Alexander II of Russia
On the 13th of March 1881, a bomb exploded on the Catherine Canal in Saint Petersburg. The blast shattered the legs of Emperor Alexander II and tore open his stomach. This violent end marked the conclusion of a reign that began with hope for radical change. Before he became emperor, Alexander Nikolayevich was known as Tsesarevich. His father Nicholas I ruled with an iron fist from 1825 until his death in 1855. Young Alexander grew up under strict censorship where freedom of thought was suppressed vigorously. Vasily Zhukovsky served as his tutor and introduced him to modern European languages. In 1837, the future tsar took a six-month tour across twenty provinces of Russia. He visited Siberia and befriended the exiled poet Alexander Herzen. That friendship later influenced his decision to abolish serfdom. By 1855, at age thirty-seven, few imagined this man would implement the most challenging reforms since Peter the Great.
The Emancipation Manifesto appeared on the 3rd of March 1861 after six years of deliberation. More than 23 million people received their liberty through this edict. Serfs gained full rights including marriage without consent and ownership of property. Architects of the reform included Alexander's brother Konstantin and Yakov Rostovtsev. A new judicial administration arrived in 1864 based on the French model. Judges were appointed for life and trials occurred in open court. Jury systems replaced secret proceedings while justices of the peace handled minor offenses locally. Corporal punishment and branding of soldiers ended within the military ranks. Universal conscription began on the 1st of January 1874 for all social classes. Prior to that date, only peasants faced compulsory service which lasted twenty-five years. The Russian Empire also built strategic railways to develop natural resources and increase defense power. Limited liability companies emerged as industry and commerce gained new freedoms under these laws.
In 1863, the Russian Navy wintered its fleets in New York Harbor and San Francisco Bay. This move supported the Union during the American Civil War against Great Britain. Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million. The sale aimed to prevent British Columbia from falling into enemy hands during future conflicts. Diplomatic relations shifted after Napoleon III fell in 1870. France abandoned opposition to Russia following the Franco-Prussian War. Alexander II joined Germany and Austria-Hungary in the League of the Three Emperors in 1873. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877, 1878 resulted in independence for Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. Southern Bessarabia was taken back by Russia after being lost in 1856. These foreign policy decisions balanced pacifism with continued expansion into Central Asia and the Far East.
A policy memorandum dated 1857 outlined a plan by Dmitri Milyutin regarding northwestern highlanders. Milyutin argued that eliminating Circassians was an end in itself rather than clearing land for farmers. Tsar Alexander II formally approved this resettlement plan which would be realized in the early 1860s. The goal stated in his memoirs was to cleanse the mountain zone of its indigenous population. A large deportation operation launched before the war ended in 1864 and mostly completed by 1867. Only a small percentage accepted surrender and resettlement within the Russian Empire. Remaining populations were dispersed, resettled, or killed en masse. Entire Circassian tribal groups faced these fates as part of state-sanctioned expulsion. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 disappointed him but he abided by the agreement despite losing influence in Italy and German-speaking lands.
On the 20th of April 1879, Alexander walked toward the Square of the Guards Staff. He saw a revolver held by thirty-three-year-old former student Alexander Soloviev. The emperor fled in a zigzag pattern while Soloviev fired five times without hitting his target. Another attempt occurred on the 5th of February 1880 when Stephan Khalturin set off a timed charge under the Winter Palace dining room. Eleven people died and thirty others were wounded though the tsar remained unharmed due to a delayed dinner. On the 13th of March 1881, Nikolai Rysakov threw a bomb that damaged the bulletproof carriage gifted by Napoleon III. Ignacy Hryniewiecki then threw another explosive at the emperor's feet shouting It is too early to thank God. Alexander bled to death with broken legs and a ripped stomach before dying at three-thirty that afternoon. His son Alexander III later abandoned the constitutional reforms approved just days prior.
In 1865, Tsesarevich Nicholas died of cerebrospinal meningitis at age twenty-one. Alexander was devastated as his shoulders bent and he walked slowly thereafter. Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna had died earlier from infant meningitis in 1849. Empress Maria Alexandrovna suffered from tuberculosis until her death on the 3rd of June 1880. In 1866, Alexander took a mistress named Catherine Dolgorukova who bore him three surviving children. They moved into the Winter Palace in 1880 causing alienation among most of his children except Alexei and Marie Alexandrovna. A secret morganatic marriage occurred after forty days of mourning were violated. Catherine received the title Princess Yurievskaya while their four existing children were legitimized. Prince George Alexandrovich Yuryevsky married Countess Alexandra von Zarnekau in 1900. Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yurievskaya wed Count Georg of Merenberg in 1895. Boris Alexandrovich Yurievsky lived only from February to April 1876. Catherine Alexandrovna Yurievskaya married Prince Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky in 1901.
The assassination triggered major suppression of civil liberties across Russia within months. Police brutality returned with full force under successors Alexander III and Nicholas II. The Okhrana secret police service arrested protestors and uprooted suspected rebel groups. Anti-Jewish pogroms and May Laws followed as outcomes of the tsar's death. An Alexander Church completed in Tampere in 1881 honored his memory. Construction began on the Church of the Savior on Blood at the assassination site in 1883. In Finland, he remains known as The Good Tsar due to reforms increasing autonomy. A monument erected in Sofia in 1907 reads To the Tsar-Liberator from grateful Bulgaria. Jules Verne portrayed him positively in Michael Strogoff published in 1876. Mark Twain described him as very tall and spare yet kind and affectionate during a visit recorded in The Innocents Abroad.
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Common questions
When did Emperor Alexander II of Russia die?
Emperor Alexander II of Russia died on the 13th of March 1881. He bled to death with broken legs and a ripped stomach after throwing bombs at his feet by Ignacy Hryniewiecki.
What major reforms did Alexander II of Russia implement during his reign?
Alexander II of Russia implemented the Emancipation Manifesto which appeared on the 3rd of March 1861 to free more than 23 million people from serfdom. He also introduced universal conscription starting on the 1st of January 1874 for all social classes and established a new judicial administration in 1864 based on the French model.
How did Alexander II of Russia handle foreign policy regarding the American Civil War?
The Russian Navy wintered its fleets in New York Harbor and San Francisco Bay in 1863 to support the Union against Great Britain. This strategic move aimed to prevent British Columbia from falling into enemy hands during future conflicts while Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million.
Why was the Circassian population targeted under Alexander II of Russia?
A policy memorandum dated 1857 outlined a plan by Dmitri Milyutin arguing that eliminating Circassians was an end in itself rather than clearing land for farmers. Tsar Alexander II formally approved this resettlement plan which resulted in a large deportation operation mostly completed by 1867 where remaining populations were dispersed or killed en masse.
Who assassinated Emperor Alexander II of Russia and how many attempts occurred before his death?
Nikolai Rysakov threw a bomb at the emperor's feet on the 13th of March 1881 after Ignacy Hryniewiecki threw another explosive. Two prior assassination attempts occurred including one on the 20th of April 1879 by Alexander Soloviev and another on the 5th of February 1880 when Stephan Khalturin set off a timed charge under the Winter Palace dining room.