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ntroduction:

Grandson of Catherine the Great,The eldest son of Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later Emperor Paul I, Alexander

was born in St. Petersburg on December 12, 1777. Pauls mother, Catherine the Great, utterly disliked her son

and didnt think himcapable of ruling the country. When Alexanderher first and long-awaited grandsonwas

born, Catherine saw him as her successor and took control of his education.

Catherine wanted to mould Alexander into an enlightened and cosmopolitan monarch. Brought up in the free-

thinking spirit of her court, the young prince was well versed in European culture, history and politics. But bitter

hatred between Paul and Catherine forced him to play two different roles. At court, he adhered to the principles

of human rights and civil liberties, enjoyed the arts, opera and philosophy. At his fathers residence, he embraced

strict military discipline and endless drills. Alexander soon turned into a natural chameleon, becoming secretive

and easily changing his views and conduct to fit the circumstances.

Alexander succeeded his father the insane Paul I on March 24 1801. As Czar of Russia, Alexander did aot of good to improve the administration of his massive empire. In 1802 a more orderly administration

was drafted with the founding of eight ministries of government. Also, the situation for the serfs was

mproved as Russia was the only country in Europe to still condone serfhood, an inheritence from the

Middle Ages. Alexander had been educated by a liberal and modern teacher from Switzerland by the

name of Laharpe. Militarily, Alexander also had the best starting-position; the great general Suvorov had

blown new life into the Russian army.

Alexander didnt think he was cut for the role of a monarch and dreamt of a quiet life, away from

the court. Yet, in 1801, aged 23, Alexander was crowned Tsar. Good-looking and charming, the

young Emperor was extremely popular. True to the ideals of his liberal schooling, he set out toreform the outdated, centralised system of government of his massive empire. He embarked on

a range of social reforms, much of them drawn up by a close advisor, Mikhail Speransky.

Censorship was relaxed, torture prohibited and a new law allowed peasants to buy themselves

out of serfdom. Administrative, education and financial changes followed. The ambitious vision

went as far as setting up a parliament and giving Russia a constitution.

Alexander Czar and Napoleon :

Alexander's initial admiration for emperor Napoleon of France soon faded after the Enghien-affair and

he thereby pulled Russia into the third coalition against France in 1805. Great Britain, Austria and

Russia were the primary memebers of the coalition. With the Austrian armies under the command of

Mack surrounded and defeated at Ulm, Czar Alexander led his Russian armies onto Austrian soil and

oined up with the Austrian emperor Francis. In the meantime Napoleon had taken Vienna on November

13, 1805. The Allies now prepared for battle and the "Battle of the three Emperors" was fought on

December 2 at Austerlitz. The Allies; Austria and Russia, were beaten in what has been called

Napoleon's greatest victory. And the French eagle had taken off.

The young Alexander had just faced and confronted the greatest military strategist in history, but did not

give up yet. In 1806, Napoleon went on to defeat the Prussians. His eagles were this time flying in

Berlin. A bloody war followed in Poland in 1807 between the French and Alexander's Russians. It washere many of the Russian soldiers who were later to participate in the war against Sweden, received

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their practical training. After the defeat at Friedland, the Czar had had enough. "If the war is not ended,

our officers will start shooting themselves, as the result is obviously the same", one of the Czar's

advisors told him. The battles in the Polish campaign, notably Eylau and Friedland, had been massive

massacres for both sides.

The treaty of Tilsit followed. Napoleon and Alexander met, on June 25 1807, on a raft in the Niemen

river, the natural border between Mother Russia and Central Europe. The two emperors seemed to like

each other; reviewed military parades together and together issuing rewards to soldiers in the ranks.

Alexander agreed to join Napoleon's Continental Blockade against Great Britain, and in a secret additionto the treaty, Europe were divided into an eastern and a western part, the eastern Russian part including

Sweden. Europe was thereby and in this way, divided between the two great empires.

Russia was from then on an ally of France and to force Sweden into the Continental Blockade, Russian

troops so crossed the border to Finland in early 1808. Finland was conquered in the war of 1808-09. By

March 1809, when the fighting forces had moved over to Sweden, Alexander arrived in Finland and

attended the meeting at Borg (Borg Lantdag) where the Finnish estates had gathered. Finland

became a part of Russia as a Grand Duchy, with Alexander himself as Grand Duke, at the peace treaty

of Fredrikshamn September 17, 1809. The Finnish polulation thereby had to swear allegiance to the

Russian Czar. On the Finnish side, this was done, if not willingly, so at least without protests. The

Russian troops had behaved as well as could be expected during the war on Sweden, keeping atrocities

at a minimum in occupied areas. At the higher levels of Finnish society, the Russian conquerors had

even been welcomed.

Russia was committed in other wars as well during the Napoleonic era. Against Persia in the Middle

East in 1804-13, Russia gained some territory. The war against Turkey 1806-12 was of greater

mportance though. Bessarabia was annexed by the Russians and Alexander signed a hasty peace

treaty in 1812 as the great war against Napoleon was coming up.

Alexander Czar Against Napoleon :

Russia was having a hard time accepting the Continental Blockade and soon started trading with the

British again, the cracks in the unstable alliance between France and Russia increased and the whole

thing soon fell apart. By 1812 all hope for an understanding was lost. The real challenge of Alexander's

reign began on June 24 as Napoleon's La Grande Arme crossed the border to Russia. The Russians

mmediately proclaimed the Great Patriotic War, but retreated further on into the massive country. At

Borodino the Greatest engagement of this war, as well as one of the bloodiest of the nineteenth century

was fought, on September 7, on the road to Moscow. The Russian commander Kutuzov fought for his

positions all day but later pulled back, ending the battle in a formidable draw that cost the Russians

44.000 dead and the French-allied side 33.000. Napoleon's troops entered Moscow on September 14,

while the city was flamed by the fleeing Russians themselves. "What a curious decision! What People!

They are Scythians!" Napoleon said when he saw the burning city. This was the war of the scorched-

earth tactics.

But Alexander was not prepared to capitulate although the second city of his empire had fallen. No, the

fight went on and Napoleon was after a while compelled to retreat back westwards. Now the scorched-

earth tactics practiced by the Russian armies came into even greater use, as all land the French

retreated through was destroyed and could not maintain an army on the march. The army that left

Moscow was still very much a formidable force to be reckoned with, but the retreat, through the freezing

Russian winter, constantly harassed by the fierce cossacks, forced it to its knees. What followed was the

total destruction of Napoleon's armies, one of the greatest disasters in military history. The greater they

come, the harder they fall.

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The French emperor was quickly on his feet though. The wars of liberation of 1813 therefore followed

the French defeat in Russia; Napoleon fought like a wolf in Germany but the Coalition, which now also

ncluded the former French allies of Austria and Prussia, overwhelmed him in numbers and defeated

him at the desperate battle of Leipzig. Russian troops were committed throughout the entire campaign

and marched with the allies as they entered French soil in 1814. The battle now stood outside Paris,

with the French emperor committing his last reserves in the final battles. Without doubt one of the

greatest days of Czar Alexander's life was when he at the head of the Coalition armies marched into

Paris on March 31, 1814. He also visited the former empress Josephine at Malmaison. Josephine diedthat same year and Napoleon himself was exiled to Elba.

After the defeat of the First Empire, Alexander protected France from Prussian vindictive demands and

also became a driving force behind the signing of the Holy Alliance of 1815 between the Great Powers

of Europe. This alliance was designed to counter any new revolutions that might arise and to protect

"high Christian ideals" in Europe. The final years of his reign were despotic and Alexander drew back,

not taking too great a part in the ruling of the massive empire now under his reign. His reign, beginning

with modernization and good reforms now took on the ugly face of conservatism. He died in 1825, being

succeeded to the throne by his brother Nicholas I.

Czars reforms in Russia:

At home, Alexander started another wave of reforms. A plan to abolish serfdom wasprepared and a constitution drafted. But soon his views changed. Russian officersreturning from their European campaigns brought with them ideas of freedom andwanted modernisation. But much of the nobility opposed Alexanders plans theCzar backed down.Supported by his new right-hand man, Count Aleksey Arakcheev, he repealed manyof his early changes, police control was reinforced and censorship tightened. One ofthe most disastrous projects of the time were the so-called military settlementsthe

villages combining military service and farming.They were supposed to improve the soldiers living conditions and cut the statemilitary spending. But their economic benefits proved poor and, forced on theunwilling peasants, they prompted frequent unrest. This period of Alexanders reignwas dubbed arakcheevshchinaderived from the name of his favourite andsynonymous with reaction and oppression.

Alexander Czars final years :

Alexanders last years were filled with obsession with God and Christianity. At theend of his reign he was a troubled man, crushed in his own words beneath theterrible burden of a crown. In the autumn of 1825 on a trip to the south of RussiaAlexander caught a cold which developed into typhoid. He died in the southern cityof Taganrog on November 19, 1825. He was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedralin St. Petersburg. But his sudden death caused persistent rumours that the Tsarsecretly abdicated and became a monk. A legend has it that a mysterious hermitFeodor Kuzmich who appeared in Siberia in 1836 was in fact Alexander I. When theSoviet government opened his coffin in the 1920s it was found empty.

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Although Alexander had a string of lovers and 9 illegitimate children, he didnt leavean heirhis two daughters from his marriage to Louise of Baden died young. Thethrone was left to Alexanders brotherNicholas I.

To his contemporaries Alexander was a riddle that each read differently. A man ofthe world, an actor wearing many masks, even a madman to be humoured forsome he was a man of grand qualities, while others described him as suspicious andundecided. One of the most extraordinary Russian monarchs, he went down intoRussias history as Alexander the Blessedthe man who didnt want to be Tsar, ledRussia to one of its greatest triumphs and became a legend after death.

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