND HOUSEHOLD TROOPS

Guards. He soon became generally detested by the army, but pursued his course unflinchingly and introduced many indispensable hygienic reforms. " Clean See also:

barracks are healthy barracks," was his See also:

MOTTO (an Italian word, from Late Lat. muttum, a low sound, a mutter or murmur, cf. mutere, to mutter; the Latin word also gives Fr. mot, word)

motto. Nevertheless, the opposition of the See also:

OFFICERS

officers proved too strong for him, and on the 18th of See also:

March 1798 he was dismissed from all his appointments. Arakcheev's first disgrace only lasted six months. On the r th of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August he was received back into favour, speedily reinstated in all his former offices, and on the 5th of May 1799 was created a count, the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor himself selecting the motto: " Devoted, not servile." Five months later he was again in disgrace, the emperor dismissing him on the strength of a denunciation subsequently proved to be false. It was a fatal step on Paul's See also:

PART

part, for everything goes to prove that he would never have been assassinated had Arakcheev continued by his See also:

side. During the earlier years of See also:

Alexander, Arakcheev was completely overlooked. Only on the 27th of April 1803, was the count recalled to St Petersburg, and employed as inspector-general of the artillery. His See also:

wise and thorough reorganization of the whole department contributed essentially to the victories of the Russians during the See also:

NAPOLEONIC

Napoleonic See also:

WARS

wars. All critics agree, indeed, that the Arakcheev See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration was the See also:

GOLDEN

golden era of the Russian artillery. The activity of the inexhaustible inspector knew no See also:

BOUNDS, BEATING THE

bounds, and he neglected nothing which could possibly improve this See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm.

His See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal reforms were the subdivision of the artillery divisions into See also:

SEPARATE

separate See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent See also:

units, the formation of artillery brigades, the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of a See also:

COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee of instruction (18o8), and the See also:

PUBLISHING

publishing of an Artillery See also:

Journal. At See also:

AUSTERLITZ (Czech Slavkov)

Austerlitz he had the See also:

SATISFACTION (Lat. salisfacerc, to satisfy)

satisfaction of witnessing the actual results of his artillery reforms. The See also:

COMMISSARIAT

commissariat scandals which came to See also:

LIGHT

light after the See also:

peace of See also:

TILSIT

Tilsit convinced the emperor that nothing See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short of the stern and incorruptible See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy of Arakcheev could reach the See also:

SOURCES

sources of the evil, and in See also:

JANUARY

January 1808 he was appointed inspector-general and See also:

war See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister. When, on the outbreak of the See also:

SWEDISH

Swedish war of 1809, the emperor ordered the army to take See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage of an unusually severe See also:

frost and See also:

CROSS

cross the See also:

ICE (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Eis)

ice of the Gulf of See also:

FINLAND (Finnish, Suomi or Suomenmaa)

Finland, it was only the presence of Arakcheev that compelled an unwilling general and a semi-mutinous army to begin a See also:

CAMPAIGN

campaign which ended in the See also:

CONQUEST

conquest of Finland. On the institution of the "Imperial See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

Council" (1st of January 1810), Arakcheev was made a member of the council of ministers and a senator, while still retaining the war See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office. Subsequently Alexander was alienated from him owing to the intrigues of the count's enemies, who hated him for his severity and regarded him as a dangerous reactionary. The See also:

ALIENATION (from Lat. alienus, belonging to another)

alienation was not, however, for See also:

long. It is true, Arakcheev took no active part in the war of 1812, but all the See also:

correspondence and despatches See also:

RELATING

relating to it passed through his hands, and he was the emperor's inseparable See also:

COMPANION (through the O. Fr. compaignon or compagnon, from the Late Lat. companio,—cum, with, and panis, bread,—one who shares meals with another; the word has been wrongly derived from the Late Lat. compagnus, one of the same pages or district)

companion during the whole course of it. At See also:

Paris (31st of March 1814) Alexander, with his own See also:

hand, wrote the See also:

UKAZ, or UKASE (Russ., from ukazat, a shortened form of ukazlivat, to show, announce, prescribe)

ukaz appointing him a See also:

field-See also:

MARSHAL (med. Lat. marescalcus, from O.H.Ger. marah, horse, and scalc, servant)

marshal, but he refused the dignity, accepting, instead, a See also:

MINIATURE

miniature portrait of his See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master. From this See also:

time Alexander's confidence in Arakcheev steadily increased, and the emperor imparted to him, first of all, his many projects of reform, especially his project of military colonies, the carrying out of the details of which was committed to Arakcheev (1824). The failure of the See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme was due not to any See also:

FAULT (Mid. Eng. faute, through the French, from the popular Latin use of fallere, to fail; the originallof the Latin being replaced in English in the 15th century)

fault of the count, but to the inefficiency and insubordination of the See also:

DISTRICT

district officers. In Alexander's last years Arakcheev was not merely his See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief counsellor, but his dearest friend, to whom he submitted all his projects for See also:

CONSIDERATION (from Lat. considerare, to look at closely, examine, generally taken to be from con-, and the base seen in sidus, sideris, a star, the word being supposed to be originally an astrological or astronomical term)

consideration and revision.

The most interesting of these projects was the See also:

plan for the emancipation of the peasantry (1818). On the accession of See also:

Nicholas I., Arakcheev, thoroughly broken in See also:

HEALTH

health, gradually restricted his immense See also:

SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere of activity, and on the 26th of April 1826, resigned all his offices and retired to See also:

CARLSBAD

Carlsbad. The 50,000 roubles presented to him by the emperor as a parting gift he at once handed to the See also:

PAVLOVSK

Pavlovsk See also:

INSTITUTE (from Lat. instituere, to establish or set up)

Institute for the See also:

EDUCATION

education of the daughters of poor gentlemen. His last days he spent on his estate at Gruzina, carefully See also:

COLLECTING

collecting all his memorials of Alexander, whose memory he most piously cherished. He also set aside 25,000 roubles for the author of the best See also:

BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography of his imperial friend. Arakcheev died on the 21st of April 1834, with his eyes fixed to the last on the See also:

LATE

late emperor's portrait. " I have now done every-thing," he said, " so I can go and make my See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report to the emperor Alexander." In 1806 he had married Natalia Khomutova, but they lived apart, and he had no See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children by her. See Vasily Ratch, Memorials of Count Arakcheev (Rus.) (St See also:

Peters-See also:

BURG

burg, 1864) ; Mikhail Ivanovich Semevsky, Count Arakcheev and the Military Colonies (Rus.) (St Petersburg, 1871); Theodor Schiemann, Gesch. Russland's unter Kaiser Nikolaus I., vol. i., Alexander I., &c. (See also:

Berlin, 1904). (R. N.

End of Article: ARAKCHEEV, ALEKSYEI ANDREEVICH, COUNT (1769-1834)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ARAKAN

[next]
ARAL