Tsar Alexander II
Emperor of Russia
"It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until it abolishes itself from below."
Biography
The 'Tsar-Liberator' who had freed Russia's serfs in 1861, Alexander II went to war in 1877 driven by Pan-Slavic sentiment and the cause of the Balkan Christians rising against Ottoman rule. He accompanied his armies to the Danube and shared in the anxieties of the long agony before Plevna, though he left the field command to his brother and generals. Victory restored Russian prestige after the humiliation of the Crimean War, but the meagre gains left after the Great Powers forced the Treaty of Berlin embittered Russian opinion. At home, Alexander's era of reform gave way to reaction and rising revolutionary terrorism; in March 1881, only weeks after the war's veterans had marched home, he was killed by a bomb thrown by a member of the People's Will on a St Petersburg street.
Did you know?
He survived numerous assassination attempts before a bomb finally killed him in 1881 — on the very day he had approved plans for a form of constitutional reform.
Key Battles
The Siege of Plevna
Russia & Balkan Allies victoryJuly 20 – December 10, 1877 · 65,000 total casualties
Plevna pinned the entire Russian offensive for five months, nearly wrecked the campaign, and made Osman Pasha a hero across Europe. Its lesson — that entrenched infantry with breech-loading rifles could slaughter attacking columns — was studied by every army and foreshadowed the trenches of 1914.
Life Journey
Timeline
April 29, 1818
🌅 Birth
Born in Moscow
1877
📍 Posting
Joins his armies on the Danube front
March 13, 1881
✝️ Death
Assassinated in Saint Petersburg