Formation of the posthumous image of Alexander III on the pages of “Russkoe obozrenie” journal

The article is devoted to the analysis of the process of formation of the posthumous idealized image of Emperor Alexander III in the conservative journal “Russkoe Obozrenie” (“Russian Review”) in 1894-1898. The aim of the study is to identify the persons who formed this image and typical recurring features in the description of the personality and activities of the late monarch. Attention is paid to political articles as well as reviews of reviews of the Russian and foreign press and also to poems about Alexander III. The role of essays on his travels in his youth is considered separately. It is shown that the editor of the “Russkoe Obozrenie” Anatoly Aleksandrov purposefully selected the most powerful materials about Alexander III both immediately after his death and on its first and second anniversaries. Leading publicists of the journal, Lev Tikhomirov and Vladimir Gringmut, in their articles about Alexander III, noting his high moral qualities, made the main emphasis on his program of rejection of liberalism and the European path of development, on the turn to the uniqueness of Russia and the establishment of autocracy as the best form of government, suitable even for Europe. Conservative thinkers were inherent in comparing Alexander III with Emperor Constantine, Charlemagne, and even Jesus Christ. Over the course of several years, mythologized images of Alexander III and at the same time Mikhail Katkov were created, that is reflected in Russian conservative thought up to the present day.