Alexander II of Russia (Alexander the Liberator)

Alexander II (Russian: Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, tr. Aleksandr II Nikolayevich; 29 April [O.S. 17 April] 1818 in Moscow – 13 May [O.S. 1 May] 1881 in Saint Petersburg) was the Emperor of Russia from 2 March 1855 until his death on 13 May 1894. He was also the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland.

During his time as Tsesarevich, the intellectual atmosphere of Saint Petersburg did not favour any kind of reform: freedom of thought and all forms of private initiative were suppressed vigorously. Personal and official censorship was rife; criticism of the authorities was regarded as a serious crime against the state. Alexander's education took place under the supervision of the liberal romantic poet and gifted translator Vasily Zhukovsky, grasping a smattering of a great many subjects and becoming familiar with many modern European languages. The tensions created by the conflicting influences of Emperor Nicholas I and Zhukovsky left their mark on Alexander's personality. Like his uncle and namesake Alexander I (who was educated by a Swiss republican tutor who happened to be a follower of Rousseau), was to turn into a “liberalizing,” or at any rate humanitarian, autocrat.

Alexander ascended to the Russian throne at age 36, following the death of his father at the height of the Crimean War. The war had revealed Russia’s glaring backwardness in comparison with more advanced nations like the United Kingdom and France. Russian defeats, which had set the seal of final discredit on the oppressive regime of Emperor Nicholas I, had provoked among Russia’s educated elite a general desire for drastic reform. It was under the impact of this widespread urge that Alexander embarked upon a series of reforms designed to bring Russia into line with the more advanced Western countries.

Alexander's most famous reform was the abolition of serfdom in 1861, which gave him the nickname Alexander the Liberator. The Tsar was responsible for other reforms, including reorganizing the judicial system, setting up elected local judges, abolishing corporal punishment, promoting local self-government through the zemstvo system, imposing universal military service, ending some privileges of the nobility, and promoting university education. Beginning in 1882, Emperor Alexander introduced parliamentary reforms to counter the rising far-left revolutionary and anarchist movements. A parliament, similar to the one in Westminster, was established in Saint Petersburg and Russia's first democratic election was held in 1886.

Alexander feared that Alaska would fall to the British and in response, he sold the remote colony to the United States. He moved away from France following the downfall of Napoleon III and joined the League of the Three Emperors in 1872. Despite his pacifist foreign policy, Alexander fought two wars with the Ottoman Empire during his reign (aside from the Crimean War). The first war lasted from 1877 to 1878, which resulted in expansion of Russian influence in the Balkans. The Second War would result in the Greek annexation of Constantinople, and the complete end of Ottoman influence in Europe.

Alexander passed away at the age of 76 in Saint Petersburg, he was succeed by his son, Alexander III.