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| Czar Alexander II (seated on the left) and his family. The future Czar Nicholas II is on the lap of his mother, the future Czarina Maria Feodorovna. Image: Wikimedia |
Alexander II (1818-1881) ruled Russia as its
Czar from 1855 to 1881. He was born in Moscow on April 17, 1818, the eldest son
of Emperor Nicholas I. He received the traditional education for an heir
apparent, which included studies in the humanities, history, statecraft, and
military science. In 1841 he married the German princess, Princess Marie of
Hesse-Darmstadt, who became known as Empress Maria Alexandrovna. She bore him
six sons and two daughters. Alexander was gentle, humane and sentimental. But
because he lacked deep convictions or determination, all his official acts were
characterized by hesitation and vacillation.
Alexander ascended the throne on
Feb. 18, 1855, during the Crimean War, on the death of his father. Conservative
and instinctively sympathetic to the authoritarian, bureaucratic system
perfected by his father, Alexander was nonetheless shaken by Russia’s
disastrous performance in the Crimean War, which revealed the need to reform
the administration, stimulate the Russian economy, and end the system of
bondage in which three quarters of the Russian people lived. The “Era of Great
Reforms” began on Feb. 19, 1861, with the abolition of serfdom, the act that
won for Alexander the epithet “Czar Liberator.” This reform was rapidly followed
by the changes in the system of governmental finances, issuance of a charter
granting a measure of academic freedom to universities, reorganization of the
judicial administration, and introduction of local self-government for rural
districts and cities. A relatively democratic system of universal conscription
and military training was introduced.
The reforms failed to produce the
rapid modernization of Russian economy and governmental structure for which
many had hoped. The disappointed peasants and radical intellectuals triggered widespread
social unrest and eventually were followed by Alexander’s disenchantment with
the role of reformer.
The military and diplomatic
defeats inflicted on Russia by the Western powers in connection with the
Crimean War led Alexander to seek compensation in Asia, the Caucasus and the
Balkans. Southern Besarabia was returned and Kars and Ardahan were added to
Russia by the treaty that concluded the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878.
On March 1, 1881, the day on
which he was to grant modest political concessions, Alexander was assassinated
by a bomb thrown by members of a revolutionary terroristic organization. His
heir at once canceled the concessions.
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