Instead of a preface:
Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881) entered the history of Russia as the Liberator. That’s what people called him, and not just Russians. In Bulgaria, monuments were erected to Emperor Alexander II and streets and even cities were named after him, in gratitude for his liberation from the Ottoman yoke.
During the reign of Alexander the Second, there was not a single area of life left that was not affected by reforms aimed at dismantling feudal society: education, the army, administration (zemstvo reform), courts, but most importantly, of course: the abolition of serfdom of the peasants from the landowners and, finally, the limitation of the autocratic regime itself. authorities.
In my opinion, Emperor Alexander II deservedly should be on a par with such historical figures as Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Second, Peter the Great, because he did no less for Russia, pulling it out of the swamp of feudal reaction.
However, both for his contemporaries and for his descendants, Emperor Alexander II was and remains an object of criticism.
The liberal intelligentsia called him the Reformer, thus expressing their ambiguous attitude towards the actions of the tsar, due to the half-heartedness of the reforms.
The revolutionaries believed that the tsar deceived the people by giving them freedom and not giving them land (and, according to the Reform on the abolition of serfdom, he entangled the peasants in enslaving debts to the landowners).
But if you consider the circumstances in which the Russian emperor carried out these reforms, then what he did, if not a feat, is at least history.
The assassination of Alexander II is customary, in the historical tradition, to be attributed to revolutionaries.
However, the Russian emperor had other enemies, much more powerful, and their score against the emperor was much more serious.
Conservative nobles and landowners saw in his half-hearted reforms a mortal threat to themselves and the system of autocracy with which they identified themselves.
The zemstvo reform gave the peasants, at least nominally, their own representation in government bodies, at least nominally, but the right to vote. The Tsar was preparing the Constitution. Even if it’s short, but even this is for the most conservative circles Tsarist Russia was unacceptable.
And here’s an interesting coincidence: the attack on the tsar’s motorcade takes place two hours before the tsar’s decree on the Constitution.
Coincidence?
But there are too many such coincidences.
Since the tsar entrusted his faithful assistant, Loris-Melikov, with the development of the Constitution, a whole series of assassination attempts have been carried out against the tsar.
Also a coincidence?
The king did not flinch; he continued what he started.
Power, to put it modern language, demonstrates this time-time real persecution of the king, complete helplessness.
This demonstrates, in my opinion, because the Tsarist secret police had great experience in the suppression of the revolutionary movement since the time of Nicholas I: the defeat of the Butashevich-Petrashevsky circle, for example.
And here, at the peak of terror, one might say, there was a real freedom for terrorists. And this is in a country where every janitor was a police informant. Until now, the Tsarist secret police had been very successful in suppressing any pockets of resistance back in the time of Nicholas the First.
And here, under the nose of the secret police, a radical, well-organized group, or rather an entire organization, is operating.
After unsuccessful assassination attempts, a significant part of the revolutionaries remain at large. So significant that they
plan and carry out more and more assassination attempts. Moreover, the organization itself did not suffer at all, or almost at all.
For example, the conspirators calmly penetrate the Winter Palace and set off an explosion on the first floor of the palace.
The main character of this event: Stepan Khalturin. From the Wikipedia article it follows that Khalturin’s passport was stolen and he for a long time lived under false names in St. Petersburg. Then he meets with the Narodnaya Volya and makes a rapid career in the revolutionary movement.
At the same time, he penetrates the Winter Palace and unhinderedly carries into the holy of holies of the autocracy required amount explosives and just as easily produces an explosion.
I wonder how a person uses forged documents to enter the Winter Palace? Does everyone immediately and unquestioningly trust him, this newcomer? How does Zimny end up with so much explosives?
By the way, they hang Khalturin for the murder of the Odessa prosecutor, and then they blame him for the explosion in Zimny.
In short, there are too many uncertainties.
Further, the Narodnaya Volya members completely freely plant a bomb on the road along which the tsar is supposed to travel, and before that, in broad daylight, they shoot at the tsar and only by luck, the bullet does not reach the target. And then, in the same way, without opposition from anyone, they throw two bombs at the royal motorcade.
Moreover, the Tsar’s brother, Mikhail, was delayed at his aunt’s reception on that fateful day for the Emperor; the Tsar was traveling alone. Literally one.
Where did the revolutionaries get such information about both the train and the movements of the royal motorcade?
And why don’t such attempts on the royal person occur either during the reign of Nicholas the First or during the reign of the successors of Alexander the Second? Were they, their predecessors and successors, better guarded?
Or maybe it's something completely different.
By the way, about revolutionaries.
A radical group of revolutionary terrorists set themselves the goal of killing the Tsar. Note, not the overthrow of the autocracy, but the murder of the reigning person, who had no shortage of successors.
As Wikipedia writes: “Supporters of terror created the organization “People's Will.” In a short period of time, within a year, the Narodnaya Volunteers created a branched organization headed by the Executive Committee. It included 36 people, including Zhelyabov, Mikhailov, Perovskaya, Figner, M F. Frolenko. The executive committee was subordinate to about 80 territorial groups and about 500 of the most active Narodnaya Volya members in the center and locally, who in turn managed to unite several thousand like-minded people. The Narodnaya Volya members made 5 attempts on the life of Alexander II (the first - November 18, 1879). 1 March 1881, the emperor was killed by them."
Just within a year and such power. Where? An absolute historical record. Well, maybe outside help, from powerful structures.
Who are these structures?
I think it's not difficult to guess three times.
Terror in Russia did not contribute at all to the cause of liberation of the peasants, as much as it freed the hands of the most reactionary circles and its main executor, the Okhrana.
After the assassination of Alexander II, the terrorist organization very quickly ceased to exist, and a regime of state terror was established in the country for many years.
Today it is hardly possible to find the masterminds and perpetrators of this political murder.
But main question justice: who benefits?" can still shed light on this murder, which, in my opinion, is on a par with the assassinations of Kennedy or Chavez.
Yes, Alexander II was not a revolutionary. But what he did also looked in the eyes of the elite as undermining the foundations, as Pobedonostsev openly called it.
In any case, the most significant and extraordinary political figures are killed. Alexander II was one of them. It is easy to condemn him from the outside, and even more so after a hundred and fifty years.
In any case, this, in my opinion, is one of the most significant and mysterious pages of Russian history.
Reviews
If we draw a parallel with the murder of Stolypin by student Bogrov, then we should notice the similarity - the upcoming evolutionary reforms were stopped by revolutionary reforms. There was disagreement about the pace of reform.
The following idea emerges: “according to Humboldt, landscape elements, repeating in endless variations, have an important influence on the character of the peoples living in certain regions of the globe.”
The nature of Russia, free, open, calm, moderate in its coldness, has raised a people corresponding to it.
Russia, calm in character, was influenced by more ardent, neighboring peoples, brought up by a different nature, and the temperament of these peoples did not correspond to the temperament of Russia. They came into conflict with each other.
IN in this case influences collided: warm, in relation to the state-forming Russian ethnic group, and hot.
I will not go into the national characteristics of these influences; it is revealed through the example of student Bogrov and Stolypin
Assassination of Alexander II.
The eldest first of the grand duke, and from 1825 of the imperial couple Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna (daughter of the Prussian king Frederick William III), Alexander received a good education.
Alexander II
His mentor was V.A. Zhukovsky, teacher - K.K. Merder, among the teachers - M.M. Speransky (legislation), K.I. Arsenyev (statistics and history), E.F. Kankrin (finance), F.I. Brunov (foreign policy).
Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky
Mikhail Nestorovich Speransky
The personality of the heir to the throne was formed under the influence of his father, who wanted to see in his son a “military man at heart,” and at the same time under the leadership of Zhukovsky, who sought to raise in the future monarch an enlightened man who would give his people reasonable laws, a monarch-legislator. Both of these influences left a deep mark on the character, inclinations, and worldview of the heir and were reflected in the affairs of his reign.
In the center of the lithograph is the heir to the Tsarevich Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich (future Emperor Alexander II), and at his feet is the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich.
Artist Vasilievsky Alexander Alekseevich (1794 - after 1849)
Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in cadet uniform
Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Ataman Regiment.
Having ascended the throne in 1855, he received a difficult legacy.
Not a single one of the cardinal issues of his father’s 30-year reign (peasant, eastern, Polish, etc.) was resolved, in Crimean War Russia was defeated. Not being a reformer by vocation or temperament, Alexander became one in response to the needs of the time as a man of sober mind and good will.
The first of his important decisions was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856.
Paris Congress of 1856
With the accession of Alexander, a “thaw” began in the socio-political life of Russia. On the occasion of his coronation in August 1856, he declared an amnesty for the Decembrists, Petrashevites, and participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, suspended recruitment for three years, and in 1857 liquidated military settlements.
Coronation of Alexander II
Partisan detachment of Emilia Plater
Realizing the primary importance of resolving the peasant question, for four years (from the establishment of the Secret Committee to the adoption of the Manifesto on March 3, 1861) he showed unwavering will in striving to abolish serfdom.
Adhering to the “Bestsee option” of landless emancipation of peasants in 1857-1858, at the end of 1858 he agreed to the purchase of allotment land by peasants into ownership, that is, 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 Zemstvo Regulations (1864) and City Regulations (1870), Judicial Charters (1864), military reforms of the 1860-1870s, reforms of public education, censorship, and the abolition of corporal punishment were adopted. Alexander II was unable to resist traditional imperial policies.
Decisive victories in Caucasian War were won in the first years of his reign
He gave in to the demands of moving into Central Asia (in 1865-1881, most of Turkestan became part of the Empire). After long resistance, he decided to go to war with Turkey (1877-1878).
After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 and the assassination attempt by D.V. Karakozov on his life in April 1866, Alexander II made concessions to the protective course, expressed in the appointment of D.A. to senior government posts. Tolstoy, F.F. Trepova, P.A. Shuvalova.
The first attempt on the life of Alexander II was made on April 4, 1866 during his walk in the Summer Garden. The shooter was 26-year-old terrorist Dmitry Karakozov. He shot almost point blank. But, fortunately, the peasant Osip Komissarov, who happened to be nearby, pulled away the killer’s hand.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov
Reforms continued, but sluggishly and inconsistently; almost all reform figures, with rare exceptions (for example, Minister of War D.A. Milyutin, who believed that “only consistent reforms can stop the revolutionary movement in Russia”), received resignations. At the end of his reign, Alexander was inclined to introduce limited public representation in Russia under the State Council.
Attempt by D.V. Karakozov on Alexander II
Art.Greener
Several attempts were made on Alexander II: D.V. Karakozov, Polish emigrant A. Berezovsky in 1867 in Paris, A.K. Solovyov in 1879 in St. Petersburg.
In 1867, the World Exhibition was to be held in Paris, to which Emperor Alexander II came. According to Berezovsky himself, the ideas of killing the Tsar and liberating Poland with this act arose in him from early childhood, but he made the immediate decision on June 1, when he was at the station in the crowd watching the meeting of Alexander II. On June 5, he bought a double-barreled pistol for five francs and the next day, June 6, after breakfast, he went to seek a meeting with the king. At five o'clock in the afternoon, Berezovsky, near the Longchamp racecourse in the Bois de Boulogne, shot at Alexander II, who was returning from a military review (along with the tsar, his two sons, Vladimir Alexandrovich and Alexander Alexandrovich, were in the carriage, i.e. the future Emperor Alexander III, and also Emperor Napoleon III). The pistol exploded due to too strong a charge, as a result of which the bullet was deflected and hit the horse of the equestrian accompanying the crew. Berezovsky, whose hand was severely injured by the explosion, was immediately seized by the crowd. “I confess that I shot the emperor today during his return from the review,” he said after his arrest. “Two weeks ago I had the idea of regicide, however, or rather, I have nurtured this thought since I began to recognize myself, having in mind the liberation of my homeland.”
Anton Iosifovich Berezovsky
The Sovereign Emperor deigned to leave the Winter Palace on April 2, at just after nine o'clock in the morning, for his usual morning walk and walked along Millionnaya, past the Hermitage, around the building of the Guards headquarters. From the corner of the palace, His Majesty walked 230 steps to the end of the headquarters building, along the sidewalk, on the right side of Millionnaya and to the Winter Canal; turning to the right, around the same headquarters building, along the Winter Canal embankment, the Emperor reached the Pevchesky Bridge, taking another 170 steps. Thus, the Sovereign Emperor walked 400 steps from the corner of the palace to the singing bridge, which required an ordinary walk of about five minutes. At the corner of the Winter Canal and the square of the Guards headquarters there is a policeman’s booth, that is, a policeman’s room for overnight stay, with a stove and a warehouse for a small amount of firewood. The policeman himself was not in the booth at that time; he was at his post not far away, in the square. Turning around the main headquarters building, from the Winter Canal and the Pevchesky Bridge, to the Alexander Column, that is, back to the palace, the Sovereign Emperor took another fifteen steps along the narrow sidewalk of the headquarters.
Here, standing opposite the fourth window of the headquarters, the Emperor noticed a tall, thin, dark-haired man with a dark brown mustache, about 32 years old, walking towards Him, dressed in a decent civilian coat and a cap with a civilian cockade, and both hands of this passer-by were in his pockets coat. Paramedic Maiman, standing at the gate of the headquarters building, shouted at a passerby who dared to go straight to meet His Majesty, but he, not paying attention to the warning, silently walked further in the same direction. At 6-7 steps, the villain quickly took a revolver from his coat pocket and shot at the Tsar almost point-blank.
Assassination attempt by A.K. Solovyov on Alexander II
The villain's movements did not escape His Majesty's attention. The Sovereign Emperor, leaning forward a little, then deigned to turn at a right angle and with quick steps walked across the site of the headquarters of the guard troops, towards the entrance of Prince Gorchakov. The criminal rushed after the retreating Monarch and after Him fired three more shots, one after the other. The second bullet hit the cheek and exited at the temple of a civil gentleman, a native of the Baltic provinces, named Miloshkevich, who was following the Tsar.
Solovyov's assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II on April 2, 1879. April 2, 1879, attempt to assassinate the Tsar by Solovyov. Drawing by G. Meyer.
The wounded Miloshkevich, bleeding profusely, rushed at the villain who was shooting at the sacred person of the Sovereign Emperor. Having fired two more shots, and the bullet hit the wall of the headquarters building, the villain saw that his four shots at point-blank range did not hit the Emperor, and rushed to run across the square of the Guards headquarters, heading towards the sidewalk of the opposite building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fleeing, the villain threw off his cap and coat, apparently to hide unrecognized in the crowd. He was overtaken by a young soldier of the 6th company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and a retired sergeant-major guardsman Rogozin, who were walking by chance, not far behind the Emperor. They were the first to grab and throw the criminal to the ground. While defending himself, the criminal bit the hand of one woman, the wife of a court servant, who, along with others, rushed at the villain. The people who came running tried to tear the villain to pieces. The police arrived in time and saved him from the hands of the indignant crowd and, surrounding him, took him under arrest.
The Emperor maintained complete calm of spirit. He took off his cap and reverently made the sign of the cross. Meanwhile, the highest military officials living there ran out of the headquarters building in their clothes, without coats and caps, and the Tsar was given a private carriage that accidentally drove up to the entrance; but the Emperor got into it only when the villain had already been captured and disarmed. Having asked the palace police officer, non-commissioned officer Nedelin, whether the criminal had been arrested and whether he was safe, the Tsar got into the carriage and slowly returned to the palace, among the enthusiastic crowd that saw Him off. The bullet hit the headquarters building, knocking off the plaster down to the bricks. Miloshkevich was first taken to the palace for dressing, then placed in the court hospital (Konyushennaya Street), and he was provided with all the necessary benefits with remarkable speed.
The passage of Emperor Alexander II through the streets of St. Petersburg after the unsuccessful assassination attempt by Solovyov.
The criminal was immediately tied up, put into a random carriage and sent to the mayor's house, on Gorokhovaya Street. He was brought there, as they say, in an almost completely unconscious state. The senior police doctor, Mr. Batalin, who was immediately invited, at first mistook this condition of the criminal for arsenic poisoning, especially since he began to have terrible vomiting, as a result of which milk was poured into the poisoned man’s mouth; but other doctors who arrived at the same time, including a well-known expert on poisons, a former professor at the Medical-Surgical Academy, Privy Councilor Trapp, identified potassium cyanide poisoning, which is why, without wasting any time, he was given the appropriate antidote. It is not known exactly when the criminal took the poison, before or after the shots. There is reason to believe that he swallowed the poison a few moments before the shots, or immediately after the first shot, because after the 4th shot the criminal staggered, and after the fifth he began to foam at the mouth and have convulsions. During the search, another ball of the same poison was found in the criminal’s pocket, enclosed in a nut shell and covered in wax. Potassium cyanide, belonging to the group of hydrocyanic acid, the poison of bitter almonds, is one of the most terrible poisons, which can kill a person in a few moments due to paralysis of the heart and lungs. The undergarment of the attacker did not at all correspond to the outer garment. He was wearing a black, shabby frock coat, the same trousers and a dirty white shirt, but the outer dress was distinguished by its impeccable appearance. The cap that was on his head is completely new, and the elegant gloves, they say, were not made here. Several rubles were found in his wallet and a copy of a St. Petersburg German newspaper in his pocket.
Alexander Konstantinovich Solovyov
The executive committee of the People's Will party put an end to the emperor's political activities and his life. He also put an end to the hopes of the Russian people for the introduction of a constitutional monarchy in the country.
What did the Narodnaya Volya party provide? It was a centralized, deeply secret organization. Most of its members were professional revolutionaries who were illegal.
The party charter obliged its members to be prepared to endure hardships, prison, and hard labor. They made a commitment to sacrifice their lives. Peter Kropotkin wrote: “It was believed that only morally developed people could participate in the organization. Before accepting a new member, his character was discussed at length. Only those who did not raise any doubts were accepted. Personal shortcomings were not considered minor.”
The activities of Narodnaya Volya were divided into propaganda and terrorist. At the first stage, propaganda work was carried out great importance, but soon more and more attention began to be paid to terror.
"People's Will" played a certain role in social movement Russia, but, having moved from political struggle to conspiracy and individual terror, made a gross miscalculation. The Narodnaya Volya did not set themselves the goal of creating an independent workers' party, but they were the first in Russia to begin organizing revolutionary circles among the workers.
In the fight against the revolutionary movement, the government either tried to appeal to society for support, or placed this society under sweeping suspicion. Liberal press organs were severely punished. The inconsistent and chaotic actions of the authorities did not bring calm. They aroused opposition even in previously well-intentioned noble circles.
Meanwhile, the growing internal political crisis in the country raised hopes for the success of Narodnaya Volya, which turned political murder into the main weapon of its struggle. The death sentence, conditionally passed on the Tsar at the Lipetsk Congress, was finally approved on August 26, 1879, and in the fall of 1879 the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya began to implement its plan.
8 assassination attempts were prepared against Alexander II. The first terrorist attack was attempted by D. Karakozov near the Summer Garden on April 4, 1866. On April 2, 1879, during the emperor’s walk along Palace Square, A. Soloviev fired five shots almost point-blank.
That same year, three attempts were made to crash the royal train.
Explosion in Winter Palace(18:22; February 5, 1880) - a terrorist act directed against the Russian Emperor Alexander II, organized by members of the People's Will movement. Khalturin lived in the basement of the Winter Palace, where he carried up to 30 kg of dynamite. The bomb was detonated using a fuse. Directly above his room there was a guardhouse, and even higher, on the second floor, there was a dining room in which Alexander II was going to have lunch. The Prince of Hesse, brother of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, was expected for lunch, but his train was half an hour late. The explosion caught the emperor, who was meeting the prince, in the Small Field Marshal's Hall, far from the dining room. A dynamite explosion destroyed the ceiling between the ground and first floors. The floors of the palace guardhouse collapsed (modern Hermitage Hall No. 26). The double brick vaults between the first and second floors of the palace withstood the impact of the blast wave. No one was injured in the mezzanine, but the explosion lifted the floors, knocked out many window panes, and the lights went out. In the dining room or Yellow room The third spare half of the Winter Palace (modern Hermitage Hall No. 160, the decoration has not survived) had a cracked wall, a chandelier fell on a set table, and everything was covered with lime and plaster.
Stepan Khalturin (1856-1882)
As a result of the explosion in the lower floor of the palace, 11 servicemen who were on guard that day in the palace of the lower ranks of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, stationed on Vasilyevsky Island, were killed, and 56 people were injured. Despite their own wounds and injuries, the surviving sentries remained in their places and even upon the arrival of the called shift from the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, they did not give up their places to the newcomers until they were replaced by their distributing corporal, who was also wounded in the explosion. All those killed were heroes of the recently ended Russian-Turkish war.
Explosion in the Winter Palace 02/05/1880
In the autumn of 1880, the hunt for the emperor continued with amazing persistence. The main organizer of the preparation of the assassination attempt was Andrei Zhelyabov, but on February 27 he was arrested and he was unable to take part in the last terrorist act.
Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov
The assassination attempt on Alexander II on March 1, 1881 was planned as follows: an explosion on Malaya Sadovaya; if it did not produce results, then four throwers would have to throw bombs at the Tsar’s crew. If the tsar had remained alive after this, Zhelyabov, armed with a dagger, would have stabbed him.
The king's movements were constantly monitored. S. Perovskaya recorded his results. When turning onto the Catherine Canal, the coachman held the horses. Perovskaya noted that this is the most comfortable spot for an explosion. Performers terrorist attack Mikhailov, Grinevitsky, Emelyanov were appointed
Timofey Mikhailovich Mikhailov Ivan Paiteleymonovich Emelyanov
Usually, preparations for the Tsar’s passage began at 12 noon, by which time mounted gendarmes appeared at both ends of Malaya Sadovaya. Traffic froze, traffic on the street stopped. However, on March 1, the tsar, influenced by rumors about the dangers of this route, went to the traditional Sunday review of guard units at the Mikhailovsky Manege another way - along the Catherine Canal. Perovskaya reacted quickly to the changed situation and gathered the throwers in one of the confectionery shops on Nevsky Prospekt. Having received instructions, they took up new positions. Perovskaya took a place on the opposite side of the channel in order to give a signal for action at the right moment.
Sofia Lvovna Perovskaya
The verdict describes this event as follows:
“... When the sovereign’s carriage, accompanied by a regular convoy, passed by the garden of the Mikhailovsky Palace, at a distance of about 50 fathoms (11 meters) from around the corner of Inzhenernaya Street, an explosive shell was thrown under the horses of the carriage. The explosion of this shell injured some people and destroyed the rear wall of the carriage, but the sovereign himself remained unharmed.
The man who threw the shell, although he ran along the canal embankment, towards Nevsky Prospekt, was detained a few fathoms away and initially identified himself as the tradesman Glazov, and then revealed that he was the tradesman Rysakov.
Nikolai Ivanovich Rysakov
Meanwhile, the sovereign, having ordered the coachman to stop the horses, deigned to get out of the carriage and go to the detained criminal.
When the king was returning back to the site of the explosion along the canal panel, a second explosion followed, the consequence of which was to inflict several extremely severe wounds on the king, with both legs below the knees being crushed...
Peasant Pyotr Pavlov testified that the second explosive shell was thrown unknown person, standing leaning against the embankment grating, he waited for the king to approach at a distance of no more than two arshins and threw something on the panel, which caused a second explosion.
The man indicated by Pavlov was picked up at the crime scene in an unconscious state and, when taken to the court hospital of the Stable Department, died there 8 hours later. During the autopsy, he was found to have many wounds caused by the explosion, which, according to experts, should have occurred at a very close distance, no more than three steps from the deceased.
This man, having come to his senses somewhat before his death and answered the question about his name - “I don’t know”, lived, as was discovered by the inquiry and judicial investigation, on a false passport in the name of the Vilna tradesman Nikolai Stepanovich Elnikov and among his accomplices was called Mikhail Ivanovich and Kotik (I.I. Grinevitsky)."
Russian Emperor Alexander II was born on April 29 (17 old style), 1818 in Moscow. The eldest son of the Emperor and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. After his father's accession to the throne in 1825, he was proclaimed heir to the throne.
Received an excellent education at home. His mentors were lawyer Mikhail Speransky, poet Vasily Zhukovsky, financier Yegor Kankrin and other outstanding minds of that time.
He inherited the throne on March 3 (February 18, old style) 1855 at the end of an unsuccessful campaign for Russia, which he managed to complete with minimal losses for the empire. He was crowned king in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on September 8 (August 26, old style) 1856.
On the occasion of the coronation, Alexander II declared an amnesty for the Decembrists, Petrashevites, and participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831.
The transformations of Alexander II affected all spheres of Russian society, shaping the economic and political contours of post-reform Russia.
On December 3, 1855, by imperial decree, the Supreme Censorship Committee was closed and discussion of government affairs became open.
In 1856, a secret committee was organized “to discuss measures to organize the life of the landowner peasants.”
On March 3 (February 19, old style), 1861, the emperor signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, for which they began to call him the “tsar-liberator.” Transforming peasants into free labor contributed to capitalization Agriculture and the growth of factory production.
In 1864, by issuing the Judicial Statutes, Alexander II separated the judicial power from the executive, legislative and administrative powers, ensuring its complete independence. The process became transparent and competitive. The police, financial, university and entire secular and spiritual educational systems as a whole were reformed. The year 1864 also marked the beginning of the creation of all-class zemstvo institutions, which were entrusted with the management of economic and other social issues locally. In 1870, on the basis of the City Regulations, city councils and councils appeared.
As a result of reforms in the field of education, self-government became the basis of the activities of universities, and secondary education for women was developed. Three Universities were founded - in Novorossiysk, Warsaw and Tomsk. Innovations in the press significantly limited the role of censorship and contributed to the development of the media.
By 1874, the army had been rearmed in Russia, a system of military districts had been created, the War Ministry had been reorganized, the officer training system had been reformed, universal conscription had been introduced, and the term had been shortened. military service(from 25 to 15 years, including reserve service), corporal punishment was abolished.
The emperor also established the State Bank.
The internal and external wars of Emperor Alexander II were victorious - the uprising that broke out in Poland in 1863 was suppressed, and the Caucasian War (1864) ended. According to the Aigun and Beijing treaties with the Chinese Empire, Russia annexed the Amur and Ussuri territories in 1858-1860. In 1867-1873, the territory of Russia increased due to the conquest of the Turkestan region and the Fergana Valley and the voluntary entry into vassal rights of the Bukhara Emirate and the Khanate of Khiva. At the same time, in 1867, the overseas possessions of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands were ceded to the United States, with which they established good relations. In 1877 Russia declared war Ottoman Empire. Türkiye suffered a defeat, which predetermined the state independence of Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro.
© Infographics
© Infographics
The reforms of 1861-1874 created the preconditions for a more dynamic development of Russia and strengthened the participation of the most active part of society in the life of the country. The flip side of the transformations was the aggravation of social contradictions and the growth of the revolutionary movement.
Six attempts were made on the life of Alexander II, the seventh was the cause of his death. The first shot was shot by nobleman Dmitry Karakozov in the Summer Garden on April 17 (4 old style), April 1866. By luck, the emperor was saved by the peasant Osip Komissarov. In 1867, during a visit to Paris, an attempt was made on the life of the emperor by a Polish leader. liberation movement Anton Berezovsky. In 1879, the populist revolutionary Alexander Solovyov tried to shoot the emperor with several revolver shots, but missed. The underground terrorist organization "People's Will" purposefully and systematically prepared regicide. Terrorists carried out explosions on the royal train near Alexandrovsk and Moscow, and then in the Winter Palace itself.
The explosion in the Winter Palace forced the authorities to take extraordinary measures. To fight the revolutionaries, a Supreme Administrative Commission was formed, headed by the popular and authoritative General Mikhail Loris-Melikov at that time, who actually received dictatorial powers. He took harsh measures to combat the revolutionary terrorist movement, while at the same time pursuing a policy of bringing the government closer to the “well-intentioned” circles of Russian society. Thus, under him, in 1880, the Third Department of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Chancellery was abolished. Police functions were concentrated in the police department, formed within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On March 14 (old style 1), 1881, as a result of a new attack by Narodnaya Volya, Alexander II received mortal wounds on the Catherine Canal (now the Griboyedov Canal) in St. Petersburg. The explosion of the first bomb thrown by Nikolai Rysakov damaged the royal carriage, wounded several guards and passers-by, but Alexander II survived. Then another thrower, Ignatius Grinevitsky, came close to the Tsar and threw a bomb at his feet. Alexander II died a few hours later in the Winter Palace and was buried in the family tomb of the Romanov dynasty in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. At the site of the death of Alexander II in 1907, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was erected.
In his first marriage, Emperor Alexander II was with Empress Maria Alexandrovna (nee Princess Maximiliana-Wilhelmina-Augusta-Sophia-Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt). The emperor entered into a second (morganatic) marriage with Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova, bestowed with the title of Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya, shortly before his death.
Alexander II's eldest son and heir Russian throne Nikolai Alexandrovich died in Nice from tuberculosis in 1865, and the throne was inherited by the emperor's second son Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (Alexander III).
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
The sovereign, who went down in history with the epithet “Liberator”, who realized the centuries-old dream of the people to abolish serfdom, became a victim of people from the same people, to the organization of whose life he put so much effort. His death raises many questions among historians. The name of the terrorist who threw the bomb is known, and, nevertheless, the question “Why was Alexander 2 killed?” and to this day there is no clear answer.
Reforms and their consequences
Government activity can serve as an illustration of the famous proverb “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Having ascended the throne at the age of thirty-six, he made a number of radical changes. Managed to complete the disastrous Crimean War for Russia, which was hopelessly failed by his father, Nicholas I. Abolished, established universal conscription, introduced local government and produced In addition, he managed to soften censorship and make it easier to travel abroad.
However, the result of all his good undertakings, which went down in Russian history as the “Great Reforms,” was the impoverishment of the peasants, freed from slavery, but deprived of their main source of existence - land; the impoverishment of their former owners - the nobles; corruption that has spread to all areas state power; a series of unfortunate mistakes in foreign policy. Obviously, in the totality of all these factors, one should look for the answer to the question of why Alexander 2 was killed.
The beginning of a series of assassination attempts
In Russian history there was no monarch whom they tried to kill so consistently and inexorably. Six attempts were made on Alexander 2, the last of which turned out to be fatal for him. Even before Narodnaya Volya, the organization that killed Alexander 2, fully declared its existence, the list of assassination attempts was opened by a lone terrorist, Dmitry Karakozov. On April 4, 1866 (all dates in the article are given in the new style) he shot at the sovereign as he emerged from the gates of the Summer Garden onto the Neva embankment. The shot was unsuccessful, which saved Alexander’s life.
The next attempt was made on May 25, 1867 in Paris by the Polish emigrant Anton Berezovsky. This happened during the sovereign's visit to World's Fair. The shooter missed. He subsequently explained his action by the desire to take revenge on the Russian monarch for the bloody suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863.
This was followed by an assassination attempt on April 14, 1879, committed by retired collegiate assessor Alexander Solovyov, who was part of the Land and Freedom organization. He managed to waylay the sovereign on Palace Square during his usual walk, which he took alone and without security. The attacker fired five shots, but to no avail.
Debut of Narodnaya Volya
On December 1 of the same year, the Narodnaya Volya members made their first attempt, killing Alexander 2 two years later. They tried to blow up the royal train as it was en route to Moscow. Only a mistake prevented the plan from being carried out, thanks to which the wrong train was blown up, and the sovereign remained unharmed.
And finally, the series of failed assassination attempts ends with the explosion that occurred on February 17, 1880 on the first floor of the Winter Palace. It was produced by a member of the People's Will organization. This was the last case when fate saved the life of the sovereign. This time, Alexander 2 was saved from death by being late for lunch scheduled that day, and the infernal machine worked in his absence. A week later, a special government commission was appointed to combat terrorism and maintain order in the country.
Blood on the canal embankment
March 13, 1881 became fatal for the sovereign. On this day, as usual, he was returning from the disengagement of troops at the Mikhailovsky Manege. Having visited the Grand Duchess along the way, Alexander continued his journey and went to the embankment of the Catherine Canal, where terrorists were waiting for him.
The name of the one who killed Alexander 2 is now well known to everyone. This is a Pole, a student at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, Ignatius Grinevitsky. He threw a bomb after his comrade Nikolai Rysakov, who also threw the infernal machine, but to no avail. When, after the first explosion, the sovereign got out of the damaged carriage, Grinevitsky threw a bomb at his feet. The mortally wounded emperor was taken to the Winter Palace, where he died without regaining consciousness.
Court opposition
In 1881, when Alexander 2 was killed, the work state commission, although outwardly it gave the impression of vigorous activity, nevertheless it seemed very strange. Historians have reason to believe that Alexander’s death was the result of a conspiracy by the court elite, firstly, dissatisfied with the liberal reforms carried out by the emperor, and secondly, fearful of the possible adoption of a constitution.
In addition, the circle of senior dignitaries included former landowners who had lost their serfs and thus suffered significant losses. They had a clear reason to hate the sovereign. If we look at the issue from this angle, it may be quite clear why Alexander 2 was killed.
Strange inaction of the security department
The actions of the Gendarmerie Department cause legitimate bewilderment. It is known that in the period preceding the murder, they received several messages about an impending terrorist attack, and even indicated the possible location of its implementation. However, there was no reaction to this. Moreover, when the guardians of the law received information that on Malaya Sadovaya - not far from the place where Alexander 2 was killed - the path of his possible passage was being mined, they limited themselves to only a cursory inspection of the premises from which the digging was carried out.
Not noticing anything (or not considering it necessary to notice), the gendarmes allowed the terrorists to continue preparing the terrorist attack. It seemed that someone was deliberately giving the criminals a free hand, wanting to use them to carry out their plans. Suspicion is also raised by the fact that when the tragedy occurred and the emperor, who had such powerful opposition in the palace, was gone, all participants in the assassination attempt were arrested with amazing speed. There is no doubt that the gendarmes knew exactly which organization killed Alexander 2.
Succession problems
In addition, in the question of who killed Alexander 2 (more precisely, who became the real organizer of the murder), one should also take into account the dynastic crisis that erupted in the palace. His son and heir to the throne, the future autocrat had every reason to fear for his future. The fact is that at the beginning of the year when Alexander 2 was killed, the sovereign, having barely survived the required forty days after the death of his legal wife Maria Alexandrovna, married his favorite Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova.
Considering that his father had repeatedly expressed a desire to remove him from the palace, Alexander Alexandrovich could well assume that he planned to transfer the crown not to him, but to a child born from a new marriage. Only an unexpected death could have prevented this, and given the previous attempts, it would not have aroused suspicion in anyone.
The first terrorist organization in modern history
The one who killed Tsar Alexander 2 (terrorist Ignatius Grinevitsky) was a member of the underground union "People's Will". It is generally accepted that this was the first modern history She specialized exclusively in political murders, in which she saw the only possible way to change the existing system.
Its members included people belonging to the most diverse strata of society. For example, Sofya Perovskaya, who directly supervised the assassination attempt on the Catherine Canal, was a noblewoman and even the daughter of the St. Petersburg governor, and her comrade-in-arms and dear friend Zhelyabov came from a family of serfs.
Verdict to the Tsar
Having chosen terror to achieve political goals, at their first meeting, held in 1879, they unanimously sentenced Alexander 2 to death and in subsequent years they were implementing their decision. For them, it was important to destroy the autocrat, no matter where it happened and in what year. Alexander was killed by 2 fanatics who did not spare their own lives, much less those of others, for the sake of utopian revolutionary ideas.
However, in that ill-fated spring they had reasons to hurry. The terrorists knew that the approval of the constitution was scheduled for March 14, and could not allow this, since, according to their calculations, the adoption of such an important historical document could reduce the level of social tension in the country and deprive their struggle of popular support. It was decided to end the king’s life at all costs as soon as possible.
Reassessment of historical realities
The name of the one who killed Alexander 2 has gone down in history, throwing an infernal machine at his feet, but it is unlikely that historians will be able to prove the validity or inconsistency of the suspicion of involvement in the conspiracy of court circles and the heir to the throne himself. There are no documents left to shed light on this issue. It is generally accepted that the initiators of the assassination attempt and its perpetrators were young people, members of the underground union "People's Will".
During the years of Soviet power, all organizations that fought against the autocracy were extolled as spokesmen for historical truth. Their actions were justified no matter how much or whose blood was shed. But if today we ask the question: “Who are the Narodnaya Volya people who killed Alexander 2 - criminals or not?”, then in most cases the answer will be in the affirmative.
Monument to the Tsar Liberator
History has proven that the end does not always justify the means, and sometimes a fighter for a just cause ends up among the criminals. Therefore, the one who killed Alexander 2 did not become the pride of Russia. No city streets are named after him, and no monuments have been erected to him in the squares. Many will answer the question about what year Alexander 2 was killed, but it will be difficult to name the killer.
At the same time, on the site of the death of the murdered emperor-liberator, a magnificent temple was built, popularly called the Savior on Spilled Blood and which became his an eternal monument. Over the years of atheistic obscurantism, they repeatedly tried to demolish it, but each time an invisible force averted the hand of the vandals. You can call it fate, you can call it the Finger of God, but the memory of Alexander 2, who broke the chains of serfdom, still shines with the gold of the domes, and his murderers have gone forever into the darkness of history.
Few monarchs in history have been honored with the epithet “liberator.” Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov deserved such an honor. Alexander II is also called the Tsar-Reformer, because he managed to get off the ground many old problems of the state that threatened riots and uprisings.
Childhood and youth
The future emperor was born in April 1818 in Moscow. The boy was born on a holiday, Bright Wednesday, in the Kremlin, in the Bishop's House of the Chudov Monastery. Here, on that festive morning, the entire Imperial family gathered to celebrate Easter. In honor of the boy’s birth, the Moscow silence was broken by a 201-volley cannon salute.
Archbishop of Moscow Augustine baptized the baby Alexander Romanov on May 5 in the church of the Chudov Monastery. His parents were Grand Dukes at the time of their son's birth. But when the grown-up heir turned 7 years old, his mother Alexandra Feodorovna and father became the imperial couple.
The future Emperor Alexander II received an excellent education at home. His main mentor, responsible not only for training, but also for education, was. Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky himself taught sacred history and the Law of God. Academician Collins taught the boy the intricacies of arithmetic, and Karl Merder taught the basics of military affairs.
Alexander Nikolaevich had no less famous teachers in legislation, statistics, finance and foreign policy. The boy grew up very smart and quickly mastered the sciences taught. But at the same time, in his youth, like many of his peers, he was amorous and romantic. For example, during a trip to London, he fell in love with a young British girl.
Interestingly, after a couple of decades, it turned into the most hated European ruler for the Russian Emperor Alexander II.
The reign and reforms of Alexander II
When Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov reached adulthood, his father introduced him to the main state institutions. In 1834, the Tsarevich entered the Senate, next year- to the Holy Synod, and in 1841 and 1842 Romanov became a member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers.
In the mid-1830s, the heir made a long familiarization trip around the country and visited 29 provinces. In the late 30s he visited Europe. He also completed his military service very successfully and in 1844 became a general. He was entrusted with the guards infantry.
The Tsarevich headed military educational institutions and chaired the Secret Committees on Peasant Affairs in 1846 and 1848. He delves quite well into the problems of the peasants and understands that changes and reforms are long overdue.
The outbreak of the Crimean War of 1853-56 becomes a serious test for the future sovereign on his maturity and courage. After martial law was declared in the St. Petersburg province, Alexander Nikolaevich assumed command of all the troops of the capital.
Alexander II, having ascended the throne in 1855, received a difficult legacy. During his 30 years of rule, his father failed to resolve any of the many pressing and long-standing issues of the state. In addition, the country's difficult situation was aggravated by the defeat in the Crimean War. The treasury was empty.
It was necessary to act decisively and quickly. Foreign policy Alexander II's goal was to use diplomacy to break through the tight ring of blockade that had closed around Russia. The first step was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in the spring of 1856. The conditions accepted by Russia cannot be called very favorable, but the weakened state could not dictate its will. The main thing was that we managed to stop England, which wanted to continue the war until complete defeat and the dismemberment of Russia.
That same spring, Alexander II visited Berlin and met with King Frederick William IV. Frederick was the emperor's maternal uncle. They managed to conclude a secret “dual alliance” with him. The foreign policy blockade of Russia was over.
Domestic policy Alexandra II turned out to be no less successful. The long-awaited “thaw” has arrived in the life of the country. At the end of the summer of 1856, on the occasion of the coronation, the tsar granted amnesty to the Decembrists, Petrashevites, and participants in the Polish uprising. He also suspended recruitment for another 3 years and liquidated military settlements.
The time has come to resolve the peasant issue. Emperor Alexander II decided to abolish serfdom, this ugly relic that stood in the way of progress. The sovereign chose the “Baltsee option” of landless emancipation of peasants. In 1858, the Tsar agreed to the reform program developed by the liberals and public figures. According to the reform, peasants received the right to purchase the land allocated to them as their own.
The great reforms of Alexander II turned out to be truly revolutionary at that time. He supported the Zemstvo Regulations of 1864 and the City Regulations of 1870. The Judicial Statutes of 1864 were put into effect and the military reforms of the 1860s and 70s were adopted. Reforms took place in public education. Corporal punishment, which was shameful for a developing country, was finally abolished.
Alexander II confidently continued the traditional line of imperial policy. In the first years of his reign, he won victories in the Caucasian War. He successfully advanced in Central Asia, annexing most of Turkestan to the territory of the state. In 1877-78, the tsar decided to go to war with Turkey. He also managed to fill the treasury, increasing the total income of 1867 by 3%. This was done by selling Alaska to the United States.
But in last years During the reign of Alexander II, the reforms “stalled.” Their continuation was sluggish and inconsistent. The emperor dismissed all the main reformers. At the end of his reign, the Tsar introduced limited public representation in Russia under the State Council.
Some historians believe that the reign of Alexander II, for all its advantages, had a huge disadvantage: the tsar pursued a “Germanophile policy” that did not meet the interests of the state. The monarch was in awe of the Prussian king - his uncle, and in every possible way contributed to the creation of a united militaristic Germany.
A contemporary of the Tsar, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers Pyotr Valuev, wrote in his diaries about the Tsar’s severe nervous breakdown in the last years of his life. Romanov was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and looked tired and irritated. “Crown half-ruin” - such an unflattering epithet given by Valuev to the emperor, accurately explained his condition.
“In an era where strength is needed,” the politician wrote, “obviously, one cannot count on it.”
Nevertheless, in the first years of his reign, Alexander II managed to do a lot for the Russian state. And he really deserved the epithets “Liberator” and “Reformer”.
Personal life
The emperor was a passionate man. He has many novels to his credit. In his youth, he had an affair with his maid of honor Borodzina, whom his parents urgently married off. Then another novel, and again with the maid of honor Maria Trubetskoy. And the connection with the maid of honor Olga Kalinovskaya turned out to be so strong that the Tsarevich even decided to abdicate the throne for the sake of marrying her. But his parents insisted on breaking off this relationship and marrying Maximilianna of Hesse.
However, the marriage with, nee Princess Maximiliana Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt, was a happy one. 8 children were born there, 6 of whom were sons.
Emperor Alexander II mortgaged the latter's favorite summer residence for his tuberculosis-stricken wife. Russian tsars- Livadia, having bought the land along with the estate and vineyards from the daughters of Count Lev Pototsky.
Maria Alexandrovna died in May 1880. She left a note containing words of gratitude to her husband for a happy life together.
But the monarch was not a faithful husband. The personal life of Alexander II was a constant source of gossip at court. Some favorites gave birth to illegitimate children from the sovereign.
An 18-year-old maid of honor managed to firmly capture the heart of the emperor. The Emperor married his longtime lover the same year his wife died. It was a morganatic marriage, that is, concluded with a person of non-royal origin. The children from this union, and there were four of them, could not become heirs to the throne. It is noteworthy that all the children were born at a time when Alexander II was still married to his first wife.
After the tsar married Dolgorukaya, the children received legal status and a princely title.
Death
During his reign, Alexander II was assassinated several times. The first assassination attempt occurred after the suppression of the Polish uprising in 1866. It was committed in Russia by Dmitry Karakozov. The second is next year. This time in Paris. Polish emigrant Anton Berezovsky tried to kill the Tsar.
A new attempt was made at the beginning of April 1879 in St. Petersburg. In August of the same year, the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya sentenced Alexander II to death. After this, the Narodnaya Volya members intended to blow up the emperor’s train, but mistakenly blew up another train.
The new attempt turned out to be even bloodier: several people died in the Winter Palace after the explosion. As luck would have it, the emperor entered the room later.
To protect the sovereign, the Supreme Administrative Commission was created. But she did not save Romanov’s life. In March 1881, a bomb was thrown at the feet of Alexander II by Narodnaya Volya member Ignatius Grinevitsky. The king died from his wounds.
It is noteworthy that the assassination attempt took place on the day when the emperor decided to launch the truly revolutionary constitutional project of M. T. Loris-Melikov, after which Russia was supposed to follow the path of the constitution.