Alexander the second. Historical figures: “Alexander II Alexander 2 and his time

The reign of Alexander II became a period that is often called the “era of reforms” that destroyed feudal remnants, a time of radical transformations of Russian society. Unlike his father, he was prepared to govern the state. The emperor received a good education, and his teachers were V. Zhukovsky, M. Speransky, E. Kankrin, who noted in the heir such qualities as goodwill, sociability, ability for science, but on the other hand, a tendency to retreat in the face of difficulties. Alexander II became emperor at the age of 36, with a well-established system of views and experience in government activities. Having ascended the throne, the emperor was forced to take the path of reform.

Prerequisites for reforms

The prerequisites for the reforms were the constant threat of peasant revolts and the political and economic crisis. The defeat in the Crimean War not only reduced Russia's international authority to the limit, but also showed the need for reforms in the financial, military, medical, and educational spheres. Another prerequisite was public dissatisfaction with the Nikolaev police regime and the constant threat of social protests. A situation favorable for reforms developed in the country - the emperor was supported by supporters of reforms (P. Valuev, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, D. Milyutin, etc.); the liberals and the revolutionary movement were disorganized and were unable to propose an alternative plan for reform; opponents of reforms after the defeat in the Crimean War did not dare to oppose the reforms. Therefore, in 1856, Alexander II made a famous speech to the Moscow nobility, in which he stated that “it is better to abolish serfdom from above, rather than wait for the time when it begins to be abolished from below.”

Abolition of serfdom

The most important event of the reign of Alexander II, for which he received the name “Liberator,” was the reform of 1861, which abolished serfdom. Preparations for the abolition of serfdom began in January 1857 with the creation of another Secret Committee, completely subordinate to the emperor. By November, a rescript had been drawn up, announcing the beginning of the abolition of serfdom and ordering the creation of noble committees in each province to develop proposals. This served as the beginning of extensive discussions of the peasant issue in the press. In February 1858, the Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs, which began to consider projects drawn up by provincial noble committees. During the discussions, a project was developed according to which peasants would be given freedom, but without being allocated land. This caused an intensification of the peasant movement in 1858. The government decided to revise the project for the liberation of the peasants and carry out the reform more radically. In order to rework the project, in February 1859, Editorial Commissions were established in St. Petersburg, which included mainly liberals, under the leadership of N. Milyutin. By the autumn of 1859 they had drawn up a draft “Regulations on Peasants”. On February 19, 1861, a reform was carried out that abolished serfdom. Alexander II signed the “Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom,” according to which peasants were freed from personal dependence. The peasant reform consisted of several parts: the ownership of landowners over peasants was abolished, who could now go to work in the city or be hired by the landowner to work. The landowner lost the right to punish peasants, they became legal entities, that is, they could buy land, real estate, enter into transactions, and open enterprises. However, the peasants remained attached to their place of residence, were bound by a mutual guarantee in paying taxes, and bore duties in kind.

In addition, peasants received arable plots according to a rather complex scheme, which also significantly limited their movement. Within two years, statutory charters had to be drawn up - agreements between landowners and peasants, stipulating the terms of the redemption. After this, for 49 years, the peasants became “temporarily obligated” and had to pay the landowner a ransom. Only after this the plots became the property of the peasants. The amount of redemption payments was determined by the size of the peasant quitrent, i.e., it was not the personal dependence of the peasants and not the land that was redeemed, but the duties. This amount, deposited in the bank at 6% per annum, was supposed to bring the landowner an annual income in the amount of labor payments. The state acted as an intermediary between the peasant and the landowner; it paid the landowner, when concluding a redemption transaction, about 75% of the redemption amount. Peasants were required to annually contribute 6% of this amount to the state for 49 years. Household people were declared free without ransom, but for two years they had to serve their masters or pay quitrent. Serf workers of landowner and state-owned factories and factories were transferred to quitrent and received the right to buy out their former plots. State peasants (except for Siberia and the Far East), who were considered personally free, according to the “Regulations”, retained the lands that were in their use. They could continue to pay the quitrent tax to the state or enter into a redemption deal with the treasury. The “Regulation” divided the provinces into three parts (black earth, non-black earth and steppe lands). Within the provinces, localities were allocated, which were divided into plots between landowners - land owners and their peasants. The distribution norms were established so that the landowner could choose the best plots for his share, including wedging his lands into the middle of the peasant fields. This led to the emergence of "stripes". The peasants' reactions to the reform varied. For example, in the Kazan province, unrest began due to the spread of rumors that the tsar gave land to the peasants for free, and the ransom was “invented” by the landowners. More than 300 people were killed during the suppression of these unrest. In 1861, more than 1,370 performances were recorded, but later the wave of performances began to decline. In general, the liberation of the peasants was a progressive step that destroyed the feudal relic of serfdom, which led to cash injections into agriculture, undermined the “natural” way of farming, and contributed to the development of capitalism.

Reforms of the 60s XIX century

Carrying out the peasant reform required changes in other areas of life. Finance reform. In 1860, the State Bank was created to carry out redemption payments between landowners and peasants. In 1862, the Ministry of Finance became the sole manager of public funds, which independently planned the state budget and, together with the State Council, approved the estimates of individual departments. To control funds, State Control was reformed in 1864, which was now independent of the administration and verified the correctness of spending budget funds. In the provinces, control chambers were established that checked financial statements based on primary documents, and not final reports, as before. Direct taxes were partially replaced by indirect ones.

Local government reform (zemstvo reform).

On January 1, 1864, zemstvos (all-estate bodies in counties and provinces) were established, whose competence included: local economy, distribution of state taxes, organization of schools, hospitals, shelters, maintenance of prisons and communications. Within the zemstvo there were administrative and executive sectors. Administrative bodies - “meetings of vowels” (deputies) - dealt with economic issues and met once a year. Executive bodies - “zemstvo councils” - were engaged in the execution of decisions of the administrative sector. Funding for the implementation of the regulations was mixed: 80% of the funds came from the state, the rest from local taxes (self-financing). Elections to zemstvo administrative bodies were held on the basis of property qualifications, by curiae. The first curia - deputies from landowners - consisted of owners of land (from 200 to 800 dessiatines) or real estate (worth from 15 thousand rubles). The second curia - deputies from cities - united owners of industrial and commercial establishments (annual turnover of at least 6 thousand). rub.). Elections for the third curia of deputies from peasants are unlicensed, but multi-stage. Zemstvos were elected for three years. The chairman of the zemstvo assembly was to be the leader of the nobility. At the end of the 70s. zemstvos were introduced only in 35 of the 59 Russian provinces. Subsequently, throughout 1870-1880. the competence of zemstvos was gradually curtailed, and the composition became more and more noble. But, despite many shortcomings, the work of zemstvos contributed to the formation of civic consciousness and the solution of some local problems of education and health care. Urban reform began to be developed in 1861. Its project, presented in 1864, was discussed and redone for a long time. On June 16, 1870, the “City Regulations” were approved, according to which a City Duma (legislative body) and a City Government (executive body) were created in cities under the chairmanship of the mayor. The functions of city government were to take care of the improvement of the city, the guardianship of trade, the establishment of hospitals, schools and city taxation. Elections to the City Duma were held in three electoral assemblies based on property qualifications. The first electoral assembly included only large taxpayers, who contributed a third of city taxes, the second - smaller ones, who paid the other third, and the third - all the rest. Each assembly elected representatives to the City Duma. City councils were under the control of government officials. The mayor (elected by the City Duma for 4 years) was approved by the governor or the Minister of Internal Affairs, they could also suspend the decisions of the City Duma.

Judicial reform. On November 20, 1864, judicial reform was carried out. It included the creation of new judicial statutes that introduced common judicial institutions for persons of all classes, with a general procedure for legal proceedings, openness and competitiveness of legal proceedings, equal responsibility of all classes before the law, and independence of the court from the administration. The country was divided into 108 judicial districts. The new structure of the court included: a magistrate's court, where criminal and civil cases were heard, the damage for which did not exceed 500 rubles. Justices of the peace were elected by district zemstvo assemblies and approved by the Senate; District Court, where serious civil suits and criminal cases were tried by jury. The Senate was the highest court and appellate authority. The preliminary investigation was conducted by bailiffs. The legal profession was introduced. This system was supplemented by volost courts for peasants, consistories for the clergy, courts for the military, high officials, etc. The most important political crimes were under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Criminal Court, which was appointed by the emperor in exceptional cases. In 1863, a law was passed abolishing corporal punishment by court sentences. Women were completely exempt from corporal punishment. However, rods were preserved for peasants (according to verdicts of volost courts), for exiles, convicts and penal soldiers. Education and press reform was carried out in 1863-1865. In 1863, a new university charter was issued, which provided universities with broad freedom and self-government. In the summer of 1864, the “Charter of Gymnasiums and Pro-Gymnasiums” was introduced. The reform of public education proclaimed the principle of general and all-class education. In 1865, according to the press reform, censorship was significantly relaxed, and society was given the right to discuss political events. Military reform began in 1857 with the liquidation of the system of military settlements and the reduction of the service life of lower ranks (from 25 to 10 years). In the 60s The management of the fleet and naval educational institutions was reorganized, and over the course of 12 years, reforms were carried out in the army. In 1862, the reform of military administration began. The country was divided into 15 military districts for the purpose of more efficient command and control of troops. The War Ministry and the General Staff were reorganized. In 1864-1867 the size of the army decreased from 1132 thousand people. up to 742 thousand while maintaining military potential. In 1865, military-judicial reform began. In the 60s For the rapid transfer of troops, a railway was built to the western and southern borders of Russia, and in 1870, railway troops were created. New regulations have appeared in the army. During the reform of military educational institutions, military gymnasiums and cadet schools were organized for all classes with a two-year period of study. Officer training was improved. On January 1, 1874, the “Charter on Military Service” was published, according to which, instead of conscription, universal military service was introduced. Upon reaching the age of 21, all males were required to perform active service. All this made it possible to create a fairly strong, trained army. Further reform activities were interrupted on March 1, 1881 by the assassination of Alexander II as a result of a terrorist attack.

Of the year. The mentor of Alexander II was the Russian poet V.A. Zhukovsky, teacher - K.K. Merder, one of the teachers of the law is the famous Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky.

Changing the foundations of agrarian relations in Russia, the Peasant Reform was complex. Having granted the peasants personal freedom, personal land allotments and the opportunity to purchase land from landowners, she at the same time retained most of the land in the ownership of the nobility. The reform also preserved the peasant community as a traditional form of peasant self-government in Russia, although it legalized the free exit of peasants from it. Having changed the entire way of rural life, the reform significantly influenced the development of cities, accelerating their growth by transforming some of the peasants freed from serfdom into townspeople, artisans and workers.

Zemstvo reform

The Zemstvo reform of the city was of a fundamental nature, as a result of which local self-government bodies were created (provincial and district zemstvo assemblies and their executive bodies - provincial and district zemstvo councils). In the city, the Zemstvo reform was supplemented by the “City Regulations”, on the basis of which city dumas and councils were formed.

Judicial reform

Policy

The priorities of Alexander II's European policy were the Eastern question and revision of the results of the Crimean War, ensuring pan-European security. Alexander II focused on an alliance with the Central European powers - the “Holy Alliance of the Three Emperors”, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia was concluded in the city.

During the reign of Alexander II, the Caucasian War of 1817–1864 was completed, a significant part of Turkestan was annexed (1865–1881), and borders with China were established along the Amur and Ussuri rivers (1858–1860).

Thanks to Russia's victory in the war with Turkey (1877–1878), in order to assist the Slavic peoples of the same faith in their liberation from the Turkish yoke, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia gained independence and began their sovereign existence. The victory was won largely thanks to the will of Alexander II, who, during the most difficult period of the war, insisted on continuing the siege of Plevna, which contributed to its victorious completion. In Bulgaria, Alexander II was revered as the Liberator. The Cathedral of Sofia is the temple-monument of St. blgv. led book Alexander Nevsky, heavenly patron of Alexander II.

During the reign of Alexander II, Russia was going through a difficult period in its socio-political history. Militant nihilism, atheism and extreme social radicalism became the ideological foundation of political terrorism, which became especially dangerous by the end of the 70s. In the fight against the state, extremist conspirators set regicide as their main goal. From the 2nd half. 60s the life of Alexander II was in constant danger.

In total, five unsuccessful attempts were made on Alexander II’s life:

• April 4th - assassination attempt on D. Karakozov during the emperor’s walk in the Summer Garden. In memory of the rescue of Alexander II at the site of the incident in 1866-1867, the Alexander Nevsky Chapel was built into the fence of the Summer Garden according to the design of R. A. Kuzmin.
• May 25 of the year - assassination attempt on the Pole A. Berezovsky during the emperor's official visit to France.
• April 2 of the year - assassination attempt on a member of the "Land and Freedom" society A. Solovyov.
• November 19, 1879 - explosion of the royal train near Moscow.
• February 12 of the year - explosion of the royal dining room in the Winter Palace.

Showing exceptional state. and personal courage, Alexander II continued the course of reforms, the implementation of which he considered a historical necessity and his life’s work.

Literature

• Chichagov L.M. [sschmch. Seraphim]. Stay of the Tsar-Liberator in the Danube Army in 1877 St. Petersburg, 1887. St. Petersburg, 1995r;
• Runovsky N. Church and civil laws regarding the Orthodox white clergy during the reign of Emperor Alexander II. Kaz., 1898;
• Papkov A. A. Church and social issues in the era of the Tsar-Liberator. St. Petersburg, 1902;
• Tatishchev S.S. Emperor Alexander II, his life and reign. St. Petersburg, 19112. 2 vols.;
• Yakovlev A.I. Alexander II and his era. M., 1992;
• Zakharova L. G. Alexander II // Russian Autocrats (1801–1917). M., 1993;
• Smolich I.K. History of the Russian Church. M., 1997. T. 8. 2 hours;
• Rimsky S.V. Orthodox Church and state in the 19th century. R.-n./D., 1998.

Sources

• A.V. Prokofiev, S.N. Nosov. Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia (Article from Volume I of the Orthodox Encyclopedia)
• Lyashenko L.M. Alexander II, or the Story of Three Solitudes, M.: Mol.gvardiya, 2003

The fate of this emperor is in many ways the fate of Russia, in many ways a game on the edge of the possible and the impossible. All his life, Alexander II did not act as he wanted, but as circumstances, relatives, and country required. Is it possible that the king named Liberator will be destroyed by those who considered themselves the best representatives of the people!

On April 17, 1818, the first-born son of Russian Emperor Nicholas I was born in the Chudov Monastery. Prominent teachers and scientists were involved in raising the heir to the throne: V.A. became a teacher of the Russian language. Zhukovsky, legislation was taught by M.M. Speransky, and finances E.F. Kankrin. The future emperor quickly developed a complete picture of the state of Russia and its potential future, and also developed state thinking.

Already in 1834-1635, Nicholas I introduced his son to the most important government bodies of the Empire: the Senate and the Holy Synod. Like his predecessors, Alexander is in military service and is responsible during the Russian-Turkish War of 1853-1856 for the combat effectiveness of the militia in St. Petersburg. An ardent champion of autocracy, Alexander very quickly comes to believe in the backwardness of Russia's socio-economic system, while launching a whole set of reforms that will forever change the face of the empire.

The reforms of Alexander II are called Great: Abolition of serfdom (1861), Judicial reform (1863), Education reform (1864), Zemstvo reform (1864), Military reform (1874). The transformations affected all spheres of Russian society, shaping the economic and political contours of post-reform Russia. The activities of Alexander II were largely aimed at breaking down the order that had been established for centuries, which led to a surge in social activity on the one hand, and also aroused a reaction on the part of the landowner class. As a result of such an attitude towards the Tsar-Liberator, on March 1, 1881, on the embankment of the Catherine Canal (now the Griboyedov Canal), Emperor Alexander II died at the hands of Narodnaya Volya bombers. Historians are still arguing about what Russia would have become if the sovereign had lived for at least four days, when Loris-Melikov’s constitutional draft was to be discussed in the State Council.

During the reign of Alexander II, Russian society and the state reached its 1000th anniversary. Looking back, deep into the centuries, every Russian person saw the years of struggle with stubborn nature for the harvest, the 240-year Tatar yoke and Ivan the Great, who threw it off, the campaigns of the Terrible against Kazan and Astrakhan, the first Emperor Peter and his associates, as well as Alexander I the Blessed, who brought peace and the triumph of law in Europe! The list of glorious ancestors and their deeds were captured in the monument “Millennium of Russia” (in the spirit of the times, it was not immortalized on the monument), which was installed in the first capital of the Russian state, Novgorod, in 1862.

Today there are many monuments to Alexander II the Liberator, one of them stands in Helsinki. In St. Petersburg on the embankment of the canal. Griboyedov, on the site of the mortal wound of the emperor-liberator, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built, where you can still see the cobblestones on which Alexander’s blood was spilled on March 1, 1881.

Emperor of All Russia, Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from the Romanov dynasty

Alexander II

short biography

Alexander II Nikolaevich(April 29, 1818, Moscow - March 13, 1881, St. Petersburg) - Emperor of All Russia, Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland (1855-1881) from the Romanov dynasty. The eldest son of first the grand ducal, and since 1825, the imperial couple Nikolai Pavlovich and Alexandra Feodorovna.

He entered Russian history as a conductor of large-scale reforms. Honored with a special epithet in Russian pre-revolutionary and Bulgarian historiography - Liberator(in connection with the abolition of serfdom according to the manifesto of February 19 (March 3), 1861 and the victory in the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878), respectively). Died as a result of a terrorist attack organized by the secret revolutionary organization "People's Will".

Childhood, education and upbringing

Born on April 29, 1818 at 11 a.m. in the Nicholas Palace of the Moscow Kremlin, where the entire imperial family arrived in early April to fast and celebrate Easter. Since Nikolai Pavlovich’s older brothers had no sons, the baby was already perceived as a potential heir to the throne. On the occasion of his birth, a 201-gun salvo was fired in Moscow. On May 5, Charlotte Lieven brought the baby into the Cathedral of the Chudov Monastery, where Moscow Archbishop Augustine performed the sacraments of baptism and confirmation on the baby, in honor of which Maria Feodorovna gave a gala dinner. Alexander is the only native of Moscow who has been at the head of Russia since 1725.

He received a home education under the personal supervision of his parent, who paid special attention to the issue of raising an heir. The first persons under Alexander were: from 1825 - Colonel K.K. Merder, from 1827 - Adjutant General P.P. Ushakov, from 1834 - Adjutant General H.A. Lieven. In 1825, court councilor V. A. Zhukovsky was appointed mentor (with the responsibility of leading the entire process of upbringing and education and the instruction to draw up a “teaching plan”) and teacher of the Russian language.

Archpriests G. P. Pavsky and V. B. Bazhanov (God’s Law), M. M. Speransky (legislation), K. I. Arsenyev (statistics and history), E. F. Kankrin (finance) took part in Alexander’s training. , F. I. Brunnov (foreign policy), E. D. Collins (physical and mathematical sciences), K. B. Trinius (natural history), G. I. Hess (technology and chemistry). Alexander also studied military sciences; English, French and German languages, drawing; fencing and other disciplines.

According to numerous testimonies, in his youth he was very impressionable and amorous. So, during a trip to London in 1839, he had a fleeting crush on the young Queen Victoria (later, as monarchs, they experienced mutual hostility and enmity).

Until September 3 (15), 1831, he had the title “Imperial Highness the Grand Duke.” From this date he was officially called “Sovereign Heir, Tsarevich and Grand Duke.”

Beginning of government activities

On April 17 (29), 1834, Alexander Nikolaevich turned sixteen years old. Since this day fell on Tuesday of Holy Week, the celebration of the proclamation of adulthood and the taking of the oath was postponed until the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Nicholas I instructed Speransky to prepare his son for this important act, explaining to him the meaning and significance of the oath. On April 22 (May 4), 1834, Tsarevich Alexander was sworn in in the large church of the Winter Palace. After taking the oath, the Tsarevich was introduced by his father to the main state institutions of the empire: in 1834 to the Senate, in 1835 he was included in the Holy Governing Synod, from 1841 a member of the State Council, from 1842 - the Committee of Ministers.

In 1837, Alexander made a long trip around Russia and visited 29 provinces of the European part, Transcaucasia and Western Siberia, and in 1838-1839 he visited Europe. On these travels he was accompanied by his fellow pupils and adjutants of the sovereign A.V. Patkul and, in part, I.M. Vielgorsky.

The future emperor's military service was quite successful. In 1836 he already became a major general, and from 1844 a full general, commanding the guards infantry. Since 1849, Alexander was the head of military educational institutions, chairman of the Secret Committees on Peasant Affairs in 1846 and 1848. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856, with the declaration of martial law in the St. Petersburg province, he commanded all the troops of the capital.

The Tsarevich had the rank of adjutant general, was part of the General Staff of His Imperial Majesty, and was the ataman of all Cossack troops; was a member of a number of elite regiments, including the Cavalry Guards, Life Guards Horse, Cuirassier, Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, Izmailovsky. He was the Chancellor of Alexander University, Doctor of Laws of the University of Oxford, an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy, the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, and the University of St. Petersburg.

Reign of Alexander II

Sovereign title

Large title: “By God's hastening grace, We, Alexander II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauride Chersonis, Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volyn , Podolsk and Finland, Prince of Estland, Livland, Courland and Semigalsk, Samogitsky, Bialystok, Korelsky, Tver, Ugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novagorod of the Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozersky, Udora, Obdorsky, Kondiysky, Vitebsk, Mstislavsky and all Northern countries, Lord and Sovereign of Iversk, Kartalinsky, Georgian and Kabardian lands and Armenian regions, skies and the Mountain Princes and other hereditary Sovereign and Possessor, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsen and Oldenburg, and so on, and so on, and so on.”
Abbreviated title: “By God's favor, We, Alexander II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Tsar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, etc., and so on, and so on.”

The country faced a number of complex domestic and foreign policy issues (peasant, eastern, Polish and others); finances were extremely upset by the unsuccessful Crimean War, during which Russia found itself in complete international isolation.

Having ascended the throne on the day of his father’s death on February 18 (March 2), 1855, Alexander II issued a manifesto that read: “<…>in the face of the invisibly co-present God, we accept the sacred vow to always have as one goal the welfare of OUR Fatherland. May we, guided and protected by Providence, who has called US to this great service, establish Russia at the highest level of power and glory, may the constant desires and visions of OUR August predecessors PETER, KATHERINE, ALEXANDER the Blessed and Nezab be fulfilled through US vennago OUR Parent.<…>"

On the original His Imperial Majesty's own hand signed ALEXANDER

According to the journal of the State Council for February 19 (March 3), 1855, in his first speech to the members of the Council, the new emperor said, in particular: “<…>My unforgettable Parent loved Russia and all his life he constantly thought about its benefits alone.<…>In His constant and daily labors with Me, He told Me: “I want to take for myself everything that is unpleasant and everything that is difficult, just to hand over to You a Russia that is well-ordered, happy and calm.” Providence judged otherwise, and the late Emperor, in the last hours of his life, told me: “I hand over My command to You, but, unfortunately, not in the order I wanted, leaving You with a lot of work and worries.”

The first of the important steps was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856 - on conditions that were not the worst in the current situation (in England there were strong sentiments to continue the war until the complete defeat and dismemberment of the Russian Empire).

In the spring of 1856, he visited Helsingfors (Grand Duchy of Finland), where he spoke at the university and the Senate, then Warsaw, where he called on the local nobility to “give up dreams” (French pas de rêveries), and Berlin, where he had a very important meeting with the Prussian king Frederick William IV (his mother’s brother), with whom he secretly sealed a “dual alliance,” thus breaking the foreign policy blockade of Russia.

A “thaw” has set in in the socio-political life of the country. On the occasion of the coronation, which took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin on August 26 (September 7), 1856 (the ceremony was led by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow; the emperor sat on the ivory throne of Tsar Ivan III), the Highest Manifesto granted benefits and concessions to a number of categories of subjects, in particular, the Decembrists, Petrashevites, participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831; recruitment was suspended for 3 years; in 1857, military settlements were liquidated.

Great reforms

The reign of Alexander II was marked by reforms of an unprecedented scale, which were called “great reforms” in pre-revolutionary literature. The main ones are the following:

• Liquidation of military settlements (1857)
• Abolition of serfdom (1861)
• Financial reform (1863)
• Reform of higher education (1863)
• Zemstvo and Judicial reforms (1864)
• City government reform (1870)
• Reform of secondary education (1871)
• Military reform (1874)

These transformations solved a number of long-standing socio-economic problems, cleared the way for the development of capitalism in Russia, expanded the boundaries of civil society and the rule of law, but were not completed.

By the end of the reign of Alexander II, under the influence of conservatives, some reforms (judicial, zemstvo) were limited. The counter-reforms launched by his successor Alexander III also affected the provisions of the peasant reform and the reform of city government.

National politics

A new Polish national liberation uprising on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Right Bank Ukraine flared up on January 22 (February 3), 1863. In addition to the Poles, there were many Belarusians and Lithuanians among the rebels. By May 1864, the uprising was suppressed by Russian troops. 128 people were executed for their involvement in the uprising; 12,500 were sent to other areas (some of them subsequently raised the Circum-Baikal Uprising of 1866), 800 were sent to hard labor.

The uprising accelerated the implementation of peasant reform in the regions affected by it, and on more favorable terms for the peasants than in the rest of Russia. The authorities took measures to develop primary schools in Lithuania and Belarus, hoping that educating the peasantry in the Russian Orthodox spirit would lead to a political and cultural reorientation of the population. Measures were also taken to Russify Poland. In order to reduce the influence of the Catholic Church on the public life of Poland after the uprising, the tsarist government decided to convert the Ukrainians of the Kholm region belonging to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to Orthodoxy. Sometimes these actions met with resistance. Residents of the village of Pratulin refused. On January 24 (February 5), 1874, believers gathered near the parish church to prevent the transfer of the temple to the control of the Orthodox Church. After this, a detachment of soldiers opened fire on the people. 13 people died and were canonized by the Catholic Church as Pratulin martyrs.

At the height of the January Uprising, the emperor approved the secret Valuevsky circular on the suspension of the printing of religious, educational and intended for elementary reading literature in Ukrainian. Only such works in this language that belong to the field of fine literature were allowed to be passed by the censorship. In 1876, the Emsky Decree was followed, aimed at limiting the use and teaching of the Ukrainian language in the Russian Empire.

After the uprising of part of Polish society, which did not receive significant support from the Lithuanians and Latvians (in Courland and partially Polished regions of Latgale), certain measures were taken to patronize the ethnocultural development of these peoples.

Part of the North Caucasian tribes (mainly Circassian) from the Black Sea coast, numbering several hundred thousand people, was deported to the Ottoman Empire in 1863-67. as soon as the Caucasian War ended.

Under Alexander II, significant changes took place regarding the Jewish Pale of Settlement. Through a series of decrees issued between 1859 and 1880, a significant portion of Jews received the right to freely settle throughout Russia. As A.I. Solzhenitsyn writes, the right of free settlement was given to merchants, artisans, doctors, lawyers, university graduates, their families and service personnel, as well as, for example, “persons of the liberal professions.” And in 1880, by decree of the Minister of Internal Affairs, it was allowed to allow those Jews who settled illegally to live outside the Pale of Settlement.

Autocracy reform

At the end of the reign of Alexander II, a project was drawn up to create two bodies under the tsar - the expansion of the already existing State Council (which included mainly large nobles and officials) and the creation of a “General Commission” (congress) with the possible participation of representatives from zemstvos, but mainly formed “by appointment" of the government. This was not about a constitutional monarchy, in which the supreme body is a democratically elected parliament (which did not exist and was not planned in Russia), but about the possible limitation of autocratic power in favor of bodies with limited representation (although it was assumed that at the first stage they would be purely advisory ). The authors of this “constitutional project” were the Minister of Internal Affairs Loris-Melikov, who received emergency powers at the end of the reign of Alexander II, as well as the Minister of Finance Abaza and the Minister of War Milyutin. Alexander II, shortly before his death, approved this plan, but they did not have time to discuss it at the Council of Ministers, and a discussion was scheduled for March 4 (16), 1881, with subsequent entry into force (which did not take place due to the assassination of the Tsar).

The discussion of this project of reform of the autocracy took place already under Alexander III, on March 8 (20), 1881. Although the overwhelming majority of the ministers spoke in favor, Alexander III accepted the point of view of Count Stroganov (“power will pass from the hands of the autocratic monarch... into the hands of various rogues who think ... only about your personal benefit") and K. P. Pobedonostsev (“you need to think not about establishing a new talking shop, ... but about business”). The final decision was secured by a special Manifesto on the inviolability of autocracy, the draft of which was prepared by Pobedonostsev.

Economic development of the country

From the beginning of the 1860s, an economic crisis began in the country, which a number of economic historians associate with Alexander II’s refusal of industrial protectionism and the transition to a liberal policy in foreign trade (at the same time, the historian P. Bayrokh sees one of the reasons for the transition to this policy in the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War). The liberal policy in foreign trade continued after the introduction of the new customs tariff in 1868. Thus, it was calculated that, compared to 1841, import duties in 1868 decreased on average by more than 10 times, and for some types of imports - even by 20-40 times.

Evidence of slow industrial growth during this period can be seen in the production of pig iron, the increase of which was only slightly faster than population growth and noticeably lagged behind that of other countries. Contrary to the goals declared by the peasant reform of 1861, the country's agricultural productivity did not increase until the 1880s , despite the rapid progress in other countries (USA, Western Europe), and the situation in this most important sector of the Russian economy was also only getting worse.

The only industry that developed rapidly was railway transport: the country's railway network was growing rapidly, which also stimulated its own locomotive and carriage building. However, the development of railways was accompanied by many abuses and a deterioration in the financial situation of the state. Thus, the state guaranteed the newly created private railway companies full coverage of their expenses and also the maintenance of a guaranteed rate of profit through subsidies. The result was huge budgetary expenses for maintaining private companies.

Foreign policy

During the reign of Alexander II, Russia returned to the policy of all-round expansion of the Russian Empire, previously characteristic of the reign of Catherine II. During this period, Central Asia, the North Caucasus, the Far East, Bessarabia, and Batumi were annexed to Russia. Victories in the Caucasian War were won in the first years of his reign. The advance into Central Asia ended successfully (in 1865-1881, most of Turkestan became part of Russia). In 1871, thanks to A. M. Gorchakov, Russia restored its rights in the Black Sea, having achieved the lifting of the ban on keeping its fleet there. In connection with the war in 1877, a major uprising occurred in Chechnya and Dagestan, which was brutally suppressed.

After long resistance, the emperor decided to go to war with the Ottoman Empire in 1877-1878. Following the war, he accepted the rank of Field Marshal (April 30 (May 12), 1878).

The meaning of annexing some new territories, especially Central Asia, was incomprehensible to part of Russian society. Thus, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin criticized the behavior of generals and officials who used the Central Asian war for personal enrichment, and M. N. Pokrovsky pointed out the meaninglessness of the conquest of Central Asia for Russia. Meanwhile, this conquest resulted in great human losses and material costs.

In 1876-1877, Alexander II took personal part in concluding a secret agreement with Austria in connection with the Russian-Turkish War, the consequence of which, according to some historians and diplomats of the second half of the 19th century, was the Berlin Treaty (1878), which entered Russian historiography as “defective” in relation to the self-determination of the Balkan peoples (which significantly reduced the Bulgarian state and transferred Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria). Examples of the unsuccessful “behavior” of the emperor and his brothers (grand dukes) at the theater of war aroused criticism from contemporaries and historians.

In 1867 Alaska (Russian America) was sold to the United States for $7.2 million. In addition, he concluded the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1875, according to which he transferred all the Kuril Islands to Japan in exchange for Sakhalin. Both Alaska and the Kuril Islands were remote overseas possessions, unprofitable from an economic point of view. Moreover, they were difficult to defend. The concession for twenty years ensured the neutrality of the United States and the Empire of Japan in relation to Russian actions in the Far East and made it possible to free up the necessary forces to secure more habitable territories.

"They attack by surprise." Painting by V.V. Vereshchagin, 1871

In 1858, Russia concluded the Aigun Treaty with China, and in 1860, the Beijing Treaty, under which it received vast territories of Transbaikalia, Khabarovsk Territory, a significant part of Manchuria, including Primorye (“Ussuri Territory”).

In 1859, representatives of Russia founded the Palestine Committee, which was later transformed into the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPOS), and in 1861 the Russian Spiritual Mission in Japan arose. To expand missionary activity, on June 29 (July 11), 1872, the department of the Aleutian diocese was transferred to San Francisco (California) and the diocese began to extend its care to all of North America.

Refused the annexation and Russian colonization of the northeastern coast of Papua New Guinea, to which Alexander II was urged by the famous Russian traveler and explorer N. N. Miklouho-Maclay. Australia and Germany took advantage of Alexander II’s indecisiveness in this matter, and soon divided among themselves the “ownerless” territories of New Guinea and the adjacent islands.

Soviet historian P. A. Zayonchkovsky believed that the government of Alexander II pursued a “Germanophile policy” that did not meet the interests of the country, which was facilitated by the position of the monarch himself: “Revering before his uncle, the Prussian king, and later the German Emperor Wilhelm I, he contributed in every possible way to education a united militaristic Germany." During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, “St. George’s crosses were generously distributed to German officers, and insignia of the order to soldiers, as if they were fighting for the interests of Russia.”

Results of the Greek plebiscite

In 1862, after the overthrow of the ruling king Otto I (of the Wittelsbach family) in Greece as a result of an uprising, the Greeks held a plebiscite at the end of the year to choose a new monarch. There were no ballots with candidates, so any Greek citizen could propose his candidacy or type of government in the country. The results were published in February 1863.

Among those included by the Greeks was Alexander II, who took third place and received less than 1 percent of the votes. However, representatives of the Russian, British and French royal houses could not occupy the Greek throne, according to the London Conference of 1832.

Growing public discontent

Unlike the previous reign, which was almost not marked by social protests, the era of Alexander II was characterized by growing public discontent. Along with the sharp increase in the number of peasant uprisings, many protest groups emerged among the intelligentsia and workers. In the 1860s, the following arose: S. Nechaev’s group, Zaichnevsky’s circle, Olshevsky’s circle, Ishutin’s circle, the Earth and Freedom organization, a group of officers and students (Ivanitsky and others) preparing a peasant uprising. During the same period, the first revolutionaries appeared (Pyotr Tkachev, Sergei Nechaev), who propagated the ideology of terrorism as a method of fighting power. In 1866, the first attempt was made to assassinate Alexander II, who was shot by D. Karakozov.

In the 1870s these trends intensified significantly. This period includes such protest groups and movements as the circle of Kursk Jacobins, the circle of Chaikovites, the Perovskaya circle, the Dolgushin circle, the Lavrov and Bakunin groups, the circles of Dyakov, Siryakov, Semyanovsky, the South Russian Union of Workers, the Kiev Commune, the Northern Workers' Union, the new organization Earth and Freedom and a number of others. Most of these circles and groups until the end of the 1870s. engaged in anti-government propaganda and agitation only from the late 1870s. a clear shift towards terrorist acts begins. In 1873-1874 2-3 thousand people, mainly from among the intelligentsia, went to the countryside under the guise of ordinary people with the aim of promoting revolutionary ideas (the so-called “going to the people”).

After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 and the attempt on his life by D.V. Karakozov on April 4 (16), 1866, Alexander II made concessions to the protective course, expressed in the appointment of Dmitry Tolstoy, Fyodor Trepov, Pyotr Shuvalov to senior government posts, which led to tougher measures in the field of domestic policy.

Increased repression by police authorities, especially in relation to “going to the people” (the process of one hundred and ninety-three populists), caused public outrage and marked the beginning of terrorist activities, which subsequently took on a massive scale. Thus, the assassination attempt by Vera Zasulich in 1878 on the St. Petersburg mayor Trepov was undertaken in response to the mistreatment of prisoners in the “trial of one hundred and ninety-three.” Despite the irrefutable evidence that the assassination attempt had been committed, the jury acquitted her, she was given a standing ovation in the courtroom, and on the street she was greeted by an enthusiastic demonstration of a large crowd of people gathered at the courthouse.

Alexander II. Photo between 1878 and 1881

Over the following years, assassination attempts were carried out:

• 1878: against the Kyiv prosecutor Kotlyarevsky, against the gendarme officer Geiking in Kyiv, against the chief of gendarmes Mezentsev in St. Petersburg;
• 1879: against the Kharkov governor Prince Kropotkin, against the police agent Reinstein in Moscow, against the chief of gendarmes Drenteln in St. Petersburg
• February 1880: an attempt was made on the life of the “dictator” Loris-Melikov.
• 1878-1881: a series of assassination attempts took place on Alexander II.

By the end of his reign, protest sentiments spread among different strata of society, including the intelligentsia, part of the nobility and the army. A new upsurge of peasant uprisings began in the countryside, and a mass strike movement began in the factories. The head of government, P. A. Valuev, giving a general description of the mood in the country, wrote in 1879: “In general, some vague displeasure is manifesting itself in all segments of the population. Everyone is complaining about something and seems to want and expect change.”

The public applauded the terrorists, the number of terrorist organizations themselves grew - for example, the People's Will, which sentenced the Tsar to death, had hundreds of active members. Hero of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. and the war in Central Asia, the commander-in-chief of the Turkestan army, General Mikhail Skobelev, at the end of Alexander’s reign showed sharp dissatisfaction with his policies and even, according to the testimony of A. Koni and P. Kropotkin, expressed his intention to arrest the royal family. These and other facts gave rise to the version that Skobelev was preparing a military coup to overthrow the Romanovs.

According to historian P. A. Zayonchkovsky, the growth of protest sentiments and the explosion of terrorist activity caused “fear and confusion” in government circles. As one of his contemporaries, A. Planson, wrote, “Only during an armed uprising that has already flared up can there be such a panic as took hold of everyone in Russia at the end of the 70s and in the 80s. Throughout Russia, everyone fell silent in clubs, in hotels, on the streets and in bazaars... And both in the provinces and in St. Petersburg, everyone was waiting for something unknown, but terrible, no one was sure of the future.”

As historians point out, against the backdrop of growing political and social instability, the government took more and more emergency measures: first, military courts were introduced, then, in April 1879, temporary governors-general were appointed in a number of cities, and finally, in February 1880 The “dictatorship” of Loris-Melikov was introduced (who was given emergency powers), which remained until the end of the reign of Alexander II - first in the form of the chairman of the Supreme Administrative Commission, then in the form of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the de facto head of government.

The emperor himself was on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the last years of his life. Chairman of the Committee of Ministers P. A. Valuev wrote in his diary on June 3 (15), 1879: “The Emperor looks tired and he himself spoke about nervous irritation, which he is trying to hide. Crowned half-ruin. In an era where strength is needed, obviously one cannot count on it.”

Assassinations and murder

History of failed assassination attempts

Several attempts were made on Alexander II's life:

• D. V. Karakozov April 4 (16), 1866. When Alexander II was heading from the gates of the Summer Garden to his carriage, a shot was heard. The bullet flew over the emperor’s head: the shooter was pushed by the peasant Osip Komissarov, who was standing nearby.

The gendarmes and some of the bystanders rushed at the shooter and knocked him down. "Guys! I shot for you!” - the terrorist shouted.

Alexander ordered him to be taken to the carriage and asked: “Are you a Pole?” “Russian,” answered the terrorist. - Why did you shoot at me? - You deceived the people: you promised them land, but didn’t give it. “Take him to the Third Department,” said Alexander, and the shooter, along with the one who seemed to prevent him from hitting the Tsar, was taken to the gendarmes. The shooter called himself the peasant Alexei Petrov, and the other detainee called himself Osip Komissarov, a St. Petersburg cap holder who came from the peasants of the Kostroma province. It so happened that among the noble witnesses was the hero of Sevastopol, General E.I. Totleben, and he stated that he clearly saw how Komissarov pushed the terrorist and thereby saved the life of the sovereign.

• The assassination attempt on May 25, 1867 was carried out by Polish emigrant Anton Berezovsky in Paris; the bullet hit the horse.
• A.K. Solovyov April 2 (14), 1879 in St. Petersburg. Solovyov fired 5 shots from a revolver, including 4 at the emperor.

On August 26 (September 7), 1879, the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya decided to assassinate Alexander II.

• On November 19 (December 1), 1879, there was an attempt to blow up an imperial train near Moscow. The emperor was saved by the fact that the steam locomotive of the suite train, which was running half an hour earlier than the tsar’s train, broke down in Kharkov. The king did not want to wait and the royal train went first. Not knowing about this circumstance, the terrorists missed the first train, detonating a mine under the fourth carriage of the second.
• On February 5 (17), 1880, S. N. Khalturin carried out an explosion on the first floor of the Winter Palace. The emperor had lunch on the third floor; he was saved by the fact that he arrived later than the appointed time; the guards (11 people) on the second floor died.

To protect state order and fight the revolutionary movement, on February 12 (24), 1880, the Supreme Administrative Commission was established, headed by the liberal-minded Count Loris-Melikov.

Death and burial. Society's reaction

...There was an explosion
From the Catherine Canal,
Covering Russia with a cloud.
Everything foreshadowed from afar,
That the fateful hour will happen,
That such a card will appear...
And this hour of the day -
The last one is named first of March.

Alexander Blok, "Retribution"

March 1 (13), 1881, at 3 hours 35 minutes in the afternoon, died in the Winter Palace as a result of a fatal wound received on the embankment of the Catherine Canal (St. Petersburg) at about 2 hours 25 minutes in the afternoon on the same day - from a bomb explosion (the second in the course of the assassination attempt ), thrown at his feet by Narodnaya Volya member Ignatius Grinevitsky; died on the day when he intended to approve the constitutional draft of M. T. Loris-Melikov. The assassination attempt occurred when the emperor was returning after a military divorce in the Mikhailovsky Manege, from “tea” (second breakfast) in the Mikhailovsky Palace with Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna; The tea was also attended by Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, who left a little later, having heard the explosion, and arrived shortly after the second explosion, giving orders and commands at the scene. The day before, February 28 (March 12), 1881 - (on Saturday of the first week of Lent), the emperor, in the Small Church of the Winter Palace, together with some other family members, received the Holy Mysteries.

On March 4, his body was transferred to the Court Cathedral of the Winter Palace; On March 7, it was solemnly transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The funeral service on March 15 was led by Metropolitan Isidore (Nikolsky) of St. Petersburg, co-served by other members of the Holy Synod and a host of clergy.

The death of the “Liberator”, killed by the Narodnaya Volya on behalf of the “liberated”, seemed to many to be the symbolic end of his reign, which led, from the point of view of the conservative part of society, to rampant “nihilism”; Particular indignation was caused by the conciliatory policy of Count Loris-Melikov, who was viewed as a puppet in the hands of Princess Yuryevskaya. Right-wing political figures (including Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Evgeny Feoktistov and Konstantin Leontiev) even said with more or less directness that the emperor died “on time”: had he reigned for another year or two, the catastrophe of Russia (the collapse of the autocracy) would have become inevitable.

Not long before, K.P. Pobedonostsev, appointed chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, wrote to the new emperor on the very day of the death of Alexander II: “God ordered us to survive this terrible day. It was as if God's punishment had fallen on unfortunate Russia. I would like to hide my face, go underground, so as not to see, not to feel, not to experience. God, have mercy on us.<…>».

The rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archpriest John Yanyshev, on March 2 (14), 1881, before the memorial service in St. Isaac's Cathedral, said in his speech: “<…>The Emperor not only died, but was also killed in His own capital... the martyr's crown for His sacred Head was woven on Russian soil, among His subjects... This is what makes our grief unbearable, the illness of the Russian and Christian heart incurable, our immeasurable misfortune ours eternal shame!

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, who at a young age was at the bedside of the dying emperor and whose father was in the Mikhailovsky Palace on the day of the assassination attempt, wrote in his emigrant memoirs about his feelings in the days following that: “<…>At night, sitting on our beds, we continued to discuss the disaster of last Sunday and asked each other what would happen next? The image of the late Sovereign, bending over the body of a wounded Cossack and not thinking about the possibility of a second assassination attempt, did not leave us. We understood that something incommensurably greater than our loving uncle and courageous monarch had gone with him irrevocably into the past. Idyllic Russia with the Tsar-Father and his loyal people ceased to exist on March 1, 1881. We understood that the Russian Tsar would never again be able to treat his subjects with boundless trust. He will not be able to forget the regicide and devote himself entirely to state affairs. The romantic traditions of the past and the idealistic understanding of Russian autocracy in the spirit of the Slavophiles - all this will be buried, along with the murdered emperor, in the crypt of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Last Sunday’s explosion dealt a mortal blow to the old principles, and no one could deny that the future of not only the Russian Empire, but the entire world, now depended on the outcome of the inevitable struggle between the new Russian Tsar and the elements of denial and destruction.”

An editorial in the Special Supplement to the right-wing conservative newspaper Rus on March 4 read: “The Tsar has been killed!... Russian tsar, in his own Russia, in his capital, brutally, barbarously, in front of everyone - with a Russian hand...<…>Shame, shame on our country!<…>Let the burning pain of shame and grief penetrate our land from end to end, and let every soul tremble in it with horror, sorrow, and the anger of indignation!<…>That rabble, which so impudently, so brazenly oppresses the soul of the entire Russian people with crimes, is not the offspring of our simple people themselves, nor their antiquity, nor even the truly enlightened newness, but the product of the dark sides of the St. Petersburg period of our history, apostasy from the Russian people, treason its legends, principles and ideals<…>».

At an emergency meeting of the Moscow City Duma, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: “An unheard-of and terrifying event occurred: the Russian Tsar, liberator of peoples, fell victim to a gang of villains among a people of many millions, selflessly devoted to him. Several people, the product of darkness and sedition, dared to encroach with a sacrilegious hand on the centuries-old tradition of the great land, to tarnish its history, the banner of which is the Russian Tsar. The Russian people shuddered with indignation and anger at the news of the terrible event.<…>».

In issue No. 65 (March 8 (20), 1881) of the official newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti, a “hot and frank article” was published, which caused “a stir in the St. Petersburg press.” The article, in particular, said: “Petersburg, located on the outskirts of the state, is teeming with foreign elements. Both foreigners, eager for the disintegration of Russia, and leaders of our outskirts have built their nest here.<…>[St. Petersburg] is full of our bureaucracy, which has long lost its sense of the people's pulse<…>That is why in St. Petersburg you can meet a lot of people, apparently Russians, but who talk as enemies of their homeland, as traitors to their people<…>».

An anti-monarchist representative of the left wing of the Cadets, V.P. Obninsky, in his work “The Last Autocrat” (1912 or later), wrote about the regicide: “This act deeply shook up society and the people. The murdered sovereign had too outstanding services for his death to pass without a reflex on the part of the population. And such a reflex could only be a desire for a reaction.”

At the same time, the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya, a few days after March 1, published a letter which, along with a statement of “execution of the sentence” to the tsar, contained an “ultimatum” to the new tsar, Alexander III: “If the government’s policy does not change, revolution will be inevitable. The government must express the will of the people, but it is a usurper gang.” A similar statement, which became known to the public, was made by the arrested leader of Narodnaya Volya, A.I. Zhelyabov, during interrogation on March 2. Despite the arrest and execution of all the leaders of Narodnaya Volya, terrorist acts continued in the first 2-3 years of the reign of Alexander III.

On these same days in early March, the newspapers “Strana” and “Golos” were given a “warning” by the government for editorials “explaining the vile atrocity of recent days as a system of reaction and as placing responsibility for the misfortune that befell Russia on those of the tsarist advisers who led the measures of reaction.” " In the following days, on the initiative of Loris-Melikov, the newspapers Molva, St. Petersburg Vedomosti, Poryadok and Smolensky Vestnik, which published “harmful” articles from the government’s point of view, were closed.

In his memoirs, the Azerbaijani satirist and educator Jalil Mammadkulizade, who was a schoolboy at the time of the death of Alexander II, described the reaction of the local population to the assassination of the emperor as follows:

We were sent home. The market and shops were closed. The people were gathered into the mosque, and a forced funeral service was held there. The mullah climbed onto the minber and began to describe the virtues and merits of the murdered padishah in such a way that in the end he himself burst into tears and brought tears to the worshipers. Then the marsia was read, and grief for the murdered padishah merged with grief for the imam - the great martyr, and the mosque was filled with heartbreaking cries.

• Cornet of the Guard (17 (29) April 1825)
• Second Lieutenant of the Guard “for success in sciences shown during the examination in the presence of Their Majesties” (January 7 (19), 1827)
• Lieutenant of the Guard “for distinguished service” (July 1 (13), 1830)
• Staff captain of the guard "for success in sciences shown during the examination in the presence of Their Majesties" (May 13 (25), 1831)
• Adjutant Wing (17 (29) April 1834)
• Colonel (10 (22) November 1834)
• Major General of the Suite (6 (18) December 1836)
• Lieutenant General of the Suite "for distinguished service" (December 6 (18), 1840)
• Adjutant General (17 (29) April 1843)
• General of Infantry (17 (29) April 1847)
• Field Marshal "at the request of the army" (April 30 (May 12), 1878)
• Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (5 (17) May 1818)
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (5 (17) May 1818)
• Order of St. Anne 1st class. (5 (17) May 1818)
• Order of the White Eagle (Kingdom of Poland, May 12 (24), 1829)
• Insignia “For XV years of service in officer ranks” (April 17 (29), 1849)
• Order of St. George 4th class. for participation “in the case against the Caucasian highlanders” (November 10 (22), 1850)
• Insignia “For XX years of service in officer ranks” (April 4 (16), 1854)
• Gold medal “For labors in liberating the peasants” (April 17 (29), 1861)
• Silver medal “For the conquest of the Western Caucasus” (July 12 (24), 1864)
• Cross “For Service in the Caucasus” (July 12 (24), 1864)
• Order of St. Stanislaus 1st class. (11 (23) June 1865)
• Order of St. George 1st class. on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the order (November 26 (December 8) 1869)
• Golden saber, presented by officers of His Imperial Majesty's Own Convoy (December 2 (14), 1877)
• Order of Noble Bukhara - the first recipient of this order (Bukhara Emirate, 1881)

foreign:

• Prussian Order of the Black Eagle at baptism (5 (17) May 1818)
• French Order of the Holy Spirit (13 (25) December 1823)
• Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece (13 (25) August 1826)
• Württemberg Order of the Württemberg Crown 1st class. (9 (21) November 1826)
• Bavarian Order of St. Hubert (13 (25) April 1829)
• Swedish Order of the Seraphim (8 (20) June 1830)
• Danish Order of the Elephant (23 April (5 May) 1834)
• Dutch Order of the Netherlands Lion 1st class. (2 (14) December 1834)
• Greek Order of the Savior 1st class. (8 (20) November 1835)
• Gold chain to the Danish Order of the Elephant (25 June (7 July) 1838)
• Hanoverian Royal Guelph Order (18 (30) July 1838)
• Saxe-Weimar Order of the White Falcon (30 August (11 September) 1838)
• Neapolitan Order of Saint Ferdinand and Merit (20 January (1 February) 1839)
• Austrian Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, Grand Cross (20 February (4 March) 1839)
• Baden Order of Fidelity (11 (23) March 1839)
• Baden Order of the Zähringen Lion 1st class. (11 (23) March 1839)
• Hesse-Darmstadt Order of Ludwig 1st class. (13 (25) March 1839)
• Saxon Order of the Ruth Crown, Grand Cross (19 (31) March 1840)
• Hanoverian Order of St. George (3 (15) July 1840)
• Hesse-Darmstadt Order of Philip the Magnanimous 1st class. (14 (26) December 1843)
• Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross (15 (27) May 1845)
• Sardinian Supreme Order of the Holy Annunciation (19 (31) October 1845)
• Saxe-Altenburg Order of the House of Saxe-Ernestine, Grand Cross (18 (30) June 1847)
• Hesse-Kassel Order of the Golden Lion (5 (17) August 1847)
• Oldenburg Order of Merit of Duke Peter-Friedrich-Ludwig 1st class. (15 (27) October 1847)
• Persian Order of the Lion and the Sun 1st class. (7 (19) October 1850)
• Württemberg Order of Military Merit, 3rd class. (13 (25) December 1850)
• Parma Constantinian Order of St. George (1850)
• Dutch Military Order of Wilhelm, Grand Cross (15 (27) September 1855)
• Portuguese Triple Order (27 November (9 December) 1855)
• Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword (27 November (9 December) 1855)
• Brazilian Order of Pedro I (14 (26) February 1856)
• Belgian Order of Leopold I 1st class. (18 (30) May 1856)
• French Legion of Honor (30 July (11 August) 1856)
• Prussian bronze medals for 1848 and 1849 (6 (18) August 1857)
• Hesse-Kassel Order of the Golden Lion 1st class. (1 (13) May 1858)
• Turkish Order of Medzhidiye 1st class. (1 (13) February 1860)
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin Order of the Wendish Crown on a gold chain (21 June (3 July) 1864)
• Mexican Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle (6 (18) March 1865)
• British Order of the Garter (16 (28) July 1867)
• Prussian Order "Pour le Mérite" (26 November (8 December) 1869)
• Turkish Order of Osmaniye 1st class. (25 May (6 June) 1871)
• Golden oak leaves for the Prussian order "Pour le Mérite" (27 November (9 December) 1871)
• Monegasque Order of St. Charles, Grand Cross (3 (15) July 1873)
• Austrian Gold Cross for 25 years of service (2 (14) February 1874)
• Austrian bronze medal (7 (19) February 1874)
• Chain to the Swedish Order of the Seraphim (3 (15) July 1875)
• Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa 3rd class. (25 November (7 December) 1875)
• Montenegrin Order of St. Peter of Cetinje

Results of the reign

Alexander II went down in history as a reformer and liberator. During his reign, serfdom was abolished, universal military service was introduced, zemstvos were established, judicial reform was carried out, censorship was limited, and a number of other reforms were carried out. The empire expanded significantly by conquering and incorporating the Central Asian possessions, the North Caucasus, the Far East and other territories.

At the same time, the economic situation of the country worsened: industry was struck by a protracted depression, and there were several cases of mass starvation in the countryside. The foreign trade deficit and public external debt reached large sizes (almost 6 billion rubles), which led to a breakdown in monetary circulation and public finances. The problem of corruption has worsened. A split and acute social contradictions formed in Russian society, which reached their peak towards the end of the reign.

Other negative aspects usually include the unfavorable results of the Berlin Congress of 1878 for Russia, exorbitant expenses in the war of 1877-1878, numerous peasant uprisings (in 1861-1863: more than 1150 uprisings), large-scale nationalist uprisings in the kingdom of Poland and the North-Western region ( 1863) and in the Caucasus (1877-1878).

Assessments of some of Alexander II's reforms are contradictory. The liberal press called his reforms “great.” At the same time, a significant part of the population (part of the intelligentsia), as well as a number of government officials of that era, negatively assessed these reforms. Thus, K.P. Pobedonostsev, at the first meeting of the government of Alexander III on March 8 (20), 1881, sharply criticized the peasant, zemstvo, and judicial reforms of Alexander II, calling them “criminal reforms,” and Alexander III actually approved his speech . And many contemporaries and a number of historians argued that the real liberation of the peasants did not happen (only a mechanism for such liberation was created, and an unfair one at that); corporal punishment against peasants (which remained until 1904-1905) was not abolished; the establishment of zemstvos led to discrimination against the lower classes; Judicial reform was unable to prevent the growth of judicial and police brutality. In addition, according to specialists on the agrarian issue, the peasant reform of 1861 led to the emergence of serious new problems (landowners, the ruin of the peasants), which became one of the reasons for the future revolutions of 1905 and 1917.

The views of modern historians on the era of Alexander II were subject to dramatic changes under the influence of the dominant ideology, and are not settled. In Soviet historiography, a tendentious view of his reign prevailed, resulting from general nihilistic attitudes toward the “era of tsarism.” Modern historians, along with the thesis about the “liberation of the peasants,” state that their freedom of movement after the reform was “relative.” Calling the reforms of Alexander II “great,” they at the same time write that the reforms gave rise to “the deepest socio-economic crisis in the countryside,” did not lead to the abolition of corporal punishment for peasants, were not consistent, and economic life in 1860-1870 -e years was characterized by industrial decline, rampant speculation and farming.

Private life

“The sovereign’s hair was cut short and well framed his high and beautiful forehead. The facial features are amazingly regular and seem carved by an artist. Blue eyes especially stand out due to the brown tone of the face, weathered during long travels. The outline of the mouth is so fine and defined that it resembles Greek sculpture. The facial expression, majestically calm and soft, is decorated from time to time with a gracious smile,” Théophile Gautier - about the emperor, 1865.

Compared to other Russian emperors, Alexander II spent a lot of time abroad, mainly at the balneological resorts of Germany, which was explained by the poor health of the empress. It was at one of these resorts, in Ems, that the Marquis de Custine, who was heading to Russia in 1839, met the heir to the throne. There, forty years later, the emperor signed the Em Decree, which limited the use of the Ukrainian language. It was Emperor Alexander II who laid the foundation for the favorite summer residence of the last Russian emperors - Livadia. In 1860, the estate was bought together with a park, a wine cellar and a vineyard of 19 hectares from the daughters of Count Pototsky for the emperor’s wife, Maria Alexandrovna, who suffered from tuberculosis and, on the recommendation of doctors, had to recover from the healing air of the southern coast of Crimea. The court architect I. A. Monighetti was invited to Crimea and the Big and Small Livadia Palaces were rebuilt.

“The Emperor took daily walks in the morning - to Oreanda, Koreiz, Gaspra, Alupka, Gurzuf, to the forestry and to the Uchan-Su waterfall - in a carriage or on horseback, swam in the sea, walked. In moments of relaxation I listened to the beautiful poems of the poet [P. A.] Vyazemsky, who at that time was still at the Court, and, despite his 75 years, seemed vigorous and impressionable,” historian and writer Vasily Khristoforovich Kondaraki - about the emperor in the Crimea, 1867.

Alexander II was a particularly passionate lover of hunting. After his accession to the throne, bear hunting became fashionable at the imperial court. In 1860, representatives of the ruling houses of Europe were invited to such a hunt in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The trophies obtained by the emperor decorated the walls of the Lisinsky pavilion. The collection of the Gatchina Arsenal (the armory room of the Gatchina Palace) contains a collection of hunting spears, with which Alexander II could personally go after bears, although this was very risky. Under his patronage, the Moscow Hunting Society named after Alexander II was created in 1862.

The Emperor contributed to the popularization of ice skating in Russia. This hobby swept St. Petersburg high society after in 1860 Alexander ordered the construction of a skating rink near the Mariinsky Palace, where he loved to skate with his daughter in full view of the townspeople.

As of March 1 (13), 1881, Alexander II’s net worth was about 12 million rubles. (securities, State Bank tickets, shares of railway companies); In 1880, he donated 1 million rubles from personal funds. for the construction of a hospital in memory of the Empress.

Alexander II suffered from asthma. According to the recollections of Princess Yuryevskaya, she always had several pillows with oxygen on hand, which she gave Alexander Nikolaevich to inhale during attacks of illness.

Family

Alexander was an amorous man. In his youth, he was in love with the maid of honor Borodzina, who was urgently married off, after which he had a relationship with the maid of honor Maria Vasilyevna Trubetskoy (in her first marriage, Stolypina, in her second, Vorontsova), who later became the mistress of Alexander Baryatinsky and had a son, Nikolai, from him. The maid of honor Sofya Davydova was in love with Alexander, because of this she went to the monastery. When she was already Abbess Maria, Alexander Nikolaevich’s eldest son, Nikolai Alexandrovich, saw her during his trip to Russia in the summer of 1863.

Later he fell in love with the maid of honor Olga Kalinovskaya and flirted with Queen Victoria. But, having already chosen the Princess of Hesse as his bride, he again resumed relations with Kalinovskaya and even wanted to abdicate the throne in order to marry her. On April 16 (28), 1841, in the Cathedral Church of the Winter Palace, Alexander Nikolaevich married Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, daughter Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, who was called Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt before her conversion to Orthodoxy. On December 5 (17), 1840, the princess, having received chrismation, converted to Orthodoxy and was given a new name - Maria Alexandrovna, and upon her betrothal to Alexander Nikolaevich on December 6 (18), 1840, she became known as the Grand Duchess with the title of Imperial Highness.

Alexander's mother opposed this marriage due to rumors that the real father of the princess was the duke's chamberlain, but the crown prince insisted on his own. Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna were married for almost 40 years, and for many years the marriage was happy. A. F. Tyutcheva calls Maria Alexandrovna “a happy wife and mother, idolized by her father-in-law (Emperor Nicholas I).” The couple had eight children.

• Alexandra (1842-1849);
• Nicholas (1843-1865);
• Alexander III (1845-1894);
• Vladimir (1847-1909);
• Alexey (1850-1908);
• Maria (1853-1920);
• Sergei (1857-1905);
• Pavel (1860-1919).

But, as the observant Count Sheremetev writes, “it seems to me that Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich felt stuffy with her.” The count notes that since the 60s she was surrounded by friends of A. Bludov and A. Maltsev, who did not hide their disdain for the emperor and in every possible way contributed to the alienation of the spouses. The king, in turn, was also irritated by these women, which did not contribute to the rapprochement of the spouses.

After ascending the throne, the emperor began to have favorites, with whom, according to rumors, he had illegitimate children. One of them was the maid of honor Alexandra Sergeevna Dolgorukova, who, according to Sheremetev, “mastered the mind and heart of the sovereign and studied his character like no one else.”

In 1866, he became close and began to meet in the Summer Garden with 18-year-old Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova (1847-1922), who became the closest and most trusted person to the Tsar; over time, she settled in the Winter Palace and gave birth to the Emperor’s illegitimate children:

• His Serene Highness Prince Georgy Alexandrovich Yuryevsky (1872-1913);
• Your Serene Highness Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yuryevskaya (1873-1925);
• Boris (1876-1876), posthumously legitimized with the surname “Yuryevsky”;
• Your Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Yuryevskaya (1878-1959), married to Prince Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky, and then to Prince Sergei Platonovich Obolensky-Neledinsky-Meletsky.

After the death of his wife, without waiting for the end of a year of mourning, Alexander II entered into a morganatic marriage with Princess Dolgorukova, who received the title Your Serene Highness Princess Yurievskaya. The wedding allowed the emperor to legitimize their common children.

Memory of Alexander II

The memory of the “Tsar Liberator” was immortalized in many cities of the Russian Empire and Bulgaria by erecting monuments. After the October Revolution, most of them were demolished. Monuments in Sofia and Helsinki have remained intact. Some monuments were recreated after the fall of the communist regime. At the site of the death of the emperor at the hands of terrorists, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built. There is an extensive filmography. For more information about perpetuating the memory of the monarch, see the article Memory of Alexander II.

As noted in the literature dedicated to the heroes of the historical memory of Russian society, the image of Alexander II changed depending on the social order: “liberator” - “victim” - “serf owner”, but at the same time, which is typical, Alexander Nikolaevich almost always acted (and even today acts) in the information space rather as a “background” figure for the inevitable historical process than as an active figure in it. This is a striking difference between Alexander II and those historical figures whose image reflects the positive consensus of historical memory (such as Alexander Nevsky or Pyotr Stolypin) or, on the contrary, its conflict objects (such as Stalin or Ivan the Terrible). The main feature of the image of the emperor is constant doubts and indecision.

The head of the government of Alexander II, P. A. Valuev: “The sovereign did not and, however, could not have a clear concept of what was called the “reforms” of his time.”

Maid of honor A.F. Tyutchev: he had “a kind, warm and humane heart... he had a mind that suffered from a lack of breadth and outlook, and Alexander was also little enlightened... was not able to grasp the value and importance of the reforms he consistently carried out” .

Alexander II's Minister of War D. A. Milyutin: was a weak-willed emperor. “The late sovereign was completely in the hands of Princess Yuryevskaya.”

According to S. Yu. Witte, who knew Alexander III well, the latter did not approve of his father’s marriage to Princess Yuryevskaya “after the age of 60, when He already had so many fully grown children and even grandchildren,” and considered him weak-willed: “In in recent years, when He already had experience, he saw that ... this turmoil, which was at the end of His Father’s reign, ... stemmed from the insufficiently strong character of His Father, thanks to which Emperor Alexander II often hesitated, and finally fell into family sin.”

Historian N.A. Rozhkov: “Weak-willed, indecisive, always hesitant, cowardly, limited”; was distinguished by extravagance and “loose morals.”

Historian P. A. Zayonchkovsky: “he was a very ordinary person”; “often consigned to oblivion the national interests of the country over which he ruled”; “Alexander II did not understand the vital necessity of these reforms for the further development of Russia... In certain periods of history there are moments when insignificant people who are not aware of the significance of what is happening are at the head of events. This is what Alexander II was.”

Historian N. Ya. Eidelman: “was more limited than his father” (Nicholas I).

“Alexander II took the path of liberation reforms not because of his convictions, but as a military man who realized the lessons of the Crimean War, as an emperor and autocrat, for whom the prestige and greatness of the state were above all. The qualities of his character also played a big role - kindness, cordiality, receptivity to the ideas of humanism... Not being a reformer by vocation, by temperament, Alexander II became one in response to the needs of the time, as a man of sober mind and good will.”

Historian L. G. Zakharova › Alexander II

Alexander 2 Nikolaevich (born April 17 (29), 1818 - death March 1 (13, 1881) - Russian Emperor (since 1855), (). 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, (entrusting elected local authorities - the “zemstvo” with schools, hospitals, etc.)

After the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. switched to a reactionary domestic political course. Since the late 1870s, repressions against revolutionaries intensified. During the reign of Alexander 2, the annexation of the territories of the Caucasus (1864), Kazakhstan (1865), and most of Sr. to Russia was completed. Asia (1865-81) A number of attempts were made on the life of Alexander 2 (1866, 1867, 1879, 1880); killed by Narodnaya Volya.

Origin. Upbringing

Alexander 2 Nikolaevich - the eldest son of first the grand ducal, and since 1825, the imperial couple Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna (daughter of the King of Prussia Frederick William III),

Received an excellent education. His main mentor was the Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky. He managed to raise the future sovereign as an enlightened man, a reformer, and not lacking in 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 the most hated ruler in Europe for him.

Government activities

1834 - Senator. 1835 - member of the Holy Synod. 1841 - member of the State Council, since 1842 - of the Committee of Ministers. Major General (1836), full general from 1844, commanded the Guards infantry. 1849 - head of military educational institutions, chairman of the Secret Committees on Peasant Affairs in 1846 and 1848. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856. with the declaration of martial law in the St. Petersburg province, he commanded all the troops of the capital.

Years of reign. Reforms 1860-1870

Neither in his youth nor in adulthood did Alexander adhere to any particular concept in his views on Russian history and the tasks of public administration. When he came to the throne in 1855, he received a difficult legacy. None of the cardinal issues of his father’s 30-year reign (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 the accession of Alexander to the throne, a “thaw” came in the socio-political life of Russia. 1856, August - on the occasion of the coronation, he declared an amnesty for the Decembrists, Petrashevites, and participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, and recruitment was suspended for three years. 1857 - military settlements were liquidated.

Realizing the primary importance of resolving the peasant issue, for four years (from the establishment of the Secret Committee of 1857 to the adoption of the law on February 19, 1861) he showed a steady will in striving to abolish serfdom. Adhering to 1857-1858. “Bestsee version” of landless emancipation of peasants, by the end of 1858 he agreed to the purchase of allotment land by peasants into ownership, i.e., to a reform program developed by the liberal bureaucracy, together with like-minded people from among public figures (N.A. Milyutin, Ya. I. Rostovtsev, Yu.F. Samarin, V.A. Cherkassky, etc.). With his support, the following were adopted: Zemstvo Regulations of 1864 and City Regulations of 1870, Judicial Charters of 1864, military reforms of the 1860-1870s, reforms of public education, censorship, and corporal punishment was abolished.

The emperor was unable to resist traditional imperial policies. Decisive victories in the Caucasian War were won in the first years of his reign. He gave in to demands for advancement into 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 assassination attempts by 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 senior government posts. Tolstoy, F.F. Trepova, P.A. Shuvalova.

Reforms continued, but rather sluggishly and inconsistently; 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 under the State Council.

Assassination attempts. Death

There were attempts on the life of Alexander 2 several times: D.V. Karakozov, Polish emigrant A. Berezovsky 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 kill the sovereign (an attempt to blow up the emperor’s train near Moscow on November 19, 1879, an explosion in the Winter Palace, which was carried out by S.N. Khalturin on February 5, 1880)

To protect state order and fight the revolutionary movement, a Supreme Administrative Commission was created. However, this could not prevent his violent death. 1881, March 1 - the sovereign was mortally wounded on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by Narodnaya Volya member I.I. Grinevitsky. He was killed precisely on the day when he decided to give way to M.T.’s constitutional project. 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 were not at all distinguished by marital fidelity, but Alexander Nikolaevich stood out even among them, constantly changing his favorites.

The first time he was married (from 1841) to the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria (in Orthodoxy Maria Alexandrovna, 1824-1880) Children from his first marriage sons: Nicholas, Alexander III, Vladimir, Alexey, Sergei, 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. This, of course, was not reported to the subjects, but members of the royal family, high-ranking dignitaries, and courtiers knew this very well. Moreover, the emperor even settled his favorite Ekaterina Dolgorukova with her children in the Winter Palace, in separate chambers, but next to her legal wife and children.

After the death of his wife, without waiting for the end of a year of mourning, Alexander II entered into (from 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. In 1880, from his personal funds, he donated 1 million rubles to establish a hospital in memory of the late empress.

Selling Alaska

What Alexander Nikolaevich has always been blamed for is the sale of Alaska to America. The main claims were that the rich region, which brought furs to Russia, and with more careful research could become a gold mine, was sold to the United States for some 11 million royal rubles. The truth is that after the Crimean War, Russia simply did not have the resources to develop such a distant region, and besides, the Far East was a priority.

In addition, even during the reign of Nicholas, the 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 would raise the question of expanding its 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 pressing problems of people and the state or to dream about the long-term prospect of the possible development of Alaska. The choice turned out to be on the side of pressing issues. 1867, March 30 - at four o'clock in the morning, Alaska became the property of America.