- The Emperor of All Russia, the eldest son of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, was born in Moscow on April 17, 1818. Generals Merder and Kavelin were his teachers. Merder attracted attention as a company commander in the school of guards ensigns established on August 18, 1823. Nikolai Pavlovich, then still Grand Duke Having learned about his pedagogical abilities, meek disposition and rare intelligence, he decided to entrust him with the upbringing of his son. Merder entered this important position on June 12, 1824, when the Grand Duke was barely 6 years old, and with tireless zeal he fulfilled it for 10 years. There is no doubt that the influence of this highly humane educator on the young heart of his pet was the most beneficial. No less beneficial was the influence of another mentor of the Grand Duke - the famous poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, the leader of his classroom studies. By herself the best characteristic the education received by Alexander can serve as the words spoken by Zhukovsky about his companion in education, General Merder, which can be fully attributed to himself: his beautiful soul ... His pet ... heard one voice of truth, saw one unselfishness ... could his soul not love good, could at the same time not acquire respect for humanity, which is so necessary in all life, especially in life near the throne and on the throne. " There is no doubt that Zhukovsky, by his general influence, helped prepare the heart of his pet for the future liberation of the peasants.

Upon reaching the age of majority, the heir to the crown prince traveled across Russia, accompanied by Kavelin, Zhukovsky and the adjutant wing of Yuryevich. The first of the royal family, he visited Siberia (1837), and as a result of this visit, the fate of political exiles was mitigated. Later, being in the Caucasus, the Tsarevich distinguished himself during the attack of the mountaineers, for which he was awarded the order St. George 4th degree. In 1838, Alexander Nikolaevich traveled to Europe and at that time, in the family of the Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, he chose Princess Maximiliana-Wilhelmina-Augusta-Sophia-Maria (born July 27, 1824) as his wife, upon arrival in Russia, who received St. chrismation according to the charter Orthodox Church, December 5, 1840, with the name of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. The betrothal followed the next day, and on April 16, 1841, the marriage took place.

The following children were born from the marriage of Emperor Alexander II with Empress Maria Alexandrovna: book Alexandra Alexandrovna, b. August 19, 1842, d. June 16, 1849; led. book heir to Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, b. September 8, 1843, d. April 12, 1865; led. book Alexander Alexandrovich - now happily reigning Emperor Alexander III (see), b. February 26, 1845; Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, born April 10, 1847, from August 16, 1874 in a marriage with the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, daughter of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Friedrich-Franz II, b. May 2, 1854; led. book Alexey Alexandrovich, b. January 2, 1850; led. book Maria Alexandrovna, b. October 5, 1853, married to Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, on January 11, 1874; led. book Sergey Alexandrovich, b. April 29, 1857, married from June 3, 1884 with Elizabeth Feodorovna, daughter led. hertz. Hesse, b. October 20, 1864; led. book Pavel Alexandrovich, b. September 21, 1860, married on July 4, 1889 with the Greek Queen Alexandra Georgievna, b. August 30, 1870

While still an heir, Alexander took part in management affairs. V last years the reign of Emperor Nicholas and during his travels Alexander repeatedly replaced his august parent; in 1848, during his stay at the Vienna, Berlin and other courts, he carried out various important diplomatic assignments. Having taken over the military educational establishments, Alexander with special love took care of their needs and the gradual improvement of both scientific teaching and upbringing.

The accession of Alexander II to the throne on February 19, 1855 took place under very difficult circumstances. The Crimean War, where Russia had to deal with the combined forces of almost all the main European powers, took an unfavorable turn for us. By that time, the forces of the allies had increased even more due to the addition of 15 tons of Sardinian troops; the enemy fleet operated against Russia in all seas. However, despite his peacefulness, which was also known in Europe, Alexander expressed his firm determination to continue the struggle and achieve an honorable peace. Up to 360 tons of militia men were recruited, the same amount was given by 3 recruitment sets. The perseverance and courage of the Russian troops in defending Sevastopol aroused enthusiastic surprise even on the part of the enemies; the names of Kornilov, Nakhimov and others were covered with unfading glory. Finally, however, the terrible action of the enemy artillery, destroying our fortifications and taking thousands of people every day, and the cumulative assault on Sevastopol by all the allies on August 27, forced the Russian troops to leave the southern part of the city and move to the northern one. The fall of Sevastopol, however, did not bring significant benefits to the enemy. On the other hand, the Russians were partly rewarded with success in Asia Minor: Kars, this impregnable fortress, reinforced by the British, was taken on November 16 by General Muravyov with all his numerous garrisons. This success gave us the opportunity to show our readiness for peace. The allies, also tired of the war, were willing to enter into negotiations, which began through the Vienna Court. Representatives of 7 powers (Russia, France, Austria, England, Prussia, Sardinia and Turkey) gathered in Paris and on March 18, 1856 a peace treaty was concluded. The main conditions of this agreement were as follows: navigation on the Black Sea and Danube is open to all merchant ships; the entrance to the Black Sea, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles is closed to warships, with the exception of those light warships that each power maintains at the mouth of the Danube to ensure free navigation on it. Russia and Turkey, by mutual agreement, maintain an equal number of ships in the Black Sea. In order to ensure free navigation on the Danube, Russia cedes to the Danube principalities a part of its territory at the mouth of this river; she also promises not to fortify the Aland Islands. Christians in Turkey are compared in rights with Muslims, and the Danube principalities come under the general protectorate of Europe.

The Paris peace, although disadvantageous for Russia, was nevertheless honorable for her in view of such numerous and powerful opponents. However, the disadvantageous side of it - the limitation of the naval forces of Russia on the Black Sea - was eliminated during the life of Alexander II by a statement on October 19, 1870.

But the disadvantages of the treaty were redeemed by the good of the world itself, which made it possible to turn all attention to internal reforms, the urgency of which became obvious.

Indeed, the Crimean War exposed many of the internal ulcers of our fatherland, showed the complete inconsistency of our former life. It turned out to be necessary to completely reorganize many parts, but serfdom stood in the way of any improvement as an inexorable obstacle. The need for reform became tactile, urgent. And with the advent of peace, a new era of internal renewal was not slow to begin. Already in the closing words of the highest manifesto of March 19, 1856, heralding the end of Crimean War, the whole program of the future activities of the Tsar-Liberator was expressed: "With the help of the heavenly Providence, always benefiting Russia, may her internal well-being be affirmed and improved; may truth and mercy reign in her courts; may the striving for enlightenment and all useful activities and everyone under the canopy of laws, for all equally fair, equally patronizing, may enjoy in the world the fruit of the labors of the innocent. Finally, this is our first lively desire, the light of saving Faith, illuminating minds, strengthening hearts, public morality, this surest guarantee of order and happiness. "

In the same year, it was ordered to attend to the opening of women's gymnasiums and a scientific committee was established to draw up and consider teaching programs and teaching manuals. On the day of the coronation, August 26, the new manifesto of the sovereign was marked by a number of favors. For 3 years, recruitment was suspended, all government arrears, tax payments, etc. were forgiven, punishment was released or at least mitigated for various criminals, including state ones who participated in the rebellion on December 14, 1825 and in secret societies of that time, admission to recruits of young Jews was canceled and recruitment between the latter was ordered to general grounds etc.

But all these private measures, greeted with enthusiasm by Russia, were only the threshold of those fundamental reforms that marked the reign of Alexander II. First and foremost, and most urgently, it seemed to resolve the issue of serfdom, which, as it was obvious to everyone, was the main root of all the other shortcomings of our warehouse. The idea of ​​the need to free the peasants and, moreover, with a land allotment prevailed already during the time of Emperor Nicholas. The entire intelligentsia regarded serfdom as a terrible and shameful evil. Literature continuously continued in this sense the glorious tradition of Radishchev. Suffice it to mention the names of Griboyedov, Belinsky, Grigorovich, I. S. Turgenev. But the mood of the intelligentsia, which was predominantly noble, did not interfere with the fact that when the question in any form passed to the class discussion of the nobles, then in this environment it often met with resistance. Imp. Alexander II, ascending the throne, was convinced that the liberation of the peasants should take place precisely during his reign. Such was the general mood of the intelligentsia, and even among the peasants themselves there was a vague presentiment of an imminent "will." The decrees on the militia in 1854 and at the beginning of 1855 caused significant unrest in as many as 9 provinces, as the peasants in large numbers declared their desire to join the militia, considering service in the militia as a transition to "freedom."

The question thus appeared to be urgent. When the sovereign spoke in Moscow about the necessity and timeliness of the liberation of the serfs, all of Russia was seized with enthusiastic, joyful hopes ... emperor, whose task was to consider decisions and assumptions about serfdom. This committee included: Prince Orlov, gr. Lanskoy, Count Bludov, Minister of Finance Brock, Count VF Adlerberg, Prince Vas. A. Dolgorukov, Minister of State Property M. N. Muravyov, Chevkin, Prince P. P. Gagarin, Baron M. A. Korf and Ya. I. Rostovtsev. Of these, only Lanskoy, Bludov, Rostovtsev and Butkov, who managed the affairs of the committee, spoke in favor of the actual emancipation of the peasants; the majority proposed only a number of measures to alleviate the situation of serfs. The sovereign was dissatisfied with the course of affairs and appointed Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich as a member of the committee. Meanwhile, on August 18, a petition was received from the nobility of 3 Lithuanian provinces to free the peasants, but with the landlords retaining the right to land. In response to this petition, on November 20, followed by the highest rescript given to the Vilna military, Grodno and Koven governors general, in which the sovereign allowed the nobility of each of the named provinces to establish a committee that would develop a project for improving the life of the peasants. In the same year, the same permission was given to the nobility of St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, and in next year- the nobles of Moscow and other provinces; On January 8, 1858, the secret committee was transformed into the "main committee for peasant affairs", which also included Count Panin, Minister of Justice, and in March of the same year it was formed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the name of the "Zemstvo Department of the Central Statistical Committee" a purely administrative body that played an important role in this whole affair. It included such persons as N. A. Milyutin, Ya. A. Soloviev, zealous champions of the idea of ​​liberation. Journalism of that time was also an energetic ally of the minority, and thanks to the positive will of the sovereign, the good cause, despite the opposition of the majority in the committee, quickly moved forward and even took on wider dimensions than those that were put in the initial rescripts to the nobility. Instead of "improving the life of the peasants," the question was put directly on the basis of their complete emancipation. Feb 17 In 1859, an order was announced to establish "editorial commissions", of which Adjutant General Rostovtsev was appointed chairman. The projects developed by the provincial committees were forwarded to these commissions. The draft, developed by the editorial committee, was supposed to go to the commission, which was made up of gr. Lanskoy, Count Palen and Gen. Muravyov and Rostovtsev, where the head of affairs was D.S. with. Zhukovsky. Finally, this commission submits the draft, with its own considerations, to the main committee. When the provincial committees finally presented their projects to the editorial commissions, landowners were called up from the provinces 2 times (in August and December 1859), two from each, to deliver the necessary information. Among these latter there were many conservatives, the main committee was also willing to slow down the matter, but the decisive will of the sovereign, who demanded that the committee finish its studies by January 1861, and the influence of its new chairman, was in charge. K. Konstantin Nikolaevich, who replaced Orlov, quickly moved things forward. On January 28, the provisions worked out by the editorial commissions and passed through the main committee were considered by the State Council, which adopted them with some changes in the sense of reducing the size of the peasant allotment. Finally, on February 19, 1861, followed the great manifesto, which constitutes the glory of the tsar-liberator - a manifesto on the liberation of the 22 million peasant population from serfdom.

The emancipation of the landlord peasants took place on the following principles. First of all, the obligation was announced for the landowner to endow his former peasants, in addition to the estate land, arable and hayfields, in the sizes determined in the position. Such an obligation for the landowner to allot the allotment to the peasants was limited only to relatively small landowners, landowners of the Land of the Don Army, Siberian landowners and owners of private mining plants, for whom special rules for allotment were established. Secondly, along with such an obligation for the landowner to give the peasants allotments, the obligation was declared for the peasants to accept the allotment and keep in their use for the obligations established in favor of the landowner the mundane land allotted to them during the first nine years (until February 19, 1870). After 9 years, individual members of the community were given the right to both withdraw from it and refuse to use field lands and lands, if they buy out their homestead; society itself also receives the right not to accept for its use such plots, which individual peasants will refuse. Thirdly, with regard to the size of the peasant allotment and the payments associated with it, according to general rules accepted to be based on voluntary agreements between landowners and peasants, for which to conclude a charter through the mediators established by the state, their congresses and provincial peasant presences, and in the West. lips. - and special verification commissions. Such a voluntary agreement is limited only by the requirement that the peasants remain in use of land not less than the amount determined in the local regulations grouping the provinces, in order to determine in each of them the size of the per capita allotment, in three strips; and then, in accordance with the amount of per capita allotment, local regulations determine the amount of duties that temporarily liable peasants, prior to the payment of the ransom, had to bear in favor of the landowners. These duties are either monetary, or determined in the form of a quitrent, or in the form of a commodity obligation, corvee. Until the temporarily liable peasants redeem their lands and are in the relationship of the guilty to the former landowner, the latter is provided with patrimonial police in the rural society of temporarily liable peasants.

The regulation, however, is not limited to the rules alone for the allocation of land to peasants for permanent use, but makes it easier for them to redeem the allotted land plots into ownership with the help of a redemption state operation, and the government gives the peasants a loan against the lands they acquire a certain amount with payment in installments for 49 years and, giving out this amount to the landowner in state interest-bearing securities, he takes all further settlements with the peasants upon himself. Upon approval by the government of the redemption transaction, all obligatory relations between the peasants and the landowners are terminated, and the latter enter the category of peasant-owners.

This is how the great reform was accomplished in a peaceful way and without significant upheavals of the state mechanism, which since the time of Catherine II was considered to be in the queue, but which they were still afraid to embark on. Instead of 22 mil. enslaved people created a free peasant class with significant self-government within the community and parish. The rights granted to the landlord peasants by the position of February 19, 1861 were gradually extended to the peasants of the palace, appanage, attributed and state.

After the peasant position in a series of administrative reforms, the most important place is, without any doubt, the position on zemstvo institutions. As early as March 25, 1859, the highest order was given to transform the provincial and uyezd administrations, and the following leadership was indicated: the composition of the police department; in this consideration, it is necessary to provide the economic administration in the county with greater unity, greater independence and greater confidence; moreover, it is necessary to determine the degree of participation of each class in the economic administration of the county. " On October 23, 1859, it was indicated that these beginnings should be distributed also for the transformation of provincial institutions. As a result, a special commission was set up at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the work of which was facilitated from the very beginning. modern works, carried out in a special commission under the Ministry of Finance to revise the tax system. As a result of all these works, it turned out to be published on January 1. 1864 the regulation on provincial and district zemstvo institutions, which these latter are entrusted with the following affairs: management of property, capital and monetary collections of the zemstvo, arrangement and maintenance of buildings and communications belonging to zemstvo, management of mutual zemstvo property insurance, care for the development of local trade and industry, food and public welfare of the poor, participation, mainly in economic terms, within the law, in the care of church building, public education, public health and the maintenance of prisons, the layout, appointment, collection and expenditure of local and certain state monetary collections to satisfy zemstvo needs of the province or county. To manage all these zemstvo affairs, they are established: in each district - district zemstvo assembly, meeting once a year and having its own permanent executive body called county zemstvo council; in the province there is provincial zemstvo assembly with its permanent executive body - provincial zemstvo council. In connection with the reform of the zemstvo administration, there is also a city approved on June 16, 1870. City Position, which our cities are given considerable self-government. According to this Regulation, the city public administration consists of city ​​electoral meetings, city council and city ​​government chaired by the mayor. The sphere of urban self-government within the city is very extensive. The Duma independently arranges the city administration and economy, elects officials and assigns them a salary, establishes city taxes, manages city property, spends sums, takes care of the external improvement of the city, its health, education and industry, charitable institutions, etc., moreover, the police authorities must strictly monitor the exact implementation of the regulations issued by city public institutions.

Among the reforms that marked the reign of Alexander II, one of the leading places undoubtedly belongs to judicial reform. This deeply thought-out reform had a strong and direct impact on the entire structure of state and public life, it introduced into it completely new, long-awaited principles - which are: complete separation of the judiciary from administrative and accusatory power, publicity and transparency of the court, independence of judges, legal profession and adversarial the procedure for legal proceedings, and more important in terms of the severity of the crimes, criminal cases are indicated to be transferred to the court of public conscience in the person of the jury. It's already 29 Sept. 1862 were considered and approved by the sovereign the main provisions regarding the transformation of the judicial part, drawn up by the Second branch of his own im. majesty's office. Then a special commission was established under the direct chairmanship of the Secretary of State, which, developing these provisions, drew up draft judicial statutes, later discussed in detail and amended by the Council of State, and, finally, on November 24, 1864, by the highest decree, the Statute of Criminal and Civil Procedure and the Statute was approved. on the punishments imposed by justices of the peace.

The essence of judicial reform is as follows. The judgment is made verbally and publicly; the judicial power is separated from the accusatory one and belongs to the courts without any participation of the administrative power; the main form of legal proceedings is an adversarial process; the case on its merits can be examined in no more than two instances; in the third instance (the cassation department of the Senate) can be transferred only upon requests for cassation of decisions in cases of clear violation of the direct meaning of laws or rituals and forms of production; in cases of crimes entailing punishments, combined with the deprivation of all or some of the special rights and advantages of the state, the determination of guilt is provided to a jury elected from local inhabitants of all classes; clerical secrecy is eliminated, and attorneys at law are available at the courts to petition and defend defendants, who are supervised by special councils drawn from the same corporation. New judicial institutions received the following types: magistrates' courts, congresses of justices of the peace, district courts and judicial chambers. The county, making up the world district, is divided into world sections, the number of which is determined by a special schedule. Each peace precinct has a district magistrate, and the district has several honorary justices of the peace; all of them are elected for 3 years from local residents who meet the conditions prescribed by law, and approved by the Governing Senate. For the final decision of the case, subject to amicable trial, precinct and honorary magistrates of the district draw up regular congresses at the appointed time, the chairman of which is elected for 3 years from their own midst. - A district court is established for several counties, consisting of a chairman and a certain number of members appointed by the government, and a supreme judicial district is formed from one or more provinces, in which a court of justice is established, divided into departments, with both the chairman and their staff members appointed the government. At the district courts and judicial chambers, jurors, elected from local inhabitants of all classes, are composed to determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant in criminal cases. Then, at each of these 2 institutions there is a special prosecutor and a certain number of his comrades. The District Court Prosecutor is subordinate to the Prosecutor of the Trial Chamber, and the latter is directly dependent on the Minister of Justice as the Attorney General.

Military administration has also undergone transformations. Already at the beginning of the reign, military settlements were destroyed, the term of soldier's service was reduced from 25 to 15 years, humiliating corporal punishment was abolished, Special attention to raise the level of general education of army officers through reforms of military educational institutions. Further, due to the noticed shortcomings in the structure of military command, which stemmed from its excessive centralization, in 1862 the Ministry of War was given the highest order to subject the military command and control system to a radical revision, bearing in mind the absolute need to strengthen command at the locations of troops. As a result of this revision, the highest approved on August 6, 1864, the Regulation on military district directorates. On the basis of this provision, initially 10 military districts were organized, and then (August 6, 1865) another 4. In each district, a chief chief appointed at the immediate highest discretion was appointed, who bears the name of the commander of the troops of such and such a military district. This position can also be assigned to the local governor-general. In some districts, an assistant commander of the troops is also appointed. - Another significant measure for the transformation of our military structure was the Charter on military service, issued on January 1, 1874, according to which the entire male population of the empire, regardless of status, is subject to military service, and this obligation consists of being in the ranks for 6 years, 9 years in dismissal and up to 40 years of age in the militia. It should also be borne in mind that in 1867 a public court was also introduced in the army, judicial power is distributed between regimental courts, district courts and the main military court in St. Petersburg. The composition of the courts, excluding regimental ones, was supposed to be replenished with officers completing the course at the Military Law Academy.

Public education also attracted the attention of the sovereign. Particularly important in this respect was the publication of the new and general charter of Russian universities on June 18, 1863, in the development of which, on the initiative of the Minister of Public Education A.V. Golovnin, a special commission under the Main Board of Schools, composed mainly of St. Petersburg professors, participated. university. According to this charter, each university (under the main command of the minister of public education) is entrusted to the trustee of the educational district, who is entrusted with government control within the limits determined by the charter, over the independent orders of the university. Each university consists of a certain number of faculties, like component parts one whole. The management of the educational part is entrusted to the faculties and the university council. Each faculty constitutes an independent faculty assembly of ordinary and extraordinary professors under the chairmanship of a dean, elected by them for 3 years. The council is composed of all ordinary and extraordinary professors under the chairmanship of the rector, elected by the council for 4 years and approved in rank by the highest order. The rector is also entrusted with the closest management of the university. The charter determines which matters the faculties and the council can decide by their own authority and which must go to the approval of the trustee and the minister. For business affairs, a board was established under the chairmanship of the rector of the deans and the inspector (invited only for student affairs). A university court of three judges, elected annually by a council of professors, has been established to try student misconduct. In addition, the content of professors, the number of departments and university funds are increasing.

On November 19, 1864, a new statute on gymnasiums also appeared, significantly modified and supplemented by the statute on June 19, 1871. According to these statutes, secondary educational institutions were subdivided into classical ones, in which the classical system was carried out with great firmness, and real ones. Public education in the full sense is regulated by the highest approved on June 14, 1864. Regulations on elementary public schools. Attention was also paid to women's education. Already in the 60s, instead of the former closed women's institutions, they began to organize open ones, with the admission of girls of all classes, and these new institutions were under the authority of the Institutions of Empress Maria. The Ministry of Public Education began to establish similar gymnasiums. In 1870, on May 24, a new Regulations on women's gymnasiums and progymnasiums of the Ministry of Public Education. These educational institutions were adopted under the highest patronage of the Empress Empress. They are allowed to be established with the permission of the trustees of educational districts in such cities where it will be possible to ensure their existence through public or private donations, and the ministry is given to provide these institutions with benefits, for which it is given a certain amount annually in accordance with the funds of the treasury, but not more, however, 150 t. p. in year. Finally, the need for higher education for women led to the establishment of pedagogical courses and higher courses for women in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Kazan and Odessa.

The reform of the press also had a profound and beneficial effect on the development of social consciousness. Already in 1862, the main department of censorship was closed and part of its duties was assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the other directly to the Minister of Public Education. Finally, on April 6, 1865, Provisional Regulations for the Press. The Central Administration for Press Affairs is entrusted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which includes the General Administration for Press Affairs. This department is entrusted with three kinds of affairs: 1) supervision of the works of the press, published without the permission of the censorship; 2) surveillance of printers, lithographs and bookstores; and 3) administration of the remaining preliminary censorship. All periodicals and essays published in the capitals of at least 10 sheets, as well as all publications of scientific institutions, drawings, plans and maps are universally exempted from preliminary censorship.

The reign of Alexander II, so rich in terms of internal reforms, was also marked in relation to foreign policy a whole series of military actions, which eventually again raised the temporarily diminished importance of Russia after the Crimean War and again gave it a proper position in the host of European powers. As a matter of fact, despite the fact that the matter of internal renewal absorbed almost all the attention of the government, especially in the first half of Alexander's reign, the war with external enemies went on almost continuously on the outskirts of the state. First of all, upon his accession to the throne, Alexander II had to end another war, inherited from his previous reign along with the Crimean one. It was a war with the Caucasian highlanders. This struggle, which had been going on for a long time, which cost us a lot of manpower and resources, has not yet yielded any decisive results. Shamil, the leader of the mountaineers, even pushed us away from Dagestan and Chechnya. At the end of the Crimean War, the sovereign appointed Prince Baryatinsky as commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, and things went faster. Already in April 1859, Vedeno, the seat of Shamil, was taken, which entailed the subordination of almost all of Dagestan. Shamil with his followers retired to the inaccessible heights of Gunib, but was besieged from all sides by Russian troops and on August 25, after their decisive attack, was forced to surrender. The Eastern Caucasus was thus subdued; there was still the conquest of the West. The latter was all the more difficult because the mountaineers were actively supported by all our enemies, who did not want to allow the end Caucasian War... Despite the peace concluded with us, Turkey accepted the mountaineers, as Muslims, under its protection, delivered weapons and reinforcements through its emissaries. England also collected money in favor of the Circassians, and the French ambassador to Constantinople clearly took their side. In Trebizond, even a committee for "aid to the mountaineers" was formed by the European consuls (with the exception of the Prussian one). Despite, however, all these Difficult city election meetings, city thought, the business of conquering and gradually pushing the mountaineers to the sea moved forward, albeit slowly, thanks to the energy and familiarity with the local conditions of General Evdokimov. At the beginning of 1863, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich was appointed governor of the Caucasus, and things went faster, so that on May 21, 1864, the Grand Duke could telegraph the sovereign about the complete conquest of the Western Caucasus.

In the same year, 2 more major events took place - the pacification of Poland and the conquest of Turkestan.

After the suppression of the Polish uprising in 1831, Poland was in the position of a rebellious country, so that next to the ordinary administration, there was also a special military-police department. Emperor Alexander II, having ascended the throne, destroyed this distinction between Poles and other Russian subjects. Amnesty was granted to political criminals, many privileges were granted to the Poles, and the establishment of an Agricultural Society with an unlimited number of members was allowed under the chairmanship of Count Zamoyski. Despite, however, all these benefits, the revolutionary party did not give up its aspirations. The agricultural society also began to pursue the goal of national unification. The success of the Italian national movement, the unrest in the Austrian dominions - all this strengthened the hopes of the Polish patriots. In 1860 a series of demonstrations began against the Russians, which especially intensified in 1861. Despite, however, these demonstrations, which even reached the point of clashes between the people and the troops, the government continued its restrained and peaceful policy. The Poles even announced the appointment of the famous Polish patriot, the Marquis of Wielepolski, director of education and spiritual affairs, the establishment in the Kingdom of new schools and a State Council from eminent persons of the region, elective councils in provinces and counties and an elected municipal government in Warsaw. But all this could not satisfy the revolutionary party. An attempt was even made on the life of the newly appointed governor of the kingdom, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, and it was announced that a new Polish government (jond) with a central people's committee was established in all parts of former Poland. In view of all these threatening actions, the government resorted to a decisive measure - announced a general recruitment in the Kingdom not by lot, but by personal appeal, limiting it to the urban population and those of the villagers who are not engaged in arable farming. This measure brought the revolutionary party to the last degree of irritation, and at the beginning of 1863, when the announcement of recruitment followed, the revolutionary committee called all Poles to arms. On the night of January 10-11, an attack was made on our troops located in different parts of the Kingdom. The undertaking did not succeed in general. When the last attempt made by the government for reconciliation, namely the granting of forgiveness to those who lay down their arms before May 1, did not lead to anything, the government took vigorous measures to suppress the uprising. The intercession of the Western powers, which had sent their notes on the Polish question, was rejected, and the general indignation that gripped Russia thanks to the annoying and perky tone of these notes and expressed in a whole mass of addresses from all the noble assemblies expressing their loyalty to the sovereign and their readiness to die for him, forced the uninvited defenders to back down from their demands. The uprising was suppressed thanks to the energetic actions of the governor of Warsaw, gr. Berg and the Governor-General of Vilna Gr. Muravyov. Following this, a number of measures were taken to contribute to the final pacification of Poland, and the main figures in this field were Prince Cherkassky and N.A.Milyutin. The Polish peasants were granted land ownership and secular self-government, cities and townships were freed from patrimonial dependence in relation to landowners, in provinces (of which the number was increased from 5 to 10) and counties, administration was introduced similar to that in the empire, etc. (March 28) the highest will was announced to take measures for the complete merging of the Kingdom with other parts of the empire and to abolish for this purpose all the central government institutions in the Kingdom. Finally, in 1869, the Imperial University was established to replace the Main School in Warsaw.

Simultaneously with all these events, a struggle was waged on our Asian border. Already during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the Russians became a firm foot in Turkestan thanks to the subordination of the Kirghiz. In 1864, owing to the energetic and intensified actions of General Verevkin and Colonel Chernyaev, our frontier front line advanced significantly: Chernyaev took Aulieta and Chekment by storm, and Verevkin, for his part, conquered Turkestan. Learning that the emir of Bukhara intended to occupy Tashkent, which was dependent on Kokand, Chernyaev in 1865 quickly moved to this city, protected by 30-ton. garrison, and with only 2,000 people. and 12 cannons, took it by open assault. The struggle against the emir continued until 1868, when Samarkand and Uzhgut were taken. The emir was forced to reconcile and conclude an agreement under which he provided Russian merchants with complete freedom of trade and abolished slavery in his possessions. Back in 1867, from the Turkestan region with the annexation of the Semirechenskaya region to it, the Turkestan general-governorship was established. In 1871, the Russian possessions were enriched by the annexation of Kuldja, and in 1875 Kokand itself was occupied, which now constitutes the Fergana region. Even before the conquest of Kokand, the struggle with the Khiva Khan began. Under the protection of his unfortunate, waterless steppes, this latter did not pay attention to the treaty of 1842 concluded with the Russians, attacked Russian merchants, robbed them and took them prisoner. I had to resort to drastic measures. In 1873, three detachments moved to Khiva from three different sides: from the shores of the Caspian Sea, a detachment headed by General Markozov marched, General Verevkin marched from Orenburg, and General Kaufman, the chief leader of the entire expedition, marched from Tashkent. The first detachment was supposed to return, but the other two, despite the 45 ° heat, the lack of water and all kinds of difficulties, reached Khiva, took it and in 2 weeks conquered the whole state. The Khan was forced to admit his dependence on the White Tsar, to cede part of his possessions at the mouth of the Amu Darya; further, he provided Russian merchants with complete freedom of trade and exclusive sailing along the Amu Darya, their disputes with the Khivans were to be resolved by the Russian authorities; under the khan himself, a council of noble Khivans and Russian officers was established, and, finally, he had to pay an indemnity of 2,200,000 rubles. After the subjugation of the Kirghiz and Turkmens, the annexation of Samarkand and Kokand and the subjugation of Khiva and Bukhara, the Russians had only one more enemy in Central Asia - it was the Khan Kashgar Yakub, patronized by the British, who had given him the title of Emir from the Sultan of Constantinople. When the Russians occupied Kuldja in 1870 and thus approached his possessions, he tried to resist, supported by the British. Yakub died in 1877, and the Chinese declared claims to his possessions, demanding that the Russians also return Kulja. After lengthy negotiations in St. Petersburg, on February 24, 1881, through the Chinese plenipotentiary marquis Tzeng, an agreement was concluded with the Chinese, according to which the Russians ceded Gulja to them and renounced their claims to Kashgar in exchange for various trade privileges.

In order to punish the Turkmen who lived on the borders of Afghanistan and who owned the cities of Geok-Tepe and Merv for their predatory raids, an expedition was launched against them. On December 20, 1880, General Skobelev took Yanskale by storm, then Dengil-Tepe and Geok-Tepe, and on January 30, 1881 took Askhabad. The concession of Akhal-Teke by the Shah in connection with the acquisition of Lehabad and Geok-Tepe brought us, however, very advantageous positions on the northern border of Afghanistan. (Cf. I. Strelbitsky"Land acquisitions of Russia during the reign of Emperor Alexander II from 1855 to 1881", St. Petersburg, 1881).

In the eastern outskirts of Asia, during the reign of Alexander II, Russia also made quite important acquisitions, moreover, in a peaceful way. According to the Aigun Treaty, concluded with China in 1857, the entire left bank of the Amur went to us, and the Peking Treaty of 1860 provided us with a part of the right bank between the r. Ussuri, Korea and the sea. Since then, the rapid settlement of the Amur Region began, various settlements and even cities began to appear one after another. In 1875, Japan ceded a part of Sakhalin that did not yet belong to us in exchange for the Kuril Islands, which we did not need at all. Likewise, in order not to scatter its forces and round off the Asian border, the government decided to abandon our former possessions in North America and for a monetary reward ceded them to the United North American States, which served as the basis of our friendship with the latter.

But the largest, most glorious military undertaking of the reign of Alexander II is the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

After the Crimean War, Russia, preoccupied with its own internal affairs, for some time completely removed itself from Western European affairs. So, in 1859, during the Austro-Italian clash, Russia limited itself to armed neutrality. The latter responded to the interference of the Roman curia in the government's relations with its Catholic subjects by abolishing the concordat of 1847 on December 4, 1866, and in June 1869 forbidding the Catholic bishops of the empire to participate in the council convened by Pius IX. During the Danish-Prussian war, the emperor tried to be only a mediator and remained in the same neutral position during the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. fleet on the Black Sea.

Taking advantage of the defeat of France and the isolation of England, the Russian Chancellor, Prince Gorchakov, in a circular dispatch dated October 19, declared that Russia did not intend to embarrass itself with the mentioned article any longer, and the London Conference on March 1 (13), 1871 recognized this change, deleting the article from the treaty. After the fall of Napoleon, the 3 emperors entered into a close alliance, called the "Triple". The Berlin Congress of 1872, the arrival of the German emperor to St. Petersburg in 1873 and the frequent meetings of the three emperors further strengthened this alliance. The Eastern question, however, soon subjected this friendship to us of the West to a strong test.

The fate of our kindred Slavic tribes on the Balkan Peninsula has always attracted the attention and sympathy of the Russian people and government. Of these tribes in the 60s, Serbs, Romanians and Montenegrins achieved some independence; not such was the fate of the Slavs in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria. Here Turkish oppression and arbitrariness reigned in all its unbridledness, causing frequent desperate uprisings of the inhabitants, driven to extremes. In 1874, an uprising broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Turks suffered defeat after defeat. To appease the rebels, representatives of Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary drew up a reform program for Turkey in Berlin. But the Turks, relying on England's obvious sympathy for them, not only rejected this program, but boldly killed the French and German consuls in Thessaloniki, who stood up for one Bulgarian girl, and then, unable to defeat the rebels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, attacked the defenseless Bulgaria. Since 1864, the Porta began to settle here the Circassians, who were evicted from the Caucasus in order to avoid Russian domination. Accustomed to living in their homeland by robbery and robbery, these predators, called bashi-bazouks, began to oppress the Bulgarian peasants, forcing them to work for themselves as serfs. The old hatred between Christians and Muslims flared up with renewed vigor. The peasants took up arms. And so, in order to avenge this uprising, Turkey sent thousands of Circassians, Bashi-bazouks and other irregular troops to Bulgaria. Civilians were treated on a par with the rebels. Terrible fury and massacre began. In Batak alone, out of 7000 inhabitants, 5000 were beaten. The investigation undertaken by the French envoy showed that 20 tons of Christians had died within 3 months. All of Europe was seized with indignation. But this feeling was most pronounced in Russia and in all the Slavic lands. Serbia and Montenegro stood up for the Bulgarians. General Chernyaev, the conqueror of Tashkent, took over the leadership of the Serbian army as a volunteer. Russian volunteers from all classes of society flocked to the aid of the insurgents; community sympathy was expressed by all kinds of voluntary donations. Serbia, however, was not successful due to the numerical superiority of the Turks. Public opinion in Russia loudly demanded war. Emperor Alexander II, by his characteristic peacefulness, wished to avoid it and reach an agreement through diplomatic negotiations. But neither the Constantinople Conference (November 11, 1876) nor the London Protocol led to any results. The Turks refused to comply with even the mildest demands, counting on the support of England. The war became inevitable. On April 12, 1877, our troops stationed near Chisinau were ordered to enter Turkey. On the same day, our Caucasian troops, of which Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich was appointed commander-in-chief, entered the borders of Asiatic Turkey. Started Eastern war 1877- 78G.(see this word), covering with such a loud, unfading glory of the valor of the Russian soldier.

Treaty of San Stefano Feb 19 In addition to its direct goal of liberating the Balkan Slavs, 1878 brought brilliant results to Russia. The intervention of Europe, which was jealously following Russia's successes, with the Berlin Treaty significantly narrowed the scope of these results, but they still remain very significant. Russia acquired the Danubian part of Bessarabia and the Turkish regions bordering on Transcaucasia with the fortresses of Kars, Ardagan and Batum, turned into a free port.

Emperor Alexander II, who sacredly and courageously did the work entrusted to him by fate - the building and elevation of a huge monarchy, which aroused the delight of true patriots and the surprise of the enlightened people of the whole world, also met evil ill-wishers. With madness and fury, pursuing goals that were incomprehensible to anyone, the organizers-destroyers created a whole series of attempts on the life of the sovereign, who constituted the pride and glory of Russia, attempts that so much interfered with his great undertakings, embarrassed his peace and bewildered the numerous kingdom, completely calm and the tsar devotional. Various police measures, one after another created, and enormous powers, given at the end of the reign to the Minister of Internal Affairs gr. Loris-Melikov, to the great sadness of the Russian people, did not reach the goal. On March 1, 1881, the sovereign, for whom a large population was ready to lay down their lives, died a martyr's death from a villainous hand that threw an explosive shell. On the terrible place of the murder of the great sovereign in St. Petersburg, the Church of the Resurrection is being erected, the same temples and various monuments in memory of the Tsar-Liberator were built in different parts of the Russian land, and the Russian people, remembering the name of the Tsar-Liberator, always cross themselves.

Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron

Short plan:

The heir to the Romanov dynasty Alexander Nikolaevich was born April 29, 1818 in Moscow. Years of reign from 1855 to 1881... After the accession of his father, Nicholas 1, to the rights of the emperor in 1825, he was the first in line to the throne, as he was the eldest son.

As a direct heir, Alexander from an early age prepared for the role of state ruler. He received an excellent education without leaving the royal chambers. Among his teachers were such well-known names as Speransky, Zhukovsky, Kankrin and others.

Alexander received the imperial crown March 3, 1855... Along with the rights to the throne, he also inherited the unresolved problems of the Crimean War, as well as the society dissatisfied with the Decembrist exile of 1825. Alexander 2 managed to deal with them quite successfully. That is why the period of his reign is called "liberation".

Wars under Alexander II

During the reign of Alexander II, Russia has achieved great success in the military field. And this is despite the fact that the state activity of the emperor began with the rapid end of the Crimean War, as a result of which the country found itself in political isolation. France, Austria and Prussia created an anti-Russian coalition after the defeat of Russia. The rapprochement with Prussia took place in 1864, when an uprising broke out in Poland, which was suppressed with the help of Russian troops.

In 1864, the almost 50-year Caucasian War ended with the victory of Russia. As a result, the lands of the North Caucasus were annexed to the Russian Empire and its influence in these regions was strengthened. Also, there was a massive resettlement of people from the central part of Russia to the Caucasus.

Reforms

The reign of Alexander II was called by historians of pre-revolutionary Russia nothing more than "the era of great reforms." It is not only about a breakthrough decision for the country to abolish serfdom - the emperor also became famous for his successes in foreign policy.

internal political reforms	foreign policy reforms
Peasant reform of 1861	withdrawal from the Crimean War
creation of city management committees	severing relations with France, but maintaining an alliance with Austria
modernization of the judicial system	sale of Alaska to the USA due to the influx of American population and unprofitable maintenance
improvement of the educational system	the end of the Caucasian War in 1864
strengthening the country's military system, improving the education of the military, changing the conditions of military service, providing benefits	recovery Russian fleet at the Black Sea

Peasant reform

Studying the biography of Alexander II, one cannot fail to mention his historical nickname "The Liberator". Its Russian emperor received after the signing on March 3, 1861 of the manifesto "On the abolition of serfdom." Despite the fact that preparations for this step were carried out over the previous decades (even during the reign of Alexander I in the 1820s), the final decision was made by Alexander II.

The 1861 reform is controversial. On the one hand, Alexander II removed the shackles of serfdom from the state, and on the other, he brought it to a social and economic crisis. The table examines the positive and negative aspects of the Peasant Reform.

Positive sides	Negative sides
Peasants were given personal freedom and the right to dispose of property	Until the redemption of land and housing from the landowners, the peasants remained temporarily liable
The beginning of the birth of capitalism	The peasants received freedom without their own land (land was leased by landowners at fabulous prices)
The landlords were able to set their own price for land, which was 2-3 times higher than the market, which increased their income.	The circumstances of payment of land payments drove the peasants into poverty. Because of this, many refused to sign letters of release.
	The peasants were given compulsory land, for which they had to pay the landlord quitrent or corvee for 9 years. There was no right to give up the land.
	The obligatory provision of land to the peasants threatened the social position of the nobles. Many of them were deprived of a significant part of their land holdings, which was proof of their high position. The nobles inherited not the title, but the land that was taken from them.

On the whole, the peasant reform, although it had been preparing for more than twenty years, did not bring the expected reassurance of the public.

Liberal reforms

1. Zemskaya reform 1864 became a direct continuation of the peasant reforms. Its essence was to create a system of local self-government for the liberated peasants. Zemstvo meetings were organized, which included landlords, peasants, officials and clergy. The system of local taxation was developing.
2. Urban reform 1870 was a necessity due to the rise of capitalism and the expansion of cities. Within its framework, the City Duma was formed, where the mayor was elected - the executive body of public administration. Only property owners who could pay taxes were vested with voting rights. Hired workers, doctors, engineers, teachers, officials without their own housing were deprived of the electoral opportunity.
3. Military reforms 60-70s improved the living conditions of the military. Alexander II signed decrees abolishing corporal punishment, reorganizing the military training system, and transforming the military command and control system. Military courts were created, copying the activities of city courts. On January 1, 1874, a decree on universal military service was issued, which replaced recruitment. Benefits were also added: the only sons and the only breadwinners in the family were exempted from service. In general, the modernization of the army was observed.
4. Educational reforms laid the foundation for the development of women's education. The development of public education continued.

The significance of the reforms has proved to be quite tangible. Russia has embarked on a new path of development. This affected all spheres of the country's life.

Judicial reform

The judicial reform of 1864 marked completely new directions for the development of judicial proceedings and the judicial system. The bourgeois system had a tremendous influence on the formation of the new judicial system.

The main transformations in this area are:

• Independence of the court from the administration;
• Publicity;
• The adversarial nature of the court (the presence of prosecution and defense, the provision of independent facts from both sides, and the decision taking into account all factors);
• Creation of a jury;
• The principle of the irremovability of judges (The office held by a judge is, as a rule, for life. A judge cannot be removed or transferred to another locality against his will).

Emperor's mother

The mother of Alexander II - Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - was the wife of the Russian ruler Nicholas 1. She suited her stern and military-focused husband as well as possible. With her cheerful and cheerful disposition, the young empress smoothed out all the barbs of Nicholas's character and balanced the union. At court she was received very warmly, appreciating her stateliness and belonging to a famous family. Despite the health problems caused by numerous psychological shocks, Alexandra Feodorovna, as a result of her reign, was remembered by everyone as a graceful and invariably cheerful woman.

Children of Alexander II

The first wife of the emperor, Maria Alexandrovna, presented Alexander with 2 eight heirs. Ekaterina Dolgorukova, who became the second wife of the emperor, after the wedding had the opportunity to legitimize the kinship of her four children with Alexander.

Wife

Alexander 2, like his uncle Alexander 1, was a windy man with regard to women. From adolescence, he fell in love with young maids of honor. At the age of 22, he married Princess Maximilian of Hesse, who became Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna in Orthodoxy.

According to the stories of the contemporaries of the imperial couple, this marriage, which lasted 40 years, was reliable and happy. But it was not without intrigue either. Maria Alexandrovna was supported and defended in every possible way by Alexander's father Nikolai, while the emperor's mother opposed the marriage, hinting at the ignoble origin of her daughter-in-law. Yes, and Alexander Nikolaevich himself spoke negatively about his wife's friends, as well as her "stuffy" character.

After the death of his wife, the emperor tied himself in marriage with his closest favorite, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova.

Who killed Alexander II

There were 7 attempts on Alexander 2. It turned out to be "successful" on March 13, 1881. On that day, the emperor rode from the Horse Guards Manege to the Winter Palace along the Neva. The carriage was blown up twice. Alexander did not suffer from the first explosion: he managed to get out of the cart and went to the wounded. The second bomb hit the target - the emperor's legs were torn off and he died several hours later from his injuries. At the place where Alexander 2 was killed in St. Petersburg, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood has now been erected.

Immediately after the death of the monarch, people began to fear that the country would be turned upside down by revolutions and social change. But that did not happen. The trial over the regicides took place over those who killed the emperor-liberator, then the execution. No protests or popular unrest were noticed. There was a lull.

The murderers of Alexander II were members of the secret society "Narodnaya Volya" Zhelyabov, Kibalchich, Rysakov, Mikhailov. The process was led by a 27-year-old noblewoman Sofya Perovskaya. All of them were hanged on the parade ground of the Semenovsky regiment.

Board results

Alexander II was called a great reformer, humanist and liberator, but this did not prevent the development of the Narodnaya Volya opposition. Social movements directed against the monarchy during this time only strengthened their positions. He was killed in many ways, for the wrong nature of the reforms, which were supposed to bring peace, not devastation.

Based on the results of the board, the following key points are highlighted:

• Abolition of serfdom - peasants got freedom without land
• Creation of bodies of rural and urban self-government
• Reorganization of the military system, which led to a reduction in the size of the Russian army and an improvement in the living conditions of the military
• Strengthening the role of Russia in the international arena
• Annexation of the territory of the North Caucasus and strengthening of influence in this region
• Alaska Sale

He went down in history as a great reformer and "liberator". His reign is interesting not only for political initiatives, but also for personal factors that played an important role in his reign.

Mother's prediction

Emperor Alexander II was perhaps the last ruler born in Moscow. His family moved here in 1817 to support and help rebuild the city, which suffered from the Napoleonic invasion. The birth of Alexander on April 17 (29) became a real holiday in the Romanov family, because over the past 20 years, only girls were born in the surname. It was 1818 - Alexander I had not yet shown symptoms of the disease that cut short his life, a terrible uprising had not yet taken place on Senate Square, Alexander's successor had not yet been announced, to whom fate had not given a son.

But already during childbirth, the mother of the future emperor Alexandra Feodorovna predicted the future of the newborn: “When mother (Maria Feodorovna), coming up to us, said,“ This is a son, ”our happiness doubled, however, I remember that I felt something impressive and sad when thoughts that this little creature will eventually become an emperor. "
A year later, the will of Alexander I became known to make his brother Nikolai Pavlovich the successor. A certain role in this decision was played by the presence of a male heir in his family.

Stone talisman

On April 17, 1834, the Grand Duke turned 16 years old, the young Tsarevich was declared an adult. On the same day, in the Urals, the Finnish geologist Nordenschild discovered a previously unknown precious stone and named him in honor of the heir "Alexandrite". With all the abundance of omens and predictions that accompanied the reign of Alexander II, conversations about this stone were especially remembered by contemporaries. Alexandrite has the unique property of changing its color - from green to blood red. Because of this, they began to ascribe mystical properties to the stone and were more than once compared with the fate of the emperor: “... just about that prophetic Russian stone ... Insidious Siberian! He was all green, like hope, and by the evening he was drenched in blood ... there is a green morning and a bloody evening ... This is fate, this is the fate of the noble Tsar Alexander! ", Nikolai Leskov wrote in one of his stories.

Alexandrite became the emperor's talisman, who more than once averted trouble from him, but on the ill-fated day of the last assassination attempt - March 1 (13), 1881, Alexander forgot to take the stone with him.

Father's last parting words

Alexander II, as often happens in the imperial family, had a difficult relationship with his father. Nicholas I perfectly understood what fate awaited his son and did not give slack in his upbringing. In addition, his contemporaries remember him as a “despot in everything,” including in the family. He himself said more than once: “I look at human life, only as a service, since everyone serves. " Nikolai did not forget about his role on his deathbed. He handed over the reins of government to his son with great regret: “I hand over the command to you, but, unfortunately, not in the order I wanted, leaving you a lot of work and worries. I had two thoughts, two desires: to free Eastern Christians from under the Turkish yoke; second: to free the Russian peasants from the rule of the landlords. Now the war and the war are hard, there is nothing to think about the liberation of Eastern Christians, promise me to free the Russian serfs. "

It should be noted that before his accession to the throne, Alexander II was a staunch conservative. After these memories, it may seem that Alexander II changed his position in order to fulfill the will of his father, but this is not so. The Crimean War and the defeat of Nicholas taught him an important lesson - it is no longer possible to live like this.

Alaska Sale

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

In addition, even during the reign of Nikolai, Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky presented the sovereign a report on the need to strengthen ties with America, which sooner or later will raise the issue of expanding its influence in this region, which was strategically important for the latter.

Alexander II returned to this issue only when the country needed money for reforms. The emperor had a choice - either to solve the pressing problems of people and the state, or to cherish the distant prospect of the possible development of Alaska. The choice was made in favor of pressing problems. At 4 a.m. on March 30, 1867, Alaska became the property of the United States.

Step forward

Alexander II can be safely called an experimenter. This quality manifested itself not only in his numerous reforms, which brought him the historical name "Liberator". Alexander II tried to get as close as possible to the people, to understand their needs. Already in the 20th century, Solzhenitsyn, in his accusatory work The Gulag Archipelago, wrote: “There is a known case that Alexander II, the one surrounded by revolutionaries who were looking for his death seven times, once visited the house of preliminary detention on Shpalernaya and in solitary confinement 227 (solitary confinement ) ordered to lock himself up, sat more than an hour- I wanted to understand the state of those whom he kept there. "

Unwanted marriage

Alexander II respected and dearly loved his wife Maria, but was not an exemplary spouse. You can't list all his mistresses, but he had the most sincere feelings for Ekaterina Dolgoruka, who became his second wife. When they met he was already forty-one years old, and she was only thirteen. The novel arose after, six years later, in 1865, when Catherine took her place at court among the Empress's maids of honor. In 1866, the emperor offered her his hand and heart: "Today, alas, I am not free, but at the first opportunity I will marry you, from now on I consider you my wife before God, and I will never leave you."

On June 3, 1880, Empress Maria Alexandrovna died in splendid isolation. The marriage with Catherine became possible, despite all the discontent and censure of the court, which did not stop calling her "an impudent adventurer." Many historians, in particular Leonid Lyashchenko, later associated the strengthening of the split in society with a split in the royal family.
As the second legal wife of Alexander II, Catherine did not become empress. A morganatic marriage was concluded between them, in which a spouse of lower origin does not become equal in status to her husband.

Unfinished business

On March 1, 1881, Alexander II was mortally wounded on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by the People's Will I. I. Grinevitsky. Ironically, he died on the very day when he decided to launch the constitutional project of M. T. Loris-Melikov, which would give the third estate the right to participate in the discussion of the political initiatives of the monarch. This move was supposed to lead to a decline in the revolutionary terror in the country. On March 1 (13) at noon, the emperor announced to Loris-Melikov that the project would be discussed on March 4 at a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Then he turned to his sons Alexander (in the future Alexander III) and Vladimir: "I do not hide from myself that we are following the path of the constitution." The emperor was killed four hours later.

On March 3, 1855, Alexander II Nikolaevich ascended the throne. In his first speech to the members of the Council, the new emperor said: “My unforgettable Parent loved Russia and all his life was constantly thinking about its benefits alone. In his constant and daily labors with me, he told me that I wanted to take everything unpleasant and difficult for myself, if only to convey to you Russia well-ordered, happy and calm. Providence judged differently, and the late Emperor, in the last hours of his life, told me to hand over my command to you, but, unfortunately, not in the order he wished, leaving you a lot of work and worries. "

The first important step was the end of the bloody Crimean War of 1853-1856. Alexander II concluded the Paris Peace Treaty in March 1856. When external enemies stopped tormenting Russia, the emperor set about restoring the country and he began with reforms.

Great Reforms of Alexander II.

Abolition of military settlements in 1857.

V early XIX century, in the era of wars with Napoleon, a proposal arose to organize military settlements in the inner provinces in large sizes... This idea was put forward by Emperor Alexander I. He hoped that the military settlements would replace the reserve armies in Russia and would make it possible, if necessary, to increase the number of troops several times. Such settlements gave the lower ranks the opportunity to remain among their families during the service and continue their agricultural pursuits, and to provide themselves with a house and food in old age.

But the military settlements did not last long, bringing only losses to the treasury. After the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander II, the adjutant wing Dmitry Stolypin was sent to the military settlements. Having traveled around all the settlements, Stolypin informed the emperor that the population of the districts had become very poor, many owners did not have livestock, gardening had fallen into decay, buildings in the districts required repair, and so much land was needed to provide the troops with food that only uncomfortable areas. Both the local and the main command of the military settlements came to the conviction that the military settlements were materially disadvantageous and did not achieve their goal. In view of this, in 1857, military settlements and districts of arable soldiers were abolished and transferred to the management of the Ministry of State Property.

Abolition of Serfdom in 1861.

The first steps towards the limitation and further abolition of serfdom were made by Paul I in 1797 with the signing of the Manifesto on the three-day corvee, after Alexander I in 1803 with the signing of the Decree on free farmers, as well as Nicholas I, who continued the peasant policy of Alexander I.

The new government, assembled by Alexander II, decided not only to continue this policy, but also to completely solve the peasant question. And already on March 3, 1861 in St. Petersburg, Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the Regulation on peasants emerging from serfdom, which consisted of 17 legislative acts.

• The peasants ceased to be considered serfs and began to be considered temporarily obligated. The peasants received full civil legal capacity in everything that did not relate to their special estate rights and duties - membership in rural society and the ownership of allotment land.
• Peasant houses, buildings, all movable property of the peasants were recognized as their personal property.
• The peasants received elective self-government, the lowest economic unit of self-government was rural society, and the highest administrative unit was the volost.
• The landowners retained ownership of all the lands they owned, but were obliged to provide the peasants with a house plot and a field allotment for use. The land of the field allotment was provided not to the peasants personally, but for the collective use of rural societies, which could distribute them among the peasant farms at their discretion. The minimum size of a peasant allotment for each locality was established by law.
• For the use of allotted land, the peasants had to serve corvee or pay quitrent and did not have the right to refuse it for 49 years.
• The size of the field allotment and duties were to be recorded in charter letters, which were drawn up by landowners for each estate and checked by world mediators.
• Rural societies were given the right to buy out the estate and, by agreement with the landowner, a field allotment, after which all obligations of the peasants to the landowner were terminated. The peasants who bought the allotment were called peasant owners. The peasants could also waive the right of redemption and receive free of charge from the landowner an allotment in the amount of a quarter of the allotment that they had the right to redeem. With the granting of a free allotment, the temporarily obligated state also ceased.
• The state, on favorable terms, provided the landowners with financial guarantees to receive redemption payments, taking over their payment. The peasants, accordingly, had to pay redemption payments to the state.

Many historians consider the reform of Alexander II incomplete and argue that it did not lead to the liberation of the peasants, but only determined the mechanism of such liberation, and an unfair one. Myshkina: “The peasants saw that they were endowed with sand and swamps and some scattered plots of land on which it was impossible to farm, when they saw that this was done with the consent of the state authorities, when they saw that there was no such mysterious article of the law that they assumed as protecting the interests of the people, they became convinced that they have nothing to count on state power, that they can only count on themselves. "

"Liberation of the peasants (Reading the manifesto)". ⁠Boris Kustodiev. 1907

Financial Reform.

The abolition of serfdom created a new type of economy in Russia. The reforms began on May 22, 1862 with the introduction of the "Rules for the preparation, consideration and execution of the state list and financial estimates of ministries and main departments." The first step was the introduction of the principle of publicity into finance and the beginning of the publication of the state budget. In 1864-68, treasuries were organized within the structure of the Ministry of Finance, administering all state revenues. In 1865, local financial self-government bodies were created - control chambers.

Trade changed as the reforms began. In order to eradicate corruption, the government decided to replace the previously used lease payments with excise stamps for alcohol and tobacco. The wine ransom, the revenues from which traditionally formed the lion's share of the budget, was abolished. From now on, excise taxes could be obtained from special excise departments. The monetary reform of 1862 was postponed because the state did not have enough gold and silver to exchange paper money... It was carried out only in 1895-97. under the direction of Sergei Witte.

Modernization has fundamentally reorganized the public financial system, making it more open and more efficient. Strict accounting of the state budget set the economy on a new path of development, corruption decreased, the treasury was spent on important items and events, and officials became more responsible for managing money. Thanks to new system the state was able to overcome the crisis and mitigate Negative consequences peasant reform.

University Reform.

In 1863, the University Charter was adopted. The new charter gave universities more independence in internal governance matters and expanded opportunities to take into account local conditions for their development, created more favorable conditions for scientific and educational activities, increased the attractiveness of teaching at universities for young people and contributed to the establishment of a sufficient number of qualified specialists in university departments in the future. teachers, and also provided for a number of special measures to stimulate students to master the sciences. The trustee of the educational district was only responsible for monitoring the legality of the actions of the University Council. Students attending the university did not have the right to a corporate structure, outsiders were not at all allowed to attend lectures.

Military Reform.

In the years 1860-1870, the Military Reform was carried out. The main provisions of the reforms were developed by Minister of War D.A.Milyutin. The reform resulted in:

• reduction in the size of the army by 40%;
• the creation of a network of military and cadet schools, where representatives of all classes were admitted;
• improvement of the military command and control system, introduction of military districts, creation of the General Staff;
• creation of public and adversarial military courts, military prosecutor's office;
• abolition of corporal punishment (with the exception of rods for special "fined") in the army;
• rearmament of the army and navy (adoption of rifled steel guns, new rifles, etc.), reconstruction of state-owned military factories;
• the introduction of universal conscription in 1874 instead of recruiting and a reduction in service terms. Under the new law, all young people who have reached the age of 20 are recruited, but the government determines the required number of recruits every year, and draws only this number from recruits by lot, although usually no more than 20-25% of recruits were called up for service. The only son of the parents, the only breadwinner in the family, and also if the elder brother of the conscript is serving or has served service, were not subject to conscription. Those taken into service are listed in it: in the ground forces 15 years - 6 years in the ranks and 9 years in the reserve, in the navy - 7 years of active service and 3 years in the reserve. For those who have received primary education, the term of active service is reduced to 4 years, those who graduated from a city school - to 3 years, a gymnasium - to one and a half years, and who had higher education- up to six months.
• development and introduction of new military laws in the troops.

The City Reform was carried out. It served as an impetus for the commercial and industrial development of cities, consolidated the system of urban public administration. One of the results of the reforms of Alexander II was the introduction of society to civil life. The foundation was laid for a new Russian political culture.

And also the Judicial Reform, which comprehensively reformed the judicial system and legal proceedings, and the Zemskaya reform, which provided for the creation of a system of local self-government in rural areas - zemstvo institutions.

Foreign policy.

During the reign of Alexander II, the expansion of the Russian Empire took place. During this period, Central Asia was annexed to Russia (in 1865-1881, most of Turkestan became part of Russia), the North Caucasus, the Far East, Bessarabia, Batumi. Thanks to Prince Alexander Gorchakov, Russia restored its rights in the Black Sea, having achieved the cancellation of the ban on keeping its fleet there. The meaning of the annexation of new territories, especially Central Asia, was incomprehensible to a part of Russian society. 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 senselessness of the conquest of Central Asia for Russia. These conquests resulted in large human losses and material costs.

In 1867, Russian America (Alaska) was sold to the United States for $ 7.2 million. In 1875, an agreement was signed in St. Petersburg, according to which all the Kuril Islands were transferred 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 twenty-year concession ensured the neutrality of the United States and the Japanese Empire in relation to Russia's actions in the Far East and made it possible to free up the necessary forces to consolidate more habitable territories.

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

The assassination and death of Alexander II.

Several attempts were made on Alexander II. On April 16, 1866, the Russian revolutionary Karakozov was the very first assassination attempt. When Alexander II was heading from the gate Summer garden to his carriage, a shot rang out. The bullet flew over the head of the emperor, the shooter was pushed by the peasant Osip Komissarov, who was standing next to him, who saved the life of the emperor.

On May 25, 1867, an attempt was made on the life of a Polish émigré, Anton Berezovsky, in Paris. The bullet hit the horse. April 14, 1879 in St. Petersburg. Russian revolutionary Solovyov fired 5 shots from a revolver.

On December 1, 1879, there was an attempt to blow up the imperial train near Moscow. The emperor was saved by the fact that a steam locomotive broke down in Kharkov, which ran half an hour earlier than the tsar's. The king did not want to wait for the broken locomotive to be repaired and went first royal train... Unaware of this circumstance, the terrorists missed the first train, detonating a mine under the fourth car of the second.

On February 17, 1880, Khalturin exploded on the first floor of the Winter Palace. The emperor dined on the third floor, he was saved by the fact that he arrived later than the appointed time, the guards of 11 people on the second floor were killed.

On March 13, 1881, there was a fatal assassination attempt. The royal cortege turned from Engineering Street to the embankment, heading for the Theater Bridge, Rysakov threw a bomb under the horses of the emperor's carriage. The explosion wounded the guards and some people nearby, but the emperor himself was not injured. The man who threw the shell was detained.

Leib-coachman Sergeev, captain Kulebyakin and Colonel Dvozhitsky urged the emperor to leave the place of the assassination as soon as possible, but Alexander felt that military dignity required to look at the wounded Circassians who were guarding him and say a few words to them. Then he approached the detained Rysakov and asked him about something, then went back to the place of the explosion, and then Grinevitsky, who was standing at the canal grate and not noticed by the guards, threw a bomb wrapped in a napkin at the feet of the emperor.

The blast wave threw Alexander II to the ground, gushing blood from his shattered legs. The fallen emperor whispered: "Take me to the palace ... there ... die ...". By order of the Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich who had arrived from the Mikhailovsky Palace, the bleeding emperor was taken to the Winter Palace.

The emperor was carried in his arms and laid on the bed. Life-doctor Botkin, when asked by the heir whether the emperor would live long, answered: "From 10 to 15 minutes." At 15:35, the imperial standard was lowered on the flagpole of the Winter Palace, informing the population of St. Petersburg about the death of Emperor Alexander II.

Emperor Alexander II on his deathbed. Photo by S. Levitsky.

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

On April 17, 1818, the firstborn of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I was born in the Chudov Monastery. Prominent teachers and scientists were involved in the upbringing of the heir to the throne: V.A. Zhukovsky, legislation was taught by M.M. Speransky, and finance 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 agencies Empires: Senate and Holy Synod. Like his predecessors, Alexander is military service and is responsible during the Russian-Turkish war of 1853-1856 for the combat capability of the militia in St. Petersburg. An ardent champion of autocracy, Alexander very quickly comes to the conviction of the backwardness of social economic system Russia, while launching a whole range of reforms that will forever change the face of the empire.

The reforms of Alexander II are called the Great: Abolition of serfdom (1861), Judicial reform (1863), Education reform (1864), Zemskaya reform (1864), Military reform (1874). The transformations affected all spheres of activity 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 centuries-old order, which led to a surge in social activity on the one hand, and also aroused a reaction from the landlord 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 the Narodnaya Volya bombers. Historians are still arguing about what Russia would have become if the sovereign had lived at least four days, when the State Council was supposed to discuss the constitutional project of Loris-Melikov.

During the reign of Alexander II, Russian society and the state reached its 1000th anniversary. Looking back, into the depths of the centuries, every Russian person saw years of struggle with stubborn nature for the harvest, the 240-year-old Tatar yoke and Ivan the Great who threw him off, the Terrible's campaigns against Kazan and Astrakhan, the first emperor Peter and his associates, as well as Alexander I the Blessed, who brought peace and the rule of law to Europe! The list of glorious ancestors and their deeds were captured in the monument "Millennium of Russia" (in the spirit of the times on the monument was not immortalized), 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 which stands in Helsinki. In St. Petersburg, on the embankment of the canal im. Griboyedov, on the site of the fatal 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 shed on March 1, 1881.