The first spring day of 1881 was stained with the blood of the emperor, who went down in the history of Russia as a great agent of reform, who rightfully deserved the epithet of the liberator bestowed on him by the people. On this day, Emperor Alexander 2 (reign of 1855-1881) was killed by the explosion of a bomb thrown by the people's leader Ignatius Grinevitsky.
Young years of the heir to the throne
On April 17, 1818, fireworks rolled over Moscow - the heir to the throne who had stopped in the bishop's house of the imperial couple was born, who received the name Alexander at holy baptism. A curious fact: after the death of Peter I, the only ruler of Russia born in its ancient capital was he - the future emperor Alexander 2.
His biography indicates that the childhood of the heir to the throne passed under the vigilant gaze of his father. Sovereign Nicholas I paid close attention to raising his son. The responsibilities of the home teacher Alexander were assigned to the famous poet V.A. Zhukovsky, who not only taught him the grammar of the Russian language, but also instilled in the boy the general principles of culture. Special disciplines, such as foreign languages, military affairs, legislation and sacred history, were taught by the best teachers of that time.
Innocent youthful love
Probably, the lyric poems of his home teacher and senior friend V. A. Zhukovsky left their mark on the consciousness of young Alexander. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, a tendency to romantic love began to manifest in it early, which caused discontent of the father, a man, by the way, who was also far from sinless. It is known that during a trip to London, Sasha was fascinated by a young girl - the future Queen Victoria, but these feelings were destined to fade away.
The beginning of state activity
Sovereign Nicholas I early began to attach his son to state affairs. As soon as he reached adulthood, he was introduced into the Senate and the Holy Synod. In order for the future monarch to visibly represent the scale of the empire that he is to rule, his father sent him in 1837 on a trip to Russia, during which Alexander visited twenty-eight provinces. After that, he left for Europe to replenish his knowledge and complete his education.
The reign of Alexander 2 began in 1855, immediately after death interrupted the thirty-year period of the reign of his father Nicholas I. He inherited problems related to the peasant question, the financial crisis and the hopelessly lost Crimean War, which put Russia in a state of international isolation. All of them required an immediate solution.
The urgent need for reform
In order to get the country out of the current crisis, reforms were required, the necessity of which was dictated by life itself. The first of these was the abolition of military settlements, introduced back in 1810. The emperor with one stroke of the pen sent archaism to the past, which did not bring benefits to the army and provoked a social explosion. From this very urgent matter, Alexander 2 began his great transformations.
Abolition of serfdom
The beginning has been made. Following this, Emperor Alexander 2 carried out his main historical mission - the abolition of serfdom. It is known that the sovereign Catherine II wrote about the necessity of this act, but in those years the consciousness of society was not ready for such radical changes, and the ruler prudently abstained from them.
Now, in the middle of the 19th century, Alexander 2, whose personality was formed under the influence of completely different historical realities, recognized that if slavery was not abolished by legislative means, it would serve as a detonator for the growing danger of a revolutionary explosion in the country.
The most progressive statesmen of his circle adhered to the same point of view, but a numerous and influential opposition was formed in court circles, consisting of dignitaries of the last reign, brought up in the barracks-bureaucratic spirit of Nicholas I.
Nevertheless, in 1861 the reform was carried out, and millions of serfs became equal citizens of Russia. However, this entailed a new problem, which Alexander 2 had to solve. In short, it boiled down to the fact that henceforth free peasants needed to be provided with a livelihood, that is, land that belonged to the landlords. The solution to this problem lasted for many years.
Reforms in Finance and Higher Education
The next important step that marked the reign of Alexander 2 was financial reform. As a result of the abolition of serfdom in Russia, a completely different type of economy was emerging - capitalist. The financial system of the state, based on per capita tax, did not meet the requirements of the time. For its modernization in 1860-1862. a new institution is being created for the country - the state bank. In addition, from now on, the budget in accordance with the reform was approved by the State Council and personally by the emperor.
Two years after the abolition of serfdom, it was time to make changes in higher education. Alexander II dedicated his next reform in 1863 to this important undertaking. Briefly, it can be characterized as the establishment of a certain procedure for organizing the educational process at universities. It is fair to say that this reform was the most liberal of all carried out in the years of subsequent reigns.
Establishment of zemstvos and updated legal proceedings
Important legislative acts were the zemstvo and judicial reforms carried out in 1864. At that time, all the leading public figures of the country wrote about their urgent need. All the same opposition was opposing these voices, the opinion of which Alexander 2 could not help but listen.
The personality of this monarch is largely characterized by his constant desire to balance between two different poles of public opinion - progressive intelligentsia and court conservatism. However, in this case, he showed hardness.
As a result, two major innovations for the state were implemented - the reform, which allowed to rebuild the entire outdated judicial system in a European way, and the second, which changed the order of administrative management of the state.
Army Conversion
Subsequently, they were supplemented with reforms of urban self-government, secondary education and military, as a result of which the transition from recruitment to universal military service was completed. Their main organizer and guide to life was, as before, Alexander 2.
His biography is an example of the activity of a progressive and energetic, but not always consistent, state ruler. Trying to combine the interests of the opposing social strata in his actions, he as a result turned out to be alien to both the revolutionary lower classes of society and the aristocratic elite.
The monarch's family life
Alexander 2 is a multifaceted personality. Along with cold judiciousness, he developed a tendency to romantic hobbies, which was already evident in his youth. A series of fleeting salon intrigues with the maids of honor of the courtyard did not stop even after his marriage to Princess Maria Augusta of Hesse, who accepted the name of Maria Alexandrovna in Orthodoxy. She was a loving wife, endowed with the gift of sincere forgiveness. After her death, caused by consumption, the sovereign married his longtime favorite Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova, for whom his tragic death was an irreparable blow.
The end of the life of the great reformer
Alexander 2 - a tragic person in his own way. He devoted all his strength and energy to raising Russia to the European level, but his actions largely gave impetus to the destructive forces that arose in those years in the country, which subsequently plunged the state into the abyss of a bloody revolution. The murder of Alexander 2 was the final link in the chain of assassination attempts. There are seven of them.
The last, which cost the Emperor’s life, was committed on March 1, 1881 on the embankment of the Catherine’s Canal in St. Petersburg. It was organized and committed by a group of terrorists who called themselves “Narodnaya Volya”. It consisted of people from various social backgrounds. They had little idea of ​​how to build a new world, which they constantly talked about, nevertheless, they were united by the desire to destroy the foundations of the old.
To achieve this goal, the Narodnaya Volya did not spare their own lives, much less others. According to their ideas, the assassination of Alexander 2 should have been a signal for a general uprising, but in reality it generated only fear and a sense of hopelessness in society, which always appear when the law is violated by brute force. Today, the monument to the Tsar-Liberator is the Church of the Savior on Blood, erected on the site of his death.