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Anniversary of Alexander II coronation
26 August (7 September) 1856 in Moscow was held the coronation of Alexander II who had ascended the Russian throne. The coronation of the Russian emperor was broadly covered by Russian and foreign press.
The older son of the emperor Nikolai I and the empress Alexandra Feodorovna (the daughter of the Prussian king Frederick-William III) Alexander was born on April 17 (29), 1818 in Moscow.
The tutor of the future emperor was the Russian poet V. A. Zhukovsky, the battle officer K. K. Merder was in charge of his military education, among his teachers were M. M. Speransky, the Minister of Finance E. F. Kankrin, the Counsellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs F. I. Brunov and the military historian and theorist A. Jomini.
Alexander II was well educated. By the age of nineteen he knew five foreign languages, history, geography, statistics, mathematics, science, logics and philosophy. He learned the military science both theoretically and practically (during camps). The education of the heir to the throne ended by the trip to the European states during which he met his future wife, the princess of Hessen-Darmstadt, christened Maria Alexandrovna.
On February 19 (March 3), 1855 after the death of Nikolai I, Alexander II came to the throne. The first task for the new ruler was to stop the Crimea warexhausting the country. In March of 1856 was concluded the Treaty of Paris. Its terms and conditions significantly weakened the Russian positions on the international scene.
The conclusions were drawn from the defeat making the tsar to conduct a military reform. By 1874 in Russia the army was re-equipped, the system of military districts was created, the Military Ministry was reorganized, the training system for the officers was reformed, the compulsory military servicewas implemented, the call-up period was reduced (from 25 to 15 years including the service in the reserve), corporal punishment abolished.
Strengthening of the state defense enabled to restore the country’s impact and broaden its possessions. In 1877-1878 the Russian army contributed to the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire yoke. Under Alexander II the Russian Empire included the vast territories in the Middle Asia. China acknowledged the Ussuri krai a part of the Russian territory.
As to the domestic policy, here Alexander II began from the liberalization of the political regime. In honor of the coronation in August of 1856 he granted an amnesty to Decembrists, the members of Petrashevsky circle, the participants of the Polish revolt of 1830-1831, suspended the recruitment for 3 years and put an end to the military settlements.
The epoch-making significance had the tsar’s decision on the complete and one-time abolishment of serfdom. On February 19 (March 3), 1861 the emperor signed a Manifesto on the serfdom abolishment and the Statute of peasants freed from serfdom. For this deed he was henceforth called the tsar-liberator. The peasants’ transformation into a free labor force contributed to the capitalization of the agriculture and the increase of the factory industry.
In the course of Zemstvo reform started in 1864, were created the local authorities bodies (Zemstvo assemblies of provinces and districts and their executive bodies – Zemstvo boards of provinces and districts). And in 1870 in accordance with the City Regulations were founded the town councils.
As a result of the reforms in the field of education the Universities passed to self-government. The secondary education for women started to develop. The innovations in the sphere of press significantly limited the role of censure and contributed to the mass media development.
In 1862 Alexander II approved the “Basic regulations on legal procedure reformation in Russia”, which became the basis for legal proceedings democratization in the Russian Empire. In 1864 the Russian government launched a comprehensive reform of legal institutions. As a result were created the Magistrate courts, was established the publicity of the legal proceedings, the Bar.
The reforms of 1861-1874 created the prerequisites for more dynamic development of Russia, increased the participation of the most active part of the society in the state life. The reverse of the reforms was the worsening of social contradictions and the increase of revolutionary movement.
On March 1st (13), 1881 Alexander II was mortally wounded in St.-Petersburg, on the embankment of Catherine Cannel (Griboyedov Canal). A member of the ‘People’s Freedom’ movement, I. I. Grinevitsky threw a bomb to Alexander on the day when the tsar was supposed to sign the project of a wide-range program of administrative and economical reforms elaborated by M. T. Loris-Melikov.
Lit.: Зайончковский П. А. Кризис самодержавия на рубеже 1870-1880 гг. М., 1964; Захарова Л. Г. Александр Второй // Российские самодержцы. М., 1994; Ляшенко Л. М. Царь-Освободитель. Жизнь и деяния Александра II. М., 1994; Ляшенко Л. М. Александр II, или История трёх одиночеств. М., 2003; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/bio/lyashenko_lm/index.html; Татищев С. С. Император Александр II, его жизнь и царствование. Т. 1-2. СПб., 1911; Толмачёв Е. П. Александр II и его время: в 2-х кн. М., 1998; Трагедия реформатора: Александр II в воспоминаниях современников. СПб., 2006; Юрьевская Е. М. Александр II. Воспоминания. М., 2004; Яковлев А. И. Александр II и его время. М., 1992.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Alexander II (1818–1881) // House of Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor of 1613: [digital collection];