Alexander 2 Nikolaevich (born on April 17 (29), 1818 - death on March 1 (13), 1881) - Russian emperor (since 1855), (Romanov dynasty). In Russian history he is known as Alexander II the Liberator.
The eldest son of Nicholas I. Abolished serfdom and carried out a number of reforms: military (making army service compulsory for everyone, but reducing the time of service from 25 to 6 years), judicial, city, zemstvo, (instructing the elected local authorities - "zemstvo" schools, hospitals, etc.)
After the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. moved on to a reactionary internal political course. Repressions against revolutionaries intensified from the late 1870s. During the reign of Alexander II, the annexation of the territories of the Caucasus (1864), Kazakhstan (1865), most of the Wed. Asia (1865-81) A number of assassination attempts were made on the life of Alexander II (1866, 1867, 1879, 1880); killed by the People's Will.
Origin. Upbringing
Alexander 2 Nikolaevich - the eldest son of the first grand-ducal, and since 1825 the imperial couple of Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna (daughter of the King of Prussia Friedrich-Wilhelm III),
Received an excellent education. His main mentor was the Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky. He managed to educate the future sovereign as an enlightened person, a reformer, not deprived of artistic taste.
According to many testimonies, in his youth he was quite impressionable and amorous. While in London in 1839, he fell in love with the young Queen Victoria, who would later become for him the most hated ruler in Europe.
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State activity
1834 - Senator. 1835 - Member of the Holy Synod. 1841 - Member of the State Council, since 1842 - of the Committee of Ministers. Major General (1836), from 1844 a full general, commanded the Guards infantry. 1849 - head of military educational institutions, chairman of the Secret Committees for peasant affairs in 1846 and 1848. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856. with the declaration of the Petersburg province on martial law, he commanded over all the troops of the capital.
Years of government. Reforms 1860-1870
Neither in his youth nor in adulthood did Alexander adhere to any definite concept in his views on Russian history and the tasks of state administration. When he came to the kingdom in 1855, he received a heavy legacy. None of the cardinal issues of the 30-year rule of his father (peasant, eastern, Polish, etc.) were resolved, Russia was defeated in the Crimean War. Not being a reformer by vocation and temperament, the emperor happened to become one in response to the needs of the time as a man of sober mind and good will.
His first important decision was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856. With Alexander's accession to the throne, a "thaw" began in the socio-political life of Russia. 1856, August - on the occasion of his coronation, an amnesty was announced to the Decembrists, Petrashevites, participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, recruitment was suspended for three years. 1857 - military settlements were liquidated.
Realizing the paramount importance of solving the peasant question, for four years (from the establishment of the Secret Committee of 1857 to the adoption of the law on February 19, 1861), he showed unswerving will in an effort to abolish serfdom. Adhering to the years 1857-1858. By the end of 1858, he agreed to the purchase of allotted land by the peasants, that is, to a reform program developed by the liberal bureaucracy, together with like-minded public figures (N. A. Milyutin, Ya. I. Rostovtsev, Yu. F. Samarin, V. A. Cherkassky and others). With his support, the following were adopted: the Zemsky Regulations of 1864 and the City Regulations of 1870, the Judicial Regulations of 1864, the military reforms of the 1860-1870s, the reforms of public education, censorship, corporal punishment was abolished.
The emperor was unable to resist traditional imperial politics. Decisive victories in the Caucasian War were won in the first years of his reign. He yielded to the demands of advancement to Central Asia (in 1865-1881, most of Turkestan became part of the Empire). After prolonged resistance, he decided to go to war with Turkey in 1877-1878. After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. and the attempt on the life of D. V. Karakozov on his life On April 4, 1866, the sovereign made concessions to the protective course, which were expressed in the appointment of D. A. to the highest government posts. Tolstoy, F. F. Trepova, P. A. Shuvalov.
Reforms continued, but rather sluggish and inconsistent, almost all reform leaders, with rare exceptions, were dismissed. Towards the end of his reign, the emperor was inclined to introduce limited public representation in Russia at the State Council.
Assassination attempts. Death
The life of Alexander II was attempted several times: D. V. Karakozov, Polish emigrant A. Berezovsky on May 25, 1867 in Paris, A. K. Soloviev on April 2, 1879 in St. Petersburg. 1879, August 26 - the executive committee of “Narodnaya Volya” made a decision to assassinate the emperor (an attempt to blow up the emperor's train near Moscow on November 19, 1879, an explosion in the Winter Palace, which was made by SN Khalturin on February 5, 1880)
The Supreme Administrative Commission was created to protect state order and fight against the revolutionary movement. However, this could not prevent his violent death. 1881, March 1 - the Tsar was mortally wounded on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg by a bomb that was thrown by I. I. Grinevitsky. He was killed on the very day when he decided to launch the constitutional project of M. T. Loris-Melikova, telling his sons Alexander (the future emperor) and Vladimir: "I do not hide from myself that we are following the path of the constitution." Great reforms remained unfinished.
Personal life
Men from the Romanov dynasty did not differ in marital fidelity at all, but Alexander Nikolayevich stood out even among them, constantly changing favorites.
The first time he was married (since 1841) to the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria (in Orthodoxy Maria Alexandrovna, 1824-1880) Children from the first marriage sons: Nicholas, Alexander III, Vladimir, Alexey, Sergey, Pavel; daughters: Alexandra, Maria.
At the end of the 1870s. an amazing picture emerged: the sovereign lived in two families, not particularly trying to hide this fact. Of course, the subjects were not informed about this, but members of the royal family, high-ranking dignitaries, courtiers knew this very well. Moreover, the emperor even settled the favorite Ekaterina Dolgorukova with her children in the Winter Palace, in separate chambers, but next to his lawful wife and children.
After the death of his wife, without waiting for the expiration of a year's mourning, Alexander II entered into (since 1880) a morganatic marriage with Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruka (Princess Yuryevskaya), with whom he had a relationship since 1866, from this marriage there were four children. From his personal funds, he donated 1 million rubles in 1880 for the construction of a hospital in memory of the late empress.
Alaska Sale
What has always been blamed on Alexander Nikolaevich is the sale of Alaska to America. The main claims boiled down to the fact that a rich region that brought furs to Russia, and with more careful research could become a gold mine, was sold to the United States for some 11 million tsarist rubles. The truth is that after the Crimean War, Russia simply did not have the resources to develop such a distant region, moreover, the Far East was a priority.
In addition, even during the reign of Nicholas, Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky presented the emperor with a report on the necessary strengthening of ties with the United States, which sooner or later will raise the question of expanding their influence in this region, which was strategically important for America.
The emperor returned to this issue only when the state needed money for reforms. Alexander 2 had a choice - either to solve the pressing problems of people and the state, or to dream of the distant prospect of the possible development of Alaska. The choice turned out to be on the side of pressing problems. 1867, March 30 - at four o'clock in the morning, Alaska became the property of America.