Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II decided on a policy of reform for many reasons; from the impact of the Crimean war, the fear of revolutionary activity from below the Tsar, the state of Russia’s economic backwardness as well as the struggle of Slavophile vs Western ideas. One reason Alexander II would have decided on a policy of reform in Russia would be the impact of the Crimean war. The war and namely the humiliating defeat upon Russia will have been a real turning point for those living in Russia. It brought to…

Nicholas Romanov II’s Failures as a Leader Introduction For over three hundred years, Russia was ruled by the Romanov dynasty. In 1917, that monarchy ended with Nicholas II, the last tsar. Nicholas II’s father, Tsar Alexander III died in 1894 when Nicholas II was only twenty-six years old. Nicholas inherited the role as supreme autocrat of Russia, which contained one sixth of the world’s land mass and over a hundred and thirty million people (Nilsen). When Nicholas II’s reign started, millions…

many of Alexander II’s reforms appeared liberal in nature, most of them did not turn out so in practice and were simply initiated to promote stability in the Russian Empire. Furthermore, Alexander II was reluctant to relinquish his absolute power. Combined with the fact that he displayed traits of an autocrat from time to time, particularly after an assassination attempt in 1866, these reasons make ‘Tsar Liberator’ an unsuitable title for him. Instead, a better term to describe Alexander II…

At the end of the nineteenth century, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia reluctantly took command of an empire overflowing with revolutionaries seeking change in response to hardships. His shy personality, coupled with his lack of political education, made him unfit to handle the war-torn chaos that would soon darken Russian skies. Nicholas’ series of unfortunate, unprepared and uninformed decisions began with his marriage and would ultimately lead to the demise of his imperial family’s…

RUSSIA IN THE 1900’S From 1896 Tsar Nicholas II has ruled the Russian empire taking over from his late father Alexander 3rd. With social classes still as prominent as ever despite the freeing of peasants in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II (Tsar Nicholas grandfather), the Great Russian empire has a social structure like a pyramid. The Tsar and his government placed at the top and peasants at the bottom. PEASENTS: Life as a peasant as we all know is hard. It requires hours on end of work and hardship…

Alexander II is known today as the “Tsar Liberator. He held a vision of Russia as a major world power, a Russia that was westernized, industrialized, and educated. However, his reforms did not go so smoothly. With many attempts to take his life were made throughout his reign, he was finally assassinated before the completion of his reforms in March 1881. Was the reforms he made deemed a success? The humiliation of the Crimean War had greatly exposed Russia's main problems, involving its lack…

The Assassination of the Duchess Anastasia What does it take to bring down the Tsar of Russia? Maybe killing him, or even his family. No matter how innocent his family is they have to die. Does that sound right? Is it right? Well it isn't! Yet it still happened. Specifically, his daughter, the Duchess Anastasia who was on 17 when she died. And the way she was killed was so horrible and unbelievable it gets you thinking, was she in any way guilty. The assassination of Anastasia was unjust…

This painting draws evident comparison to Napoleon I on the Borodino Heights (1897) in that Vereshchagin, using the accounts of Napoleon’s generals, painted Napoleon sitting with a look of frustration and an entourage of officers behind him as he attempts to watch what would be the bloodiest battle of the French invasion. While both paintings show emperors watching devastating battles, the focus of the painting is revealed by the framing of the scenes. Napoleon’s retinue takes up most of the…

In 1917, Russia went through the most drastic political change in the country’s history. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, over threw Czar Nicholas II, whose family had been in control of Russia for over 300 years. After the Bolsheviks took power, Vladimir Lenin began to rebuild Russia. His focus was primarily in the political and economic spheres of Russian Life. Lenin did not place much of an importance on the cultural sphere of Russian life. This led to a period of tolerance in which…

Russia was ruled by Tsars and followed a monarchy until 1917. The last Tsar of Russia was Nicholas II who brought industrial revolution in Russia. During those old days, one became a Tsar because they inherit, not because they were chosen to be Tsars because of their high qualifications. One of the events that enforced me to research on during our lecture was The French Revolution in 1792 and the Russian Tsar, Alexander I, in the revolution. It persisted for quite a long time (both Paul I and…