Who killed Alexander 2 and why? When Alexander 2 was killed?

The sovereign, who entered the history with the epithet "Liberator", who realized the centuries-old dream of the people about the abolition of serfdom, became a victim of people from the same people, to whose life he put so much energy. His death gives rise to many questions for historians. The name of the terrorist who threw the bomb is known, and, nevertheless, the question "Why killed Alexander 2?" And to this day does not have an unambiguous answer.

Reforms and their consequences

Alexander's public activities 2 can serve as an illustration to the famous proverb "Good intentions paved the road to hell." Entering the throne at the age of thirty-six, he made a number of radical transformations. I managed to complete the disastrous for Russia Crimean War, hopelessly failed by his father - Nicholas I. Abolished serfdom. Established a universal military duty, introduced local self-government and carried out judicial reform. In addition, he managed to soften censorship and facilitate travel abroad.

However, the result of all his good undertakings, included in the history of Russia as "Great Reforms", was the impoverishment of peasants freed from slavery, but deprived of their main source of existence - the land; Depletion of their former owners - nobles; Corruption that has engulfed all spheres of state power; A series of annoying mistakes in foreign policy. Obviously, in the aggregate of all these factors, we should also seek an answer to the question of why Alexander was killed.

The beginning of a series of attempts

In Russian history there was no monarch who would be so consistently and inexorably tried to kill. On Alexander 2 was committed six attempts, the last of which turned out to be fatal for him. Even before the "Narodnaya Volya" - the organization that killed Alexander 2 - fully declared its existence, a list of attempts was opened by a lone terrorist Dmitry Karakozov. April 4, 1866 (all dates in the article are given according to a new style), he shot at the emperor, who came out from the gate of the Summer Garden to the embankment of the Neva. The shot was unsuccessful, which saved Alexander's life.

The next attempt was made on May 25, 1867 in Paris by the Polish emigrant Anton Berezovsky. This happened during the visit of the Emperor to the World Exhibition. The shooter missed. His action, he later explained the desire to take revenge on the Russian monarch for the bloody suppression of the Polish uprising in 1863.

Then came the attempt on April 14, 1879, committed by the retired collegiate assessor Alexander Solovyov, who was a part of the organization "Land and Freedom". He managed to watch the emperor on Palace Square during his usual walk, which he performed alone and without protection. The attacker fired five shots, but all to no avail.

Debut of the People's Will

On December 1 of the same year, their first attempt was made by the Narodnaya Volya, who killed Alexander 2 two years later. They tried to blow up the king's train while he was on his way to Moscow. The only error prevented was the conceived, thanks to which the wrong composition was blown up, and the emperor remained unharmed.

And, finally, a series of failed assassinations is completed by an explosion that thundered on February 17, 1880, on the first floor of the Winter Palace. He was made member of the organization "Narodnaya Volya" Stepan Khalturin. This was the last time that fate saved the Tsar's life. This time, Alexander 2 saved from being late to the dinner scheduled for that day, and the infernal machine worked in his absence. Within a week, a special government commission was appointed to combat terrorism and maintain order in the country.

Blood on the quay of the canal

Fateful for the sovereign was March 13, 1881. On this day, he, as usual, returned from the divorce of troops in the Mikhailovsky Manege. Visiting the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhaylovna on the way , Alexander, continuing the way, went to the embankment of the Catherine Canal, where terrorists were waiting for him.

The name of the one who killed Alexander 2 is now well known to everyone. This is a Pole, a student of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute Ignaty Grinevitsky. He threw a bomb after his friend Nikolai Rysakov, also threw a hellish machine, but to no avail. When, after the first explosion, the sovereign got out of the damaged carriage, Grinevitsky threw him a bomb under his feet. The mortally wounded emperor was taken to the Winter Palace, where he died, unconscious.

The court opposition

In 1881, when Alexander 2 was killed, the work of the state commission, although outwardly creating the impression of an ebullient activity, nevertheless seemed very strange. Historians have reason to believe that Alexander's death was the result of a conspiracy by the court elite, first, dissatisfied with the liberal reforms carried out by the emperor, and secondly, feared the possible adoption of the constitution.

In addition, among the highest dignitaries were former landowners who lost their serfs and suffered a significant loss. They had a clear reason to hate the sovereign. If we consider the issue from such an angle, it may be quite understandable why Alexander was killed.

Strange inaction of the security department

The actions of the Gendarmerie Office cause legitimate bewilderment. It is known that in the period preceding the murder, they received several reports about the upcoming terrorist attack, and even indicated a possible place for its conduct. However, there was no reaction to this. Moreover, when the law-enforcers had information that on Malaya Sadovaya - it is not far from the place where Alexander 2 was killed - the way of his possible passage is being mined, then they limited themselves only to a brief inspection of the premises, from which the tunnel was swept.

Noticing anything (or not considering it necessary to notice), the gendarmes allowed terrorists to continue preparing for the terrorist attack. It seemed that someone deliberately untied the hands of criminals, wishing to implement their plans with their help. Suspicion is also caused by the fact that when the tragedy was committed and the emperor who had such a powerful opposition in the palace did not become, all the participants in the attempt were arrested with astonishing rapidity. There is no doubt that the gendarmes knew exactly which organization killed Alexander 2.

Problems of succession to the throne

In addition, in the question of who killed Alexander 2 (or rather, became the real organizer of the murder), one should also take into account the dynastic crisis that erupted in the palace. His son and heir to the throne, the future autocrat Alexander III, had every reason to fear for his future. The fact is that at the beginning of the year, when Alexander 2 was killed, the sovereign, barely surviving forty days after the death of Maria Alexandrovna's legal wife, married his favorite Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova.

Given that his father had repeatedly expressed his desire to remove him from the palace, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich could well have assumed that he intended to transfer the crown to him, not to him, but to a child who was born from a new marriage. Only sudden death could interfere with this, and given the previous assassination attempts, she would not have aroused suspicions from anyone.

The first organization of terrorists in modern history

The one who killed Tsar Alexander 2 (terrorist Ignaty Grinevitsky) was a member of the underground union "Narodnaya Volya". It is generally accepted that this was the first terrorist organization in modern history . She specializes exclusively in political murders, in which she saw the only possible way to change the existing system.

It included people who belonged to the most diverse strata of society. For example, Sophia Perovskaya, who directly led the assassination attempt on the Catherine's Channel, was a noblewoman and even the daughter of a St. Petersburg governor, while her comrade-in-arms and a heart friend, Zhelyabov, came from a family of serfs.

The verdict to the king

Selecting terror by achieving political goals, they at their first meeting, held in 1879, unanimously sentenced Alexander 2 to death and in subsequent years were engaged in the implementation of his decision. For them it was important to destroy the autocrat, regardless of where it happens and in what year. Alexander was killed by 2 fanatics, who did not spare their lives, especially strangers, for the sake of utopian revolutionary ideas.

However, in that ill-fated spring they had reasons to hurry. The terrorists knew that the constitution was approved on March 14, and could not allow it, because, according to their calculations, the adoption of such an important historical document could reduce the level of social tension in the country and deprive them of the struggle of popular support. It was decided at all costs to put an end to the king in the shortest possible time.

Revaluation of historical realities

The story included the name of the one who killed Alexander 2, throwing at his feet an infernal car, but it is unlikely that historians can prove the validity or inconsistency of suspicion of complicity in the conspiracy of court circles and the heir to the throne. There were no documents shedding light on this question. It is considered that the initiators of the attempt and its executors were young people, members of the underground union "Narodnaya Volya".

During the years of Soviet power, all organizations that fought autocracy were extolled as spokesmen of historical truth. Their actions were justified regardless of how much and whose blood was spilled. But if today ask the question: "Who are the People's Will who killed Alexander 2 - criminals or not?", In most cases the answer will be yes.

Monument to the Tsar-Liberator

History has proved that the goal does not always justify the means, and sometimes the fighter for a just cause turns out to be among the criminals. Therefore, the one who killed Alexander 2, did not become the pride of Russia. His name is not named streets of cities, and in the squares he did not erect monuments. When asked about the year Alexander was killed, 2 many will answer, but the name of the murderer will be difficult to name.

At the same time, on the site of the death of the murdered emperor-liberator, a magnificent church was built, called the Savior-on-the-Blood in the people and became his eternal monument. During the years of atheistic obscurantism, he was repeatedly tried to demolish, but each time the invisible force withdrew the hand of the vandals. You can call it fate, it is possible by the Finger of God, but the memory of Alexander 2, who broke the chains of serfdom, and now bears the golden domes, and his murderers are forever gone into the darkness of history.