Answer:
It can be said that he was a great historical figure without being a great man, that what he did was more important than what he was. His Great Reforms indeed rank in importance with those of Peter the Great and Vladimir Lenin, yet the impact of his personality was much inferior to theirs. The tsar’s place in history—a substantial one—is due almost entirely to his position as the absolute ruler of a vast empire at a critical stage in its development.
Explanation:
Alexander II, Russian in full Aleksandr Nikolayevich, (born April 29 [April 17, Old Style], 1818, Moscow, Russia—died March 13 [March 1], 1881, St. Petersburg), emperor of Russia (1855–81). His liberal education and distress at the outcome of the Crimean War, which had demonstrated Russia’s backwardness, inspired him toward a great program of domestic reforms, the most important being the emancipation (1861) of the serfs. This led to his death on 1886
BORN
April 29, 1818
Moscow, Russia
DIED
March 13, 1881 (aged 62)
St. Petersburg, Russia
Becamw
Emperor, Russia (1855-1881)
Tsar, Russia (1855-1881)
NOTABLE FAMILY MEMBERS
Father Nicholas I
Son Alexander III
.
Alexander II, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist, 19th century; in the collection of Mrs. Merriweather Post, Hillwood, Washington, D.C.
Alexander II, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist, 19th century; in the collection of Mrs. Merriweather Post, Hillwood, Washington, D.C.
Courtesy of Hillwood, Washington, D.C.
Among the earliest concerns of the new emperor (once peace had been concluded in Paris in the spring of 1856 on terms considered harsh by the Russian public) was the improvement of communications. Russia at this time had only one railway line of significance, that linking the two capitals of St. Petersburg and Moscow. At Alexander’s accession there were endint
