BATTLE OF THE HYDASPES MAY 326 B.C. PORUS WAR ELEPHANTS SPOOK ALEXANDERS HORSES.
Alexanders I & II Nick Weiler
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Transcript of Alexanders I & II Nick Weiler
Alexanders I & II
Nick Weiler
Alexander I: Overview of his Rule
•Born in St. Petersburg in 1777▫Heir to throne when father
Paul I was murdered•Foreign Policy: Russia’s military
involvement in Napoleonic Wars •Domestic Policy: Initially reform-
minded, reforms failed
Napoleonic Wars• Russian indecisiveness
• French Invasion of Russia in 1812
• French defeat in 1814 by Russia, Austria, and Prussia
• Warring leads to war-torn Russia, Alexander’s failure to reform after victory
Domestic Policy• Initial optimism…
▫Reform judicial system▫Educational reforms
• Eventual reform failure:▫Decline of Russian universities and censorship▫Military settlements
• Suppressed liberalism and nationalism to increase hold on government▫“Police state”▫Young intellectuals turn to secret revolutionary
organizations Indicative of desire of populace for progression and
change
Alexander II: Abolition of Serfdom• Abolished serfdom despite
opposition from nobility in 1861
• Emancipation law was disappointing
• Serfs were hardly better off
▫ No free title to land
▫ Had to pay landlords over forty-nine years
▫ Peasant farmers…
Reform Efforts• Nobles given role in zemstvos,
local councils, though they were underfunded and ineffective
• Judicial system westernized▫Equality before law
▫Impartial hearings
▫Though still corrupt and ineffective…
Critics of Reign and Revolutionaries•Nobles and serfs unhappy with reforms
▫Generally unpopular•Eventually Russia became a “police state”
and repression ensued after an attempt was made on Alexander’s life
•Russia’s intellectuals initially hopeful, discontented with limited reform
•Alexander II assassinated by The People’s Will
Relation to C+P• Destitute citizens of St. Petersburg a result of
lack of reform
• Raskol no longer studying because of negative reforms to education system…
• Strict censorship/”police state”
• Revolutionary feelings of time▫Raskol takes justice into his own hands by killing
Assassination of Alexander II•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BeiYZ
cGejE
Work Cited• "Alexander I of Russia Biography." Biography Base Home. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.biographybase.com/biography/alexander_i_of_russia.html>.
• "Alexander I of Russia." SCCS - Swarthmore College Computer Society. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/08/ajb/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Alexander_I_of_
Russia.html>.
• "Alexander II of Russia Biography." Biography Base Home. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Alexander_II_of_Russia.html>.
• "Emperors and Empresses of Russia - Alexander I." Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. Web.
05 Dec. 2011. <http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/royalty/russia/tsar15.html>.
• Kagan, Donald, Steven E. Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage: since 1300.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.