What was Alexander 2? Personality of the emperor. Biography, years of government

The first spring day of 1881 was devoured by the blood of the emperor, who entered the history of Russia as a great reformer, rightfully deserving the epithet of the liberator granted to him by the people. On this day, Emperor Alexander 2 (years of rule - 1855-1881) was killed by a bomb explosion thrown by the Narodnaya Volya Ignaty Grinevitsky.

The young heirs of the throne

April 17, 1818 over Moscow rolled fireworks - at the halted in the bishop's house of the imperial couple was born the heir, who received the name of Alexander at holy baptism. Curious fact: after the death of Peter I the only ruler of Russia, who was born in her ancient capital, was exactly him - the future emperor Alexander 2.

Biography of his testifies that the childhood of the heir to the throne passed under the vigilant gaze of his father. Emperor Nicholas I paid close attention to the education of his son. Obligations of the home teacher Alexander were assigned to the famous poet VA Zhukovsky, who not only taught him the grammar of the Russian language, but also instilled in the boy the general foundations of culture. Special disciplines, such as foreign languages, military affairs, legislation and sacred history, were taught by the best teachers of that time.

Innocent youthful love

Probably, the lyrical verses of his home teacher and his elder friend VA Zhukovsky left their imprint on the consciousness of young Alexander. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, he began to show an early propensity for romantic love, which caused discontent of the father, a man, by the way, is also far from being sinless. It is known that on a trip to London Sasha was fascinated by a young girl - the future Queen Victoria, but these feelings were fated to die out.

Beginning of government activities

Emperor Nicholas I early began to admit his son to state affairs. As soon as he reached adulthood, he was admitted to the Senate and the Holy Synod. To the future monarch visually represented the scale of the empire, which he will manage, his father sent him in 1837 on a trip to Russia, during which Alexander visited twenty-eight provinces. After that, he went to Europe to replenish knowledge and complete the education.

The reign of Alexander 2 began in 1855, right after death interrupted the thirty-year period of the reign of his father, Nicholas I. He inherited problems related to the peasant question, the financial crisis and the hopelessly lost Crimean war that put Russia in a state of international isolation. All of them demanded an immediate solution.

The urgent need for reform

In order to get the country out of the crisis, reforms were needed, the necessity of which was dictated by life itself. The first of these was the abolition of military settlements, introduced back in 1810. The Emperor sent an archaism back to the past with one stroke of the pen, which did not bring any benefits to the army and provoked a social explosion. From this very urgent matter, and proceeded to his great transformations, Alexander 2.

Abolition of serfdom

The beginning was laid. After that, Emperor Alexander II carried out his main historical mission - the abolition of serfdom. It is known that the need for this act was written by Empress Catherine II, but in those years the consciousness of the society was not ready for such radical changes, and the ruler prudently abstained from them.

Now, in the middle of the XIX century, Alexander 2, whose personality was formed under the influence of completely different historical realities, realized that if slavery is not abolished by legislative means, it will serve as a detonator for the growing danger of a revolutionary explosion in the country.

This same point of view was shared by the most progressive statesmen of his entourage, but in court circles a large and influential opposition was formed, consisting of dignitaries of the last reign, raised in the barracks-bureaucratic spirit of Nicholas I.

Nevertheless, in 1881 the reform was carried out, and millions of serfs became equal citizens of Russia. However, this entailed a new problem, which Alexander had to solve. 2. In short, it amounted to the fact that from now on the free peasants had to be provided with a means of subsistence, that is, the land that belonged to the landlords. The solution to this problem stretched for many years.

Financial and higher education reforms

The next important step, which marked the reign of Alexander 2, was the financial reform. As a result of the abolition of serfdom, an entirely different type of economy, the capitalist one, was formed in Russia. The financial system of the state, based on the poll tax, did not meet the requirements of the time. For its modernization in 1860-1862 years. A new institution for the country is being created - the state bank. In addition, from now on the budget, in accordance with the reform, was approved by the State Council and personally by the emperor.

Two years after the abolition of serfdom, it was time to make changes in the sphere of higher education. This important undertaking was dedicated in the year 1863. His next reform was Alexander 2. In short, it can be characterized as the establishment of a certain order of the organization of the educational process in universities. It is fair to say that this reform was the most liberal of all, conducted in the years following kingship.

Establishment of zemstvos and renewed legal proceedings

Important legislative acts were Zemsky and judicial reforms, carried out in 1864. At that time, all the leading public figures of the country wrote about their urgent need. These voices were opposed by all the same opposition, to whose opinion Alexander could not help listening.

The personality of this monarch is in many ways characterized by his constant desire to balance between two different poles of public opinion - the progressive intelligentsia and court conservatism. However, in this case, he showed a firmness.

As a result, two important innovations for the state were implemented: reform, which allowed the entire judicial system to be reconstructed in the European way, and the second, which changed the order of state administration.

Transformations in the Army

Subsequently, they were supplemented by the reforms of city government, secondary education and military, as a result of which the transition from recruitment kits to universal military service was accomplished. Their main organizer and conductor was, as before, Alexander 2.

His biography is an example of the activity of a progressive and energetic, but not always consistent, state ruler. Trying to combine the interests of the opposing social strata in his actions, he was alien to the revolutionary lower minds of society and the aristocratic elite as a result.

Family life of the monarch

Alexander 2 - a multi-faceted personality. Along with cold reasonableness, he developed the inclination towards romantic hobbies that was already apparent in his youth. A succession of fleeting salon intrigues with the ladies of the court did not cease even after his marriage to Princess Maria Augusta of Hesse, who adopted the name of Maria Alexandrovna in Orthodoxy. She was a loving wife, endowed with the gift of sincere forgiveness. After her death, caused by consumption, the tsar married his longtime favorite, Catherine Mikhailovna Dolgorukova, for whom his tragic death was an irreparable blow.

The End of the Great Reformer's Life

Alexander 2 - the personality is tragic in its own way. All the strength and energy he devoted to the rise of Russia to the European level, but his actions in many ways gave impetus to the destructive forces that were emerging in those years, which subsequently plunged the state into the abyss of a bloody revolution. The assassination of Alexander 2 was the final link in the chain of assassinations committed against him. There are seven of them.

The last, costing the life of the sovereign, was committed on March 1, 1881 on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg. It was organized and committed by a group of terrorists who called themselves "Narodnaya Volya". It included people from various social strata of society. They had little idea of how to build a new world, which they constantly talked about, yet they were united by the desire to destroy the foundations of the old.

To achieve this goal, the Narodnaya Volya did not spare either their own or, especially, the lives of others. According to their ideas, the assassination of Alexander 2 should have been a signal for a general uprising, but in reality it only gave rise to fear and a sense of hopelessness, which always appear when the law is violated by brute force. Today the monument to the liberating king is the church "Savior on the Blood", erected on the site of his death.