Alexanders I & II

Nick Weiler

Alexander I: Overview of his Rule

•Born in St. Petersburg in 1777▫Heir to throne when father

Paul I was murdered•Foreign Policy: Russia’s military

involvement in Napoleonic Wars •Domestic Policy: Initially reform-

minded, reforms failed

Napoleonic Wars• Russian indecisiveness

• French Invasion of Russia in 1812

• French defeat in 1814 by Russia, Austria, and Prussia

• Warring leads to war-torn Russia, Alexander’s failure to reform after victory

Domestic Policy• Initial optimism…

▫Reform judicial system▫Educational reforms

• Eventual reform failure:▫Decline of Russian universities and censorship▫Military settlements

• Suppressed liberalism and nationalism to increase hold on government▫“Police state”▫Young intellectuals turn to secret revolutionary

organizations Indicative of desire of populace for progression and

change

Alexander II: Abolition of Serfdom• Abolished serfdom despite

opposition from nobility in 1861

• Emancipation law was disappointing

• Serfs were hardly better off

▫ No free title to land

▫ Had to pay landlords over forty-nine years

▫ Peasant farmers…

Reform Efforts• Nobles given role in zemstvos,

local councils, though they were underfunded and ineffective

• Judicial system westernized▫Equality before law

▫Impartial hearings

▫Though still corrupt and ineffective…

Critics of Reign and Revolutionaries•Nobles and serfs unhappy with reforms

▫Generally unpopular•Eventually Russia became a “police state”

and repression ensued after an attempt was made on Alexander’s life

•Russia’s intellectuals initially hopeful, discontented with limited reform

•Alexander II assassinated by The People’s Will

Relation to C+P• Destitute citizens of St. Petersburg a result of

lack of reform

• Raskol no longer studying because of negative reforms to education system…

• Strict censorship/”police state”

• Revolutionary feelings of time▫Raskol takes justice into his own hands by killing

Assassination of Alexander II•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BeiYZ

cGejE

Work Cited• "Alexander I of Russia Biography." Biography Base Home. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.

<http://www.biographybase.com/biography/alexander_i_of_russia.html>.

•  "Alexander I of Russia." SCCS - Swarthmore College Computer Society. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.

<http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/08/ajb/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Alexander_I_of_

Russia.html>.

•  "Alexander II of Russia Biography." Biography Base Home. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.

<http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Alexander_II_of_Russia.html>.

•  "Emperors and Empresses of Russia - Alexander I." Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. Web.

05 Dec. 2011. <http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/royalty/russia/tsar15.html>.

•  Kagan, Donald, Steven E. Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage: since 1300.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.