“The Tsar and the President” film presented at the Library of Congress

A large-scale view of the Presidential Library’s documentary "The Tsar and the President. Alexander II and Abraham Lincoln. Liberator and Emancipator" took place on April 15 at the Library of Congress. The view was attended by about 150 guests - representatives of public, business and cultural circles of the United States. Presentations were made by the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation of the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation, ex-Congressman, James Symington. The Director General of the Presidential Library, Alexander Vershinin, addressed the audience through videoconferencing.

The film based on a deep understanding of the video tour, filmed in the chambers of the Alexander Palace, which includes a rare American video series, was demonstrated to American politicians, businessmen, members of the cultural community. The film, with a rare complexity of defining global political issues, found its place among the notable works of documentaries of recent times.

However, this film had no intention to shock the audience by the military and social upheavals and various provocative questions. It shows the repartition of the Balkans in the 19th century, during the Crimean War. It makes one feel the stress that accompanied the issue of the liberation of serfs. And across the ocean at the same time, the United States was under a real threat of splitting, which arose due to the upcoming war between the North and the South because of the abolition of slavery. Artistically, this process was clearly described by the film "Gone with the Wind."

Thus, the very political necessity forced the leaders of Russia and the United States - Alexander II and Abraham Lincoln – to enter into close cooperation with each other in solving the most pressing political issues of strategic importance to the world. Thus, Russia had not allowed the Old Europe to intervene in the war between the North and South, and thereby deprive the Americans of the possibility to make their choice, to decide what paradigm to use for building up a new state. Lincoln's unequivocal position on the Crimean War contributed to its termination.

In 1864, the conquest of the Caucasus was completed. According to the Treaty of Aigun, signed with China in 1858, the Amur region was annexed to Russia; and in accordance with the Treaty of Beijing, concluded two years later, Russia received the Ussuri region too. Since then, the settlement of the Amur region rapidly increased, various villages and even cities emerged one after another. In 1864, Russian armies launched a campaign to the Central Asia, which resulted in the annexation of the territory which formed Turkestan and Ferghana region. Russian dominion extended up to the peaks of Tien Shan and the foot of the Himalayan mountain range.

The rapprochement between Russia and America, which began in the middle of the 17th century, intensified even further. For example, during the American Civil War, two Russian squadrons were sent to New York and San Francisco to show the world that Russia was ready to support the American North in case of aggression on the part of European powers. And, of course, we should not forget about the victory of Russia in the war with Turkey, which liberated Serbia, Romania and Montenegro, while Russia got a part of Bessarabia, Ardahan, Kars, and Batum with their districts. By the way, contrary to popular belief, Alexander II was called Liberator not because of the abolition of serfdom, but due to the liberation of the Slavic peoples from the Turkish yoke.

In spite of all the sharpness of the discussed issues, the film of the Presidential Library is beautiful in its stylistic power. More than 200 real exhibits supplied for the filming by both parties, have enabled to create a considered visual background, to make an "effect of presence": after all, the heroes of the movie - Alexander II and Abraham Lincoln - had never met each other, they just corresponded.

The contrast of the events in the first part of the film is defensible. After all, one of the heroes came from the imperial dynasty, the second - from the marginalized strata. Against the background of exquisite interiors and the crowned heads of the royal family, the little angel-like Alexander seems to be "kissed by God." As a teenager, he works out the gallop on the best horses from the royal stables, easily learns foreign languages, masters the basics of governing and jurisprudence.

Abraham Lincoln also became a lawyer, but at what cost! The son of a migrant carpenter, he could rely only on his own mind, he worked as a surveyor, a storekeeper, a lumberjack, a postal employee, even fought with the Indians. To complete his studies in law school, he was forced to deploy an extensive practice and measured kilometers of the state’s land in whipped cowboy boots. Knowledge of life, the ability to talk to people and get to the heart of problems, in fact, made him a president.

Both of them denied slavery with cogency of categorical imperative - not only as lawyers, but also as humanists. Both were well aware that if they did not take the policy in this aspect in their hands now, tomorrow it will take the society in its own hands. "It is better to abolish serfdom from above, than to wait for the time when it will fight for freedom from the bottom," that was the view of Alexander.

The Manifesto on Emancipation of the serfs, signed by the emperor on February 19, 1861 in Moscow, is one of the most important documents in the history of Russia. The manifesto stated: "We have authorized the nobility, by their own request, to make assumptions about the new life arrangement of the peasants: nobles had to restrict their rights to peasants and realize the reduction of their benefits. And our confidence was justified - the nobility voluntarily waived the right to own serfs. With the acquisition of a certain amount of land, serfs are exempt from the obligations toward the landowners regarding the purchased land and thus become free peasant proprietors." In accordance with the manifesto, the peasants were authorized "to trade freely", "to be absent from the place of residence", "to enter the service", "to acquire immovable and movable property."

The uniqueness of this reform was in the fact that, unlike other countries, the liberated peasants received not only personal freedom, but also the land. Landlords were paid for it by the state, which, as a result, had become the creditor of a huge amount of former serfs. Peasants had to settle up with it during 49 years. And it is worth mentioning that over 85% of peasants bought the land out 20 years later. (In 1905, the government canceled the remaining peasant debt).

Lincoln had his own way to liberate America from slaves. At the age of 18 he visited New Orleans, the largest center of the slave-trade in the South. And he was shocked by what he saw. The end of the 1850s was a turning point in the life of Lincoln. Speaking in different parts of the country, Lincoln proved himself a smart and cautious politician. He did not support the demand for the immediate abolition of slavery, and sought in every way to prevent civil war. At a meeting of the Republican Party in Chicago Lincoln was nominated for president. Now, he faced a difficult fight with the Democratic candidates supporting the slaveholders of the South. During the campaign, Lincoln, knowing how to avoid extreme, managed to convince voters, and winning the elections on November 6, 1860, became president of the United States.

However, he could put an end to the slavery only at the cost of war. Lincoln knew and loved his people, and American citizens responded to him with the general support. November 8, 1864, at the next elections, he was elected president for a second term. April 9, 1865, southern troops under the command of General Robert E. Lee, surrendered. The American Civil War ended. But the price of this victory was brutal. April 14, 1865, when the country celebrated the victory, in Washington, at Ford's Theatre, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head. Having committed the crime, the killer, the actor John Booth, a fanatical supporter of the South, jumped on the stage and shouted, "The South is avenged!"

The death of Abraham Lincoln literally shocked the world. An endless stream of people came to the White House to say goodbye to the man who led the country out of crisis, rallying supporters of the country's unity and the abolition of slavery. Assessing the merits of Lincoln, Lev Tolstoy said: "He was the same as Beethoven was in the music, Dante – in the poetry, Raphael – in the painting, Christ - in the philosophy of life."

Alexander II has survived several assassination attempts. The first occurred April 4, 1866, but then Osip Komissarov took gunman’s hand away. In 1867, a Pole Berezovsky made unsuccessful attempt on the life of the tsar during the World Exhibition in Paris. Finally, the seventh and eighth attempts took place on March 1, 1881. At first, Nikolai Rysakov threw a bomb at the royal carriage, but the emperor was not injured. However, when Alexander got out of the carriage and walked over to the wounded, the second terrorist threw a bomb at the feet of the emperor...

Russia sincerely mourned its monarch. Newspapers, published the day after the assassination, wrote: "In the Bose deceased Emperor, directly and boldly took the road of social reforms... In his reign appeared printing, which first discussed the social and political issues; in short, in his reign appeared everything that bears the stamp of the public and of some civil liberties". This was the end of the road to freedom for the tsar and the president.

Demonstration of the film in the Library of Congress was yet another example of cooperation between the two national digital libraries of Russia and the United States, it demonstrated the prospect of new contacts.